I feel like sometimes choosing the correct skincare is a guessing game. Which we need to keep doing over and over, since skin changes throughout the year. Will this moisturizer be too heavy for my combination skin? Will this lotion help my dry skin? There are plenty of products out there that might have the right active ingredients that you’re looking for, but they aren’t quite right for your skin type.
L’Oreal is trying to at least make moisturizers a bit easier with their new Hydra Genius line. There are 3 versions, all formulated very similarly in terms of active ingredients, but they are labelled with your skin type. Have oily skin? Here’s the lighter weight version for normal to oily skin. On the drier side, or really dry side? You can chose between the cream or lighter gel lotion, depending upon how dry you feel your skin is at that time.
The main ingredient of these moisturizers is Glycerin, with a lot of added in Hyaluronic Acid (quick refresher, this isn’t really an acid, instead it is a large molecule that your skin already makes, it sits on the surface of the skin and holds a lot of moisture in your skin. It can hold up to 1000x its own weight in water!), both are hydrating but don’t feel heavy on the skin. Looking at the full ingredient lists (which L’Oreal has on their site) reveals that they also have aloe for soothing as well as dimethicone, a silicone that helps to smooth the skin, holding in moisture longer.
The texture of the moisturizer is very interesting. It’s somewhere between a lotion and a gel, melting quickly upon contact with warm skin. It feels good when I rub it into my skin, and it absorbs fully within a minute or so. I’ve been using the normal/oily skin version, and I’ve found that it is just the right amount of moisture for my combination skin. It’s also perfect for under makeup, likely due to the dimethicone, as it makes my skin appear smoother. I haven’t tried out the dry skin versions, but the lotion is more likely to be a good match for my skin than the cream, so I’ll probably hold on to it for a dry skin day.
I’m a doctor, a mommy and a bit of a beauty addict. If you let me, I can take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. Really. I'm on a quest for faster beauty that works!