PRODUCT REVIEW: NATURIUM QUADRUPLE HYALURONIC ACID SERUM 5% - BEST ANTI-AGING SERUM, BEST HYDRATING SERUM WITH HYALURONIC ACID
NATURIUM | QUADRUPLE HYALURONIC ACID SERUM 5%
This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Hydrating Serums I'm into from Naturium, Youth To The People, Purito and More. You can catch the full piece here.
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A cold January day in New York City can feel oddly exhilarating. It didn’t used to be that way for me. I always loathed the cold growing up. And until very recently, a matter of three years ago, I dreaded winter.
As I entered into what can best be described as male menopause, complete with migraines and hot flashes, I began to appreciate and even long for cold air.
Yet while the cold now numbs my head on a migraine day, it’s also quite dehydrating, which can quickly make a migraine more intense. So I do what I can to stay hydrated. That means lots and lots of water. However, drinking the recommended amount of water each day is not enough to prevent your skin from dehydrating — and to defend against the visible effects of dehydration on your face.
There’s a simple remedy for keeping your skin optimally hydrated on a cold, dry, low-humidity day: a well-formulated humectant serum. And I love a good humectant serum!
My most recent piece on humectants was in the middle of summer, when a hot July day can be just as dehydrating as a cold January day. The blog article was titled, New Hyaluronic Acid Serums I Love from Farmacy Beauty, Herbivore, Glossier and More.
NEW HYALURONIC ACID SERUMS I LOVE FROM FARMACY BEAUTY, HERBIVORE, GLOSSIER AND MORE
Among my favorites featured were Farmacy Beauty Filling Good Hyaluronic Acid Plumping Serum — a wonderfully hydrating blend of Honey Extract, Propolis Extract and Royal Jelly Extract. As I said, Farmacy Beauty’s Filling Good hydrating 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 best humectant serums to fix dehydrated skin.
Another favorite humectant serum I featured in the article was the Herbivore Cloud Jelly Plumping Hydration Serum. It’s a slightly milky, silky serum loaded with rehydrating goodness for the skin. Like the brand’s Pink Cloud Jelly Cleanser, the Cloud Jelly serum is infused with Snow Mushroom — a sexy sounding hydrator believed to be a more effective humectant than Hyaluronic Acid itself. In addition to Snow Mushroom, there are several other humectants, including Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, and Rose Flower Water.
Psst…you can catch my review of Herbivore’s Cloud Jelly Plumping Hydration Serum on the blog here.
So a good humectant serum is essential for maintaining skin health on both a hot summer day and during the harsh cold months 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 honey and common seaweed, or algae.
Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: The Best Products for Cold Weather
Throughout my FW21 series on seasonal skincare transitioning, I’ve talked about what I refer to as the Skincarma Lock & Block strategy. What I’m referring to are the two measures necessary for preventing trans-epidermal water loss and subsequent dehydration. They are locking water in the skin with humectants and blocking the escape of moisture through the skin barrier with occlusive products like heavier facial oils and creams.
The Skincarma “Lock and Block” Prevents Dehydration
To start, preventing dehydration in the first place requires drinking enough water. That differs for each of us based on our weight, the foods we eat, and the climate we live in. It’s even more important during colder periods.
A good rule is to drink one ounce of water each day for every pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 150 lbs., you’ll need to drink 150 ounces of water each and every day to keep your body and your skin optimally hydrated.
Then, employing skincare to treat and prevent dehydration requires what I refer to as a “lock and block” strategy.
It begins with a dedicated humectant serum applied to the skin in both your AM and PM routines that helps to lock water in. Follow with a moisturizer composed of a healthy balance of both humectants and oils to block and prevent the trans-epidermal water loss that can lead to dehydration.
SEASONAL SKINCARE: MOISTURIZERS THAT MAKE ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER - BEST FACE CREAMS FOR DRY SKIN
What Is Trans-Epidermal Water Loss and What Causes Trans Epidermal Water Loss?
For a deeper dive (no pun intended!) into trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL, there’s an excellent article on the health website Skin Better titled, What Is Transepidermal Water Loss and Why Is it Important? It’s available to read here.
In the piece, the author explains 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).”
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 favorite new humectant serums for keeping skin optimally hydrated in both harsh heat and bone-chilling cold....
Naturium | Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5%
Naturium is definitely one of my favorite brand discoveries of 2021. Haven’t tried it yet? Naturium is a clean, affordable (make that super affordable!) skincare brand with the kind of “single-note” serums that have been popularized by brands like The Ordinary, Good Molecules and The Inkey List.
If you want to know more about this curious little brand with some of the best hydrating serums and antioxidant vitamin serums for protecting skin, check out this deep-dive into Naturium on the Allure website titled, 9 Naturium Skin-Care Products Our Editors Can’t Get Enough of.
