Bad Habit is a line of skin care products specifically formulated to help skin suffering from modern-day “bad habits” like lack of sleep, pollution, and too much screen time. Social media influencer Emma Chamberlain is the global brand ambassador, and she describes the brand like this: “Bad Habit skin care is designed for my good intentions and bad decisions… because life is all about balance, right?”
What are the Best Skin Care Products of 2024?
It’s true that life is all about balance, but will Bad Habit skin care products really help to balance out these bad habits? To answer this question, we are going to review the top 10 best Bad Habit skin care products with a scientific lens, meaning we’ve evaluated the research that supports (or doesn’t support) the ingredients that you’ll find in these products. We’ll also share some Bad Habit reviews so you can get a better idea of what customers really think about these products.
What Are The Top 10 Best Bad Habit Skin Care Products?
The Bad Habit skin care collection is divided into two categories: Daily Essentials and Quick Fixes. As the name implies, the Daily Essentials are meant to be used as part of your daily skin care routine. But if you have issues pop up — such as dryness or a breakout — that’s where the Quick Fixes come into the picture to spot treat and correct these problems. You could get started with the brand’s Daily Essentials routine and then add in the Quick Fixes as you need them. Or you can consider one of the following top 10 best Bad Habit skin care products.
Bad Habit Hemp Oil
- Lightweight, fast-absorbing “elixir”
- Claimed to visibly calm, brighten, and nourish stressed-out and irritated skin
- Key ingredients include hemp oil, sunflower seed oil, jojoba oil, squalane, and safflower seed oil
- Studies show that hemp oil can help to strengthen the skin while also balancing oil production
- Also contains a blend of adaptogens (turmeric, licorice, and holy basil) to help protect skin from environmental stressors
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Matcha & Mint Morning Cleanser
- Part of the Daily Essentials collection
- Sulfate-free, pH-balanced daily morning cleanser
- Claimed to wash away dirt and makeup without stripping skin
- Key ingredients include surfactants, aloe vera leaf juice, and matcha extract
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Multivitamin Moisturizer
- Part of the Daily Essentials collection
- Lightweight, oil-free gel cream
- Claimed to soften and smooth skin, brighten and even skin tone, and improve the appearance of pores and fine lines
- Key ingredients include niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate, panthenol (provitamin B5), soybean oil, and oat extract
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Melatonin & Glycolic Night Cream
- Part of the Daily Essentials collection
- Night cream that is claimed to hydrate, retexturize, and reveal brighter, more even-toned skin
- Contains a high concentration of glycolic acid, which is known to exfoliate dead skin cells, increase the rate of cell turnover, refine pores, control excess oil, and smooth away any surface-level roughness
- Additional key ingredients include shea butter, sodium hyaluronate, and squalane
- Only contains a small amount of melatonin (less than 1%)
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Acai Nightly Cleansing Balm
- Part of the Daily Essentials collection
- Cleansing balm that transforms into a silky, soothing oil as you massage it into skin to dissolve stubborn makeup, sunscreen and impurities
- Claimed to leave skin feeling soft, thoroughly cleansed, and moisturized
- Key ingredients include safflower seed oil, candelilla wax, grapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil, and shea butter
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Caffeine & Peptide Eye Cream
- This Bad Habit eye cream is claimed to reduce the appearance of puffiness and dark circles for a “wide-awake look”
- Key ingredients include glycerin, silicones, mango seed butter, shea butter, and caffeine
- Caffeine causes vasoconstriction (constriction of the blood vessels) and stimulates blood flow when applied to the skin, which may help to reduce puffiness and dark circles
- Contains mica, an illuminating pigment that creates the illusion of a smoother, softer, and more radiant skin tone
- Fragrance-free
Bad Habit Hydrating Hyaluronic Mask
- Leave-on mask with a rich, whipped mousse texture
- Key ingredients include glycerin, synthetic texture enhancers, and meadowfoam seed oil
