PRODUCT REVIEW: FARMACY FILLING GOOD HYALURONIC ACID PLUMPING SERUM - BEST HYALURONIC ACID SERUM, BEST HYDRATING SERUM
FARMACY | FILLING GOOD HYALURONIC ACID PLUMPING SERUM
This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, New Hyaluronic Acid Serums I Love from Farmacy Beauty, Herbivore, Glossier and More - Best Hyaluronic Acid Serums, Best Hydrating Serums For Face. You can catch the full piece here.
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One of the most absurd experiences of every New Yorker is riding the subway train on a hot, humid summer day. It can literally be 90 degrees on the subway platform. I’ve taken the subway in Moscow, Hong Kong and Tokyo and believe that all of those cities have air conditioning in their subway stations. Why wouldn’t they? It’s just common sense. There are probably bathrooms in their stations, too. But New York? Nope. Feeling comfortable or somehow cared for in the New York City subway wouldn’t be very New York now would it?
So, I sweat like a marathon runner on the train. Long ago, I began to carry what old-school New Yorkers refer to as a guinea rag in my backpack. “Guinea” being a derogatory term for an Italian-American, a guinea rag is basically a small, gym towel or kitchen rag a guy uses to soak up the sweat on his head.
On those hot days, and we had a few of them this past week, I feel like I sweat out all my body’s water content in an otherwise innocuous 40-minute train ride from Brooklyn to the Bronx.
But there’s a simple remedy for keeping skin hydrated on a hot summer day: a humectant serum.
And I love a good humectant serum! My most recent piece on humectants was right at the beginning of the year in a blog article titled, My Favorite Humectant Serums from Paula's Choice, The Inkey List, Ghost Democracy and More.
MY FAVORITE HUMECTANT SERUMS FROM PAULA'S CHOICE, THE INKEY LIST AND MORE - BEST HYALURONIC ACID SERUMS
Among my favorites featured were the The Ordinary’s Marine Hyaluronics and the Derma-E Ultra Hydrating Alkaline Gel Booster (it’s a mouthful, but worth the experience!). Notably, the Marine Hyaluronics serum from The Ordinary is one of the first two skincare products I use in my day — only minutes after Orpheus and I waken.
A good humectant serum is essential for maintaining skin health on both a hot summer day and during the harsh cold weeks of winter. Among the most effective hydrators (or re-hydrators!) is a well-formulated Hyaluronic Acid serum.
While Hyaluronic Acid is far and away the most popular and most sought-after of humectants, it is by no means the only one. Humectant ingredients that are equally effective at preventing trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and subsequent dehydration include: Beta Glucan, Butylene Glycol, Centella Asiatica, Polyglutamic Acid, Glycerin, Aloe Vera, Snow Mushroom and even common seaweed, or algae.
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What Is Trans-epidermal Water Loss?
There’s an excellent article on the health website Skin Better titled, What Is Transepidermal Water Loss and Why Is it Important? available here. In the piece, the author defines TEWL as follows:
“The skin is comprised of three primary layers: the epidermis, the outermost layer; the dermis or middle layer; and the hypodermis, the undermost layer. When water passes from the dermis through the epidermis and evaporates from the skin’s surface, this is known as transepidermal water loss (International Journal of Pharmaceutics).
While TEWL is a process that your skin naturally regulates, certain factors that can damage the skin’s barrier function can also affect TEWL levels. Circumstances such as injury, low-humidity weather conditions and topically applied products that dry out the skin can impact TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients.
Transepidermal water loss can contribute to a variety of dry skin conditions, and although it is a natural process, there are ways that you can help your skin stay moisturized and hydrated. Hydration refers to the water content of the skin, whereas moisturization is the skin’s ability to retain those water molecules. Therefore, your skin needs both elements to maintain desirable levels of TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients. Humectants help to draw moisture to the epidermis, either from the air if it is humid enough, or from the underlying dermis in low-humidity conditions. Because water content that is drawn from the dermis can be lost through TEWL, it’s important to combine the use of humectants with occlusives. Together, these ingredients create a reservoir of moisture in the epidermis and act as a barrier on the skin to help prevent TEWL by sealing in that moisture. The occlusive agents simultaneously keep pollutants, toxins and harmful bacteria out (Skin Therapy Letter).”
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Maintaining proper hydration levels year-round is essential if skin is going to function at its peak. Healthy functioning skin is better able to defend against external aggressors like pollution, UV, and free radical attacks. And healthy skin is better fortified against aging. So while it may seem slick to say that a humectant serum that helps keep skin hydrated is an effective anti-aging product, it’s not really a stretch at all. It’s simple common sense.
With that, let’s take a look at one of my new humectant serum discoveries for keeping skin optimally hydrated day after day (and especially the really hot ones!).