Here is an excerpt:
Because the options are endless, consumers are becoming more discerning, more educated, and as a result, more determined to find products that actually work (and won’t cost them their entire rent check). It makes sense, then, why scientifically-backed, highly-effective, yet affordable brands like Naturium (available at Target) are finding huge success among skin-care newbies and devotees alike.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen the interest in easy-to-digest skin-care education and results-driven products increase on social media,” Susan Yara, co-founder of Naturium, tells Allure. “What seemed to be lacking from the market was a brand that offered the education and the results, paired with elegant, well-rounded formulas and packaging at an accessible price.”
Yara should know — she’s been a popular beauty content creator for years, reviewing hundreds of skin-care products on her YouTube channel and listening closely to what her viewers were looking for to complete their skin-care regimens. “That’s what we offer with Naturium. Everyone that buys from us knows our products will work well, feel great, and fulfill our mantra that skin-care is self-care.” Naturium’s advising board-certified dermatologist Dr. Alexis Stephens supports Yara’s claim. “I like that Naturium makes highly effective, beautifully formulated products feel more accessible to everyday consumers. They use ingredients that are proven to help even skin tone, decongest pores, and encourage healthier skin in general. There’s a product that works for everyone,” Stephens tells Allure.
PRODUCT REVIEW: NATURIUM NIACINAMIDE SERUM 12% PLUS ZINC 2% - BEST NIACINAMIDE SERUM OILY SKIN
Over the last several months, I’ve been exploring Naturium’s most popular, affordably priced serums. Not surprisingly, the Niacinamide Serum 12% Plus Zinc 2% has become a personal fave. With a solid 12% concentration of antioxidant Niacinamide, the Niacinamide Serum 12% Plus Zinc 2% has a silky, ever-so-slightly-sticky texture.
It makes sense since the formula pairs Niacinamide and Zinc — an ingredient with potential for regulating sebum in oily skin. It’s not off-putting and I really love the simple efficacy of the product. You can catch my review of it here.
Another of my Naturium go-to’s is the brand’s $20 Vitamin C Complex Serum — one of the best Vitamin C serums for the price. It’s a water-based Vitamin C serum powered by a duo of pure Ascorbic Acid and the Vitamin C derivative, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate.
Notably, the formula also contains a healthy dose of Glutathione, a powerful antioxidant naturally produced by the body. You can’t go wrong with the Naturium Vitamin C Complex Serum. I invite you to discover it on the blog here.
PRODUCT REVIEW: NATURIUM VITAMIN C COMPLEX SERUM - BEST VITAMIN C SERUM, BEST BRIGHTENING SERUM
So I’ve been eager to try Naturium’s Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5%. At just $16, this Hyaluronic Acid serum is on par with other democratically priced HA serums, including The Inkey List’s Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Serum at $7.99 and the iconic $7.50 Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 Hydrating Serum from The Ordinary.
Except, the Naturium Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5% is actually a better formula than those two wildly popular hydrating serums. Why? Because it’s formulated with multiple forms of HA at four different molecular weights. What that means is you get a broader, more effective humectant benefit through this skin’s uppermost layers.
What Is Hyaluronic Acid and What Does Hyaluronic Acid Do for the Skin?
Naturally occurring in the body, Hyaluronic Acid (HA) is a polysaccharide, or sugar, found in skin tissue. HA is essential for skin health and for keeping skin hydrated. The body’s store of the substance varies due to aging, climate, and other environmental factors.
One of HA’s most important roles in the skin is as a humectant, with the ability to lock onto water molecules to prevent trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL, and keep skin optimally hydrated and healthy. Over time, the skin’s levels of Hyaluronic Acid are depleted, leaving it more vulnerable to dehydration and resultant signs of aging.
I love this article on Hyaluronic Acid on the Healthline website titled, Why Science Says Hyaluronic Acid Is the Holy Grail to Wrinkle-Free, Youthful Hydration. It’s wonky and full of insights. Check this part out:
“The benefits of hyaluronic acid on the skin has to do with its molecular weight and concentration. In this case, size matters! The molecular weight refers to its mass, or how big the HA molecule is. This is measured in something called unified atomic mass units — daltons, or kDa for short.
HA between 50 to 1,000 kDa is the most beneficial for skin, with about 130 kDa being the best, according to the most recent human studies. Anything higher won't make too much of a difference. Anything lower might cause inflammation. How did we get this number? When you look at studies, you'll see a pattern, but one of the most thorough studies looked at HA with different molecular weights, including 50, 130, 300, 800, and 2,000 kDa.
After one month, they found that treatment with 130 kDa HA was the most effective, increasing skin elasticity by 20 percent. Both the 50 and 130 kDa groups had significant improvement in wrinkle-depth and skin roughness after 60 days. All the other molecular weights still improved elasticity and skin hydration, just less so. You can read more about this molecular weight analysis from the original breakdown here.”
