[REVIEW] Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Cream (Before and After)

[1]💧Ingredients Breakdown [2]Instructions [3]Results VS. Claims [4]Before&After [5]Verdict

Price (use this link): 9 US$
Texture: Lightweight gel/cream mix
What you get: 1.7 Fl. oz / 50 mL
Cruelty-free: No

Instagram: @neutrogena

+INGREDIENTS

Ingredients of the Hydro Boost Gel-Cream with Hyaluronic Acid for Extra-Dry Skin: Water, Dimethicone (Emollient), Glycerin, Cetearyl Olivate (Emulsifying), Polyacrylamide (Viscosity Controlling), Sorbitan Olivate (Emulsifying), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Dimethicone/ Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer (Viscosity Controlling), Synthetic Beeswax (Thickener + Emulsifier +Emollient), C13-14 Isoparaffin (Emollient + Viscosity Controlling + Solvent), Dimethiconol (Emollient + Moisturizer/Humectant), Dimethicone Crosspolymer (Viscosity Controlling + Emulsion Stabilising), Chlorphenesin (Preservative + Antimicrobial/Antibacterial), Laureth-7 (Emulsifying + Surfactant/Cleansing), Carbomer (Viscosity Controlling + Emulsion Stabilising), Sodium Hyaluronate, Ethylhexylglycerin (Preservative + Deodorant), C12-14 Pareth-12 (Emulsifying + Surfactant/Cleansing), Sodium Hydroxide (Buffering)

💧In-Depth Details Of Interesting Ingredients:

Glycerine: Widely used as a quality Hydrator (occurs naturally in skin, and its chemical structure attracts water). You can find this ingredient in most good skin-replenishing products.
Sodium Hyaluronate: Hydrating (water-binding properties) + Wound healing (promotes microcirculation)

+HOW TO USE THE Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Cream

Apply evenly to face and neck after cleansing.

+WHAT DOES THE Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Cream DO?

Claims from the Neutrogena product page.

1.Keep your skin looking supple and hydrated every day: I’ve been using this for the past three weeks in cold European weather, and it has been hydrating and long-lasting enough for me. However, I have combination skin, so my skin isn’t that dry. I don’t think that the hydration this product provides is enough to satisfy people with dehydrated skin. As for suppleness, I don’t agree with this claim. I’ve tried products that give me really glowy skin or make my skin super plump after their application, and this wasn’t my experience with the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Cream.

2.Unique water gel-cream formula absorbs quickly, like a gel, but has the long-lasting moisturizing power of cream to quench your extra-dry skin’s thirst: Yes, this product gets absorbed super quickly, and its moisture and hydration powers are equivalent to those of a cream - but not a very powerful one. Again, I think everyone will enjoy the moisture level and consistency of this product (even people with oilier skin because the cream doesn't 'stay' on your face), but people with dryer skin will still need to follow up with something more moisturizing.

3.This rich gel relieves intense dryness to help restore skin's natural barrier against moisture loss: Of course, it relieves intense dryness and helps restore the skin's natural barrier. This is a moisturizer without fragrance, colorants, or ingredients known to sensitize the skin. It also has a lot of emollients. The real question here is not whether or not it will relieve intense dryness but to which level. If your skin is that dry, you should probably restore it with skin-barrier-oriented ingredients like the ones present in the AXIS-Y Cera-Heart My Type Duo Cream. The Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Cream doesn't really have antioxidants or nutrient-like ingredients except for the Sodium Hyaluronate.

4.Strengthening, moisturizing and nutrient-rich: Again, any moderately good moisturizer will strengthen your skin barrier, but with this particular product, the strengthening won’t be that high. It also isn’t nutrient-rich cream because it has a pretty basic ingredients list, so for me, this is a false claim. The only true thing is that this does moisturize.

5.Showed visible improvement with skin brightness in as little as 1 week: After three weeks of daily day and night use, I can report that my skin hasn't brightened. To have brightening properties, product formulas need to either incorporate exfoliating agents or ingredients that interact with melanin (the skin's pigment). This cream has neither. Again, its moisturizing ingredients will help your skin to heal itself quicker since moisturized skin is healthier skin. However, the Hydro Boost Water Gel Cream itself won't directly influence your skin's brightness. It also gets absorbed pretty fully, so there is no glow or dewiness left after application.

6.Gel matrix formula with liquid crystals spreads on skin to release water and powerful humectants to hydrate and lock it in for 48 hour: Two days is pushing it a bit. In my experience, you might be able to get away with a full day, but that's about it. I personally still feel the need to re-apply at night.

As you can see from the before and after, nothing really changed. The after might be 1% brighter, but that’s about it. I’ve also encircled my smile lines for you to see that they don’t get plumped.

What I want you to take from this review is that this is a very basic cream that isn’t going to revolutionize your skin. It will moisturize it, and that’s it. Am I mad about that? No. For me, the role of moisturizers is just to be occlusive. I don’t need one to incorporate a sea of crazy anti-inflammatory or antioxidative ingredients. Also, for US$ 9, I can’t really complain. My only issue is that I feel like this could have been more moisturizing and hydrating.

As for recommendations, if you’re looking for a simple basic moisturizer and you have combination or normal skin, you’ve hit the jackpot. People with oilier skin should be okay with it too, I haven’t personally found it too occlusive at all, and it’s more gel-like than cream-like. People with sensitive skin should, in theory, be okay with it, too, since it doesn’t have fragrance or colorants. However, if I had your skin type, I would look for a moisturizer with anti-inflammatory ingredients instead.

As for my fellow acne-prone types, this didn’t trigger any type of acne on my skin, but I would advise you to check this list out instead: [10] Anti-Acne products that actually work + A Skincare routine which recommends products geared toward your skin type. Finally, to the people this cream was formulated for: extra dry skin types, I don’t think this will be enough to quench your skin on its own.

+BENEFITS:

Gets absorbed fast
No unnecessary sensitizing ingredients like fragrance or colorants
Layerable
Hydrating and moisturizing enough for most skin types

-CONS:

Not moisturizing enough for very dry skin

💧💧💧Score: 3.5/5 --- If you’re looking for an affordable, straightforward moisturizer, this is a great choice overall. It would have gotten a higher score if it plumped up my fine lines and made my skin look nicer (dewy/glowy) while wearing it.

+AMAZON

+Yesstyle: If you use my code: DEWILDE you can get up to 5% off on any Yesstyle purchase at checkout

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