Farmacy | Filling Good Hyaluronic Acid Plumping Serum
I’m a long-time fan of Farmacy Beauty, in particular the brand’s iconic Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask — one of my favorite hydrating treats throughout the cold winter months. When I’m feeling dry, it’s Honey Potion to the rescue!
A few new Farmacy faves include the Farmacy Cheer Up Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream and Deep Sweep 2% BHA Pore Cleaning Toner with Moringa + Papaya — one of the best Salicylic Acid toners for clogged pores. A little daily pore maintenance is essential to keeping skin healthy, happy and youthful looking and Deep Sweep is ideal for getting deep into pores and clearing out the build-up that can cause a host of pore problems.
PRODUCT REVIEW: FARMACY DEEP SWEEP 2% BHA PORE CLEANING TONER – BEST SALICYLIC ACID TREATMENT
And, the brand’s new Filling Good Hyaluronic Acid Plumping Serum is quite special, too.
I was super excited and even honored to be among the first to test drive Farmacy Beauty’s Filling Good hydrating serum. It’s one of the best humectant serums I’ve come across. First, Filling Good is a pulpier type of serum, similar in texture to The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5. It’s thick and rich and ever so slightly gooey, but not at all sticky.
Farmacy says they infused their new plumping serum with what the brand calls Full-Spectrum Hyaluronic Acid. By that I assume they mean multi-molecular forms of Hyaluronic Acid that penetrate the skin at varying levels. Nice.
But what I think makes it so unique is the honey blend of Honey Extract, Propolis Extract and Royal Jelly Extract. There are a slew of antioxidant botanical extracts; among the most potent is Turmeric Root Extract — which I love in skincare!
And, there’s a new sexy star ingredient that I know nothing about: Thyme Flower Extract. Farmacy thinks it’s so special (and perhaps potent!) that they needed to encapsulate it.
According to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team, Thyme Extract is an “extract derived from the leaf or flower of the thyme plant. It can have potent antioxidant properties. Its fragrant component can also cause skin sensitivity, but thyme extract’s beneficial components can benefit skin. Generally speaking, thyme extract should not be one of the chief antioxidants in skincare products; however, in lower amounts and mixed with other antioxidants, it can be a beneficial addition.”
Farmacy Beauty’s Filling Good hyaluronic acid plumping serum is full of intrigue. With its unique silky texture, delicate honey aroma and multi-molecular forms of Hyaluronic Acid, it’s one of the better humectant serums. It’s clean, natural and effective.
And deliciously hydrating on a hot summer day!
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Farmacy Beauty Filling Good for $44 here.
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The Ingredient List of the Farmacy Beauty Filling Good:
Water/Aqua/Eau, Isoamyl Laurate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Isopentyldiol, Inositol, Glycerin, Inulin, Arginine, Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline, Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Flower/Leaf Extract, Honey Extract, Propolis Extract, Royal Jelly Extract, Sh-Polypeptide-123, Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract, Diisostearyl Malate, Maltooligosyl Glucoside, Propanediol, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-1, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Glycogen, Ceratonia Siliqua (Carob) Gum, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Sodium Phytate, Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Cellulose, Fructose, Glucose, Ocimum Basilicum (Basil) Flower/Leaf Extract, Ormenis Multicaulis Oil, Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract, Flavor/Aroma, Arachidyl Alcohol, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Extract, Behenyl Alcohol, Sclerotium Gum, Arachidyl Glucoside, Cellulose Gum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Lecithin, Limonene, Linalool, Xanthan Gum.
The Ingredient List of the Herbivore Cloud Jelly Plumping Hydration Serum:
so|h, Glycerin 
sii|h 0 0, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch Hydroxyethyl Ether h|vc, Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Water, Tremella Fuciformis Sporocarp Extract aox|h, Vegetable Collagen h, Fragaria Vesca (Strawberry) Fruit Extract, Prunus Persica (Peach) Fruit Extract abrasive/scrub|h, Hibiscus Sabdariffa (Hibiscus) Flower Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate amic|pres, Microcrystalline Cellulose vc, Sodium Phytate chel, Cellulose Gum vc 0 0, Gluconolactone exf|chel, Glyceryl Caprylate emo|emu, Arginine sii, Caprylhydroxamic Acid chel, Eclipta Prostrata (False Daisy) Extract, Melia Azadirachta (Neem) Leaf Extract, Moringa Oleifera (Moringa) Seed Oil emoThe Ingredient List of the Glossier Super Bounce Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin B5 Serum:
, Ethylhexyl Palmitate emo|perf 0 2-4, Glycerin sii|h 0 0, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emo, Propanediol solv|h, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Panthenol so|h 0 0, Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate emo|emu, Hexylene Glycol solv|emu|perf|surf 0-1 0-2, Xanthan Gum vc, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer vc, Disodium EDTA chel|vc, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Chlorphenesin pres|amic, Sodium Hydroxide buff
