As a good looks editor, my vainness, workspace, and drugs cupboard are flooded with dear skin care merchandise—on the other hand, issues weren’t at all times this fashion. While I at all times adored make-up in my early life, saving each penny to snag the newest launches from my favourite superstar MUA manufacturers, skin care was once at all times a nook to chop. That was once till I used to be influenced to check out the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel.
Key Takeaways
- I examined the Neutrogena Water Gel morning and evening for every week.
- It successfully hydrated and refreshed my dry, touchy pores and skin.
- I’d suggest it as a summer time moisturizer as opposed to a iciness one.
From center faculty to school, my skin care routine consisted of simply two merchandise: a Cetaphil facial cleanser and a CeraVe moisturizer (and TBH, they did the process). Why? Because they had been reasonably priced and simply to be had at my native Target. Blame it on my low-maintenance pores and skin or my former standing as a broke scholar, however it served me to buy the drugstore aisles quite than the luxurious cabinets—for the primary 21 years of my existence, a minimum of. And then got here a post-grad process with good looks advantages stacked to the sky, and slowly, my humanity started to strip away.
“I could hear people getting bored with me but I couldn’t stop… It just kept coming up like word vomit,” I say within the tone of Lindsay Lohan’s Cady in Mean Girls. Expensive skin care temporarily turned into a fixation: I’d suggest $100 moisturizers to pals once they requested what’s nice in this day and age, incomes well-merited eye rolls. I’d hoard $200 serums after the usage of $10 formulation for years. I may listen myself turning into so out of contact with truth that I wanted to do so, and temporarily—so once I heard how a lot real-life customers and editors alike had been loving this drugstore water cream, I knew this was once what I had to deliver me go into reverse to earth.
About the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel
Size: 1.7 oz.. | Refillable: Yes | Key substances: Hyaluronic acid, amino acids, electrolytes | Fragranced: Yes | Skin kind: Normal, dry, oil, mixture, pimples-prone
“Neutrogena Hydro Boost is a great everyday hydrator for anyone with normal to oily or combo skin who wants lightweight moisture,” board-certified dermatologist Jessie Cheung tells Who What Wear. Cosmetic and Mohs pores and skin most cancers surgeon Sheila Farhang, MD, additionally vouches for its sensitive- and mature-skin compatibility due to a mattress of barrier-strengthening substances. “Because it’s formulated with hyaluronic acid, a humectant that draws in moisture, it helps plump the skin, which is especially helpful for aging or mature skin,” Farhang explains.
Both mavens lauded this watery method for its fast absorption, making it simple to layer beneath make-up and SPF—a top quality I’ve been on the lookout for in my contemporary skin care acquisitions. But Anay Kacharia, a beauty chemist, says there’s a lot more to this drugstore product than your conventional moisturizer.
“I would say the highlight of the Hydro Boost is its appealing texture and the burst of immediate hydration as the gel breaks,” says Kacharia. “Standard water gels tend to lose moisture after the initial hydration, but the emollients used in this formula provide a balanced level of moisturization without feeling heavy.” He recommends this product for the ones with dry and cracked pores and skin, because the method is infused with quite a lot of glycerin, which is “an excellent humectant and a healing ingredient for the skin,” Kacharia explains.
About My Skin
Since I’m the tester, it’s vital to know my pores and skin kind to infer if it is going to carry out in a similar fashion for you. As described by way of dermatologists (and me), my stats are as follows:
- Normal to seasonally dry pores and skin; touchy to oils, robust fragrances, and acids
- Slowly creating rosacea alongside apples of cheeks, vulnerable to redness
- No historical past of pimples but even so an occasional pimple
- No indicators of hyperpigmentation or solar harm
- Genetically darkish under-eye spaces
The Testing Process
Now, I gained’t misinform you and inform you I’ve been dressed in this product religiously—I’m a good looks editor with dozens of items to check a week, in any case. But I can say that I used this moisturizer day and evening for every week, and there are a number of causes it’s incomes a place in my status logo–stacked medication cupboard a ways previous the trying out duration.