In addition, unlike The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 Hydrating Serum, the Naturium Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5% contains more pro-skin health actives, something you couldn’t get at an ultra-low price point.
The formula actually contains both Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) and Vitamin C in the form of oil-soluble Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate. According to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team, THD Ascorbate is “a highly stable form of vitamin C that is considered an analogue of L-ascorbic acid. Enzymes within skin convert this form of vitamin C to pure vitamin C, ascorbic acid.”
The Naturium Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5% has a lightweight, slightly puppy texture that absorbs into the skin relatively quickly, making it easily layered before oil-based serums and heavier face creams and facial oils — essential for locking in moisture in the Skincarma Lock & Block.
What I like about it: At just $16, the Naturium Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5% is super affordable humectant serum with multiple molecular weights of Hyaluronic Acid. I also love the addition of both Vitamin E and Vitamin C. It’s such a superb pro-skin health serum for the price.
What I don’t like about it: Honestly, there’s nothing I don’t like about it.
Who it’s for: All skin types, even oily or acne-prone.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Naturium Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5% for $16 here.
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The Ingredient List of the Youth To The People Triple Peptide + Cactus Hydrating + Firming Oasis Serum:
sii|h 0 0, Pentylene Glycol solv|h, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem (Prickly Pear Cactus) Extract 
so, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 cci, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 cci, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-28, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate h, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer sii|aox|h, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate h, Synthetic Sapphire, Citrullus Lanatus (Watermelon) Fruit Extract aox, Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Fruit Extract h, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract h, Nephelium Lappaceum Peel (Rambutan) Extract, Sodium PCA sii|h 0 0, Glutathione, Malachite Extract aox, Citric Acid buff, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose surf|vc 0 1, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate chel, Polyglutamic Acid h, 1,2-Hexanediol solv, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Sodium Lactate buff|h, Carbomer vc 0 1, Propanediol solv|h, Polysorbate 20 emu|surf 0 0, Hydroxyethylcellulose vc, Xanthan Gum vc, Phenoxyethanol pres, Ethylhexylglycerin pres, Sodium Benzoate pres, Potassium Sorbate pres, Disodium Phosphate buff, Polysorbate 60 emu|surf, Benzyl Alcohol pres|perf|solv|vc, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Glyceryl Caprylate pres, Sodium Formate buff|pres, Sodium Glycolate buff, Sodium Phosphate buff, Benzoic Acid presThe Ingredient List of the Naturium Quadruple Hyaluronic Acid Serum 5%:
sii|h 0 0, Propanediol solv|h, Hyaluronic Acid sii|h, Sphingolipids emo, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid h, Honey so|h|amic, Magnolol aox|sb, Hexylene Glycol solv|emu|perf|surf 0-1 0-2, Kaempferol aox|emo, Phospholipids sii|emo, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate aox|sb, Tocopheryl Acetate aox 0 0, Apricot Kernel Oil Polyglyceryl-6 Esters emo|emu|surf, Polyglyceryl-6 Oleate emu, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Polyglyceryl-10 Oleate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer vc, Sorbitan Palmate emo, Potassium Sorbate pres, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Sodium Dehydroacetate pres, Xanthan Gum vc, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Citric Acid buff, Phenoxyethanol presThe Ingredient List of the Purito DermHA-3 Serum:
sii|h 0 0, 1,2-Hexanediol (Solvents) solv, Panthenol (Strengthens Skin Barrier) so|h 0 0, Glycerin (Humectant) sii|h 0 0, Glyceryl Glucoside (Moisturizing Agent) h, Caprylyl Glycol (Skin-Conditioning Agent) h|emo, Pentylene Glycol (Skin-Conditioning Agent) solv|h, Hydroxyethylcellulose (Viscosity Increasing Agents) vc, Allantoin (Skin-Conditioning Agent) so 0 0, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate (Skin Protectant) so|h, Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent) chel, Malachite Extract (Skin-Conditioning Agents) aox, Copper Tripeptide-1(Skin Firming Agent) cci|so|aox, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid (Humectant) h, Hydroxyacetophenone (Antioxidants) aox, Ethylhexylglycerin (Skin-Conditioning Agent) pres, Madecassoside (Strengthens Skin Barrier) aox|so, Asiaticoside (Skin-Conditioning Agent) aox|perf, Asiatic Acid (Skin-Conditioning Agent) , Madecassic Acid (Skin-Conditioning Agent) , Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate (Humectant) hThe Ingredient List of the Ghost Democracy Floodgate Hyaluronic Acid Serum:
cci|sb|aacne|h, Propanediol solv|h, Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid) sii|h 0 0, Tilia Cordata (Linden) Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis (White Tea) Leaf Extract aox|so, Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flower Extract, Glycerin sii|h 0 0, Phytic Acid chel, Xanthan Gum vc, Phenoxyethanol pres, Ethylhexylglycerin pres
