Blue Ribbon Review: PrettyBoy Revival Recovery Gel Moisturizer

PrettyBoy Revival Recovery Gel Moisturizer

Formulated for the most sensitive among us—but optimal for every skin type, season, or time of day.

When working with superlatives like “the best products of all time”, I have to be hyper specific or hyper generalized. And Pretty Boy’s moisturizer manages both things at once: Here is a gel hydrator that I would recommend foremost to the guy with sensitive skin (in fact, they’re the first men’s skincare brand to earn the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance). And yet, I would also prescribe this to just about any guy out there; I’ve got combination skin (leaning oily), and it’s a terrific year-round wear for me. Perfect light fare for hot, sweaty days, but dense enough to qualify as a night cream in summer or a day cream in winter. Universality fares well in my book—and PrettyBoy chose a great hero product to launch their brand a few years back.

On the topic of universality, this one will also wear well as a post-shave soothing agent, and in my book it has the concentration of active ingredients that negates needing an eye cream, too. (See below for that roster.) There are plenty of reasons we gave it a GQ grooming award right out of the gate.

And for what it’s worth, consider the brand’s second launch—their highly hydrating and highly universal gel cleanser—which also just snagged a GQ grooming award. We’ve all got our eyes on PrettyBoy, so get your hands on some, too!

Edited Amazon Photo

PrettyBoy Revival Recovery Gel Moisturizer

BUY ON: Amazon // Pretty Boy

Key Ingredients

2% Niacinamide: to reinforce skin’s barrier and to soothe
2% Hyaluronic acid: to deeply hydrate skin (4 types of HA, in fact, to seep into different depths of skin for a deeply hydrating and skin-plumping result)
2% Squalane: to further hydrate and lock in moisture
Ceramides: another highly impactful means for reinforcing skin’s barrier
Panthenol and Glycerin: more and more and more moisture—flooding skin with hydration
Apple Fruit Extract: Gentle surface-level exfoliation to improve skin texture and complexion

How to Make the Most of It

Just use a single pump to get a required dose—double that if you’re extra dry or in an air-conditioned, cold, or arid environment. I love it as a post-shave too, even if I’m just shaving my neckline or my cheeklines. It’s also a terrific cushioning product to use just after exfoliating—very cushioning with the right ingredients you want in a recovery cream.

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Adam Hurly

Adam Hurly has covered grooming since 2013, and for GQ since 2016. He has written for just about every other men’s publication, too, with bylines found in Men’s Journal, SPY, Forbes, Robb Report, Esquire, Men’s Fitness, Byrdie, Bloomberg, Runner’s Journal, Popular Mechanics, Birchbox Man, nearly every international GQ, and more. Adam is a South Dakota native and University of Kansas graduate. He has lived in San Francisco, New York, Berlin, and now Lisbon.