- The brand claims that hyaluronic acid and spirulina are key ingredients, but these are used in very low concentrations (less than 1%). We know this by looking at the ingredient list (which is in order of descending concentrations). Both of these ingredients are listed after the preservative phenoxyethanol, which cannot be used in concentrations more than 1%
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit 10-Minute Rehab Green Juice Charcoal Detox Mask
- Rinse-off face mask that is claimed to draw out pollutants and replenish skin with nutrient-rich ingredients
- Key ingredients include kaolin clay and magnesium aluminum silicate, which both help to absorb excess oil
- Additional key ingredients include bamboo powder, glycolic acid, aloe vera leaf juice, glycerin, lactic acid, kiwi fruit extract, and cucumber fruit extract
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Total Reboot AHA/BHA Enzyme Peel
- Weekly exfoliating peel
- Contains a blend of AHAs (glycolic acid and lactic acid), BHA (salicylic acid), and PHA (gluconolactone)
- Also contains pineapple and papaya fruit enzymes (bromelain and papain)
- Claimed to exfoliate dull, dry cells and help accelerate cell turnover to reveal brighter, smooth skin
- Contains fragrance
Bad Habit Adaptogen Hydrating Mist
- Facial mist that is claimed to deliver instant hydration while calming stressed-out skin
- Key ingredients include glycerin, aloe vera leaf juice, sodium hyaluronate, caffeine, rose flower water, kiwi fruit extract, and cucumber fruit extract
- Contains fragrance
What Are The Key Ingredients in Bad Habit Skin Care Products?
All Bad Habit skin care products are formulated without parabens, sulfates, phthalates, mineral oil, formaldehydes, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, triclocarban, and other potentially harmful ingredients.
You probably noticed that the brand uses a wide variety of key ingredients to formulate their products, including a mix of both synthetic and naturally-derived ingredients. We like that the brand uses evidence-based ingredients like glycolic and lactic acid (AHAs), salicylic acid (BHA), sodium hyaluronate, squalane, niacinamide, shea butter, and more.
One thing to keep in mind before trying Bad Habit skin care products is that nearly all of the products contain fragrance ingredients. For example, the Bad Habit Hyaluronic Mask contains fragrance (parfum), limonene, linalool, geraniol, farnesol, and citral. The brand calls these “functional fragrances” that are meant to make using their products feel more like self-care and less like a routine. While their intentions are good, the fragrance ingredients in these products aren’t helping your skin in any way. So why is fragrance a problem in skin care? Let’s look at the science.
All fragrance ingredients (whether natural or synthetic) impart scent through a volatile reaction, and this natural reaction almost always causes a sensitizing reaction on skin. In fact, according to a 2016 publication in the scholarly journal Dermatitis, nearly 80 essential oils have caused contact allergy. Even if you don’t have a full blown reaction to the ingredient, the damage may still be occurring every day. Ultimately, this can cause mild problems for your skin in the short term and worse problems in the long term.
Where are Bad Habit Skin Care Products Sold?
Bad Habit skin care products are sold on Morphe.com and Ulta.com.
What is The Morphe Return Policy?
The Morphe return policy states, “For online purchases during this time, we have extended our 30-day return policy to 60 days from the ship date. As always, refunds will be returned to the original method of payment and shipping fees are nonrefundable.”
Is Bad Habit Cruelty Free?
Yes, Bad Habit is cruelty free. The brand states, “We don’t support, condone, or conduct animal testing on any of our ingredients or finished products. We also don’t allow any of our manufacturers to test on animals on our behalf.”
Our Verdict
Overall, we think that Bad Habit skin care products are hit-or-miss. Some products are formulated well, such as the Bad Habit Multivitamin Moisturizer and Total Reboot AHA/BHA Enzyme Peel. But we noticed that other products, like the Bad Habit Hydrating Hyaluronic Mask, contain very low concentrations of key ingredients.
Pros
- Products contain evidence-based ingredients like glycolic and lactic acid (AHAs), salicylic acid (BHA), sodium hyaluronate, squalane, niacinamide, shea butter, and more
Cons
- Some products contain very low concentrations of key ingredients
- Nearly all products contain fragrance (Bad Habit eye cream does not)
References:
1. Pharmacogn Rev. 2014 Jan-Jun; 8(15): 52–60.
2. de Groot AC, Schmidt E. Essential Oils, Part IV: Contact Allergy. Dermatitis. 2016;27(4):170-175. doi:10.1097/DER.0000000000000197