Things I Loved
Too many steps in my pores and skin routine normally reasons my make-up to tablet, however that was once not at all the case with the Hydro Boost. This refreshing, light-blue tincture left my pores and skin feeling immediately soothed, however what stunned me greater than its spa-towel coolness was once how temporarily the method sank into my pores and skin—turning into nearly undetectable in lower than a minute.
“It is a lightweight formulation, so it hydrates the skin without heaviness, greasiness, or pore-clogging (comedogenic) ingredients,” Farhang explains, spotlighting its protection for acne-prone pores and skin. Because of its featherlight really feel, I used to be ready to use my SPF and make-up proper on best sans creasing or pilling, and it made my pores and skin really feel breathable within the sticky New York summer time humidity. Its fast-absorbing method made this moisturizer my pre-workout go-to—soaking up temporarily for an additional dose of hydration earlier than a scorching yoga elegance—and it performed nicely with different formulation, just like the self-tanning serums and delicate exfoliators that I take advantage of somewhat steadily.
It’s price bringing up that this moisturizer has a mild, blank smell, however it’s no longer overpowering nor frustrating to touchy pores and skin. (Take it from somebody whose pores and skin will get simply miffed by way of new merchandise and stark climate shifts.)
Things I Didn’t Love
TBH, there’s no longer a lot I didn’t deal with after trying out this product for every week. My pores and skin felt hydrated and supple—my frequently dull-looking complexion coming alive with a juicy glow. But whilst this product does be offering a cooling whoosh of hydration, it’s extra of a temporary resolution quite than an extended one, and you might have considered trying to check out one thing richer when you’ve got very dry pores and skin.
In the similar vein, I like this method for a light-weight summer time moisturizer (learn: non-sticky, by no means balmy, and ethereal sufficient to let my pores and skin breathe in humid climate), however I’d succeed in for one thing extra really extensive within the iciness to maintain my temperamental, very dry iciness pores and skin.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is a brilliant possibility for someone who’s on the lookout for a budget-friendly, light-weight moisturizer that delivers on hydration and performs nicely with different merchandise. I’d recommend the usage of this as a base on your thicker moisturizer within the wintertime. Though, it’s an ideal on a regular basis possibility for warm-weather climates and summertime.
What Is the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Good For?
This moisturizer is nice for turning in light-weight hydration to a overwhelming majority of pores and skin sorts, together with dry, oily, mixture, acne-prone, and touchy. It’s additionally nice for people who find themselves at the cross or love to layer their merchandise, as this method dries temporarily and permits for seamless make-up, SPF, and different product programs.
Can I Use the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Every Day?
Yes, you’ll be able to indisputably use the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel each day. Its ethereal method is delicate sufficient to make use of morning and evening (or up to you’d like) on account of its good-for-you homes and fast-absorbing texture.
Is the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Good for Mature Skin?
“As we age, our skin loses moisture and elasticity, making the fine lines look more obvious. Skin cell turnover is also slowed down,” says Farhang. “The Hydro Boost Gel contains hyaluronic acid, which … pulls in and plumps the skin. It’s lightweight, which makes it great for layering with other anti-aging products,” she provides.
However, Cheung advises that the ones with extra outlined indicators of getting old use the Hydro Boost as a base layer and observe up with one thing stronger later on. “Look for richer textures or added actives, like peptides or ceramides, to really support the skin barrier and firmness,” she recommends.
What Is Hyaluronic Acid?
“Hyaluronic acid is a humectant, which means it has the ability to attract and retain moisture,” says board-certified dermatologist and Mohs surgeon Tiffany Libby, MD. “It has exceptional hydrating properties and can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water. By drawing moisture from the air into the skin’s surface, hyaluronic acid helps to hydrate the skin, making it look more plump and luminous.”
Farhang mentions that she loves how light-weight hyaluronic acid is, however it’s as it’s so ethereal that Cheung suggests layering every other product on best to get the total vary of its advantages. “[Hyaluronic acid] helps smooth fine lines and gives skin that fresh, dewy look, but you always want to combine [it] with some emollients to seal in the moisture,” explains Cheung.
Who’s Who
Explore More: