Ingredients:
Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Acetyl Hyaluronate, Sodium Hyaluronate, PPG-10 Methyl Glucose Ether, Disodium Succinate, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Succinic Acid, Methylparaben
As per COSDNA, the only ingredients they highlighted is the Butylene Glycol. This is a known as a moisturizing agent and solvent.
Trial Duration: 2 days
Price: 195 PHP (Watson) / around 4 USD – 30 ml
*** the one I bought is in travel / trial. size This size might not be available for other locations. There is a 170 ml version of this which cost 685 PHP (around 14 USD).
Packaging:
Current Skin Condition: Combination
Environment: Tropical – warm with little humidity
Review:
So recently my face has gone drier than the usual. I’m not surprised because if you follow my other blogs you would know that I use Azelaic Acid (15%) and Tretinoin (.05%) – very, very drying. Good thing about my condition though is that the peeling is almost gone now. Unlike before when I was starting with these ingredients, I get a lot of dry patches (part of tolerance building).
Anyway, because of my dry condition I thought about adding some extra moisture into my routine. I heard a lot of people globally talking about Hada Labo HA lotion. I didn’t think about it that much until officially this brand has opened some of its product in our local market (and there goes my sign). A soon as I heard about this, I immediately went to our trusted local pharmacy which is Watson.
Since I’m not sure if I can stick to this product for long, I though about buying the smaller version – the 30 ml travel size.
Immediately after I got home (around late afternoon), I removed all my makeups and sunscreen and cleansed my face with Simple Facial Wash. I didn’t dry my face with towel but rather just let it drain a little bit for less than a minute then went to this product. The amount of product I used is around 5 drops. 5 drops gave me some excess so I tapped the remaining into my neck. By the way, based from the promotion video of this product, the proper way of using this is by tapping. This is to make sure that we are not pushing the product away from our skin.
The feeling of this product into my skin is somewhat sticky. I read about HA in general and it is expected as humectants are sticky in nature. My personal experience after applying this (and as someone who is new to Hyaluronic Acids), I am a bit surprised and startled. Anyway, I still went on to the next step.
After around one minute, I followed it with my go-to moisturizer (Simple Hydrating Light Moisturizer). As usual, I used a very small pea size of this moisturizer on top of my skin. For the record, I did not buy the water gel or cream of this brand as I’m not sure how well this brand is. Anyway, I tapped my moisturizer until it becomes dry. The stickiness went a lot less after I put my moisturizer.
After few hours of being in this product, I noticed that my skin is a bit drier despite the claim of this product. I went to research further on how to use this. Since I live in the Philippines and humid is very abundant in this country, my expectation is that I won’t be needing much moisturizer as my environment can supplement it. That wasn’t the case. Apparently since I used a very small amount of moisturizer and my environment is not humid enough, HA slightly sucked the moisture out of my skin. It was not a lot but you will notice it.
Late night of that very same day, I cleansed my face again (using the same products). This time, I added some few more pea size of the same moisturizer. I guess you can say that I went generous this time. Of course, I have to wait until morning to see the effect. I didn’t expect much as I sleep on an air conditioned room. My face is usually drier in this setup and the next morning, my face will be too oily especially in the t-zone area. However, to my surprised, my face is not as oily as I am expecting it to be. It’s like having a slightly normal skin condition but with very little oil. My t-zone isn’t as oily as it used to be when I woke up. Also, for the record, my skin isn’t exactly as perfect as baby’s butt, but it is better when it comes to hydration. I guess if I wanted it to be more hydrated, committing longer to this product is necessary. Despite having a lot of praises and effect almost instantly, do consider that this product is not an overnight magic.
If I wanted to have a more “supple” result, it is a must to invest more time and effort in using this product. What this product will give you is a “help” in drawing moist into your skin. This product itself is not a moisturizer and best to supplement your routine with a good moisturizer (unless you live in a place way too humid than Manila). It is important to know that Hyaluronic Acid is a very greedy ingredient. If it can’t draw moist from the environment (including your moisturizer), it will take it from your skin, causing you a drier feeling.
Will I buy this again? Yes but I would buy the 170ml instead as you can save more money here.
PS: I haven’t tried it with my Tretinoin nights. From my research the molecules of this acid is small enough that Tretinoin itself can penetrate. There is also no known issue of HA cancelling out the effect of Tretinoin. I’m planning to use this immediately after cleansing and before my moisturize (and yes, I buffer before Tretinoin). If by any chance, the result is not good, I’ll update this post.
Takeaways:
- Should be used at least twice a day for best result (or every time you wash your face, whatever is the most frequent)
- Sticky but when you put moisturizer, it disappears
- Supplement your routine with moisturizer, water based is preferable
- This product would be extra good in a more humid place (adding a humidifier would be a good addition but not a must)
- This is not meant to replace your moisturizer
- The bigger version (170ml) is a good way to save money
Roiski 