Monday, October 26, 2009



Hyaluronic acid Serum by Juju cosmetics 
US $20.95
Amount 30ml
From http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Alpha-Beauty-Store



If you are a skin care addict like me than you’ve probably seen the term Hyaluronic acid being thrown around.   Restylane, a trade name for it, is used in injections to plump up wrinkles. But it is one of the new Star ingredients in a lot of topical skin care. 

As a topical ingredient it’s claimed to help moisturize the skin and improve moisture retention, and help plump wrinkles (through the skin being moist mostly). 
Since moisturizing is one of the 3 most essential components of any skin care routine (the other two being sun protection and cleansing) Hyaluronic acid is very interesting to me.



So why did I go out and buy a Japanese Hyaluronic acid serum when lots of moisturizers from reputable brands have Hyalurnoic acid listed.
Well, quite frankly I don’t trust brand packaging.
...
Really.  
I tried the Loreal; Skin Genesis line. I’m quite fond of L’Oreal, they are generally inexpensive, but of decent quality.
There was no noticeable moisturizing difference. Even after a couple of weeks of using the Serum and Moisturizer.
They were nice...
In my opinion Hyaluronic acid has fallen into the same trap as Retinol (retin, vitamin-a, etc.) It’s a selling feature, but there are no claims as to the amount of the key ingredient in the products.
You can add a miniscule drop of hyalronic acid and call it an ingredient.
So, I went to Juju. I love Juju. Seriously, I’ve used a ton of their products and they are always of really nice quality.
Now, I admit my Japanese skills aren’t very good. I can only roughly translate the label...
But, it’s supposed to be a hyaluronic acid serum, and I believe it.
The Japanese are so much more anal about their skin care.



So, the serum.
It’s clear with a gel like thickness. It goes on like water and absorbs immediately. Like freakishly immediately, as though my skin is a giant sponge baking in the desert. I apply a drop of the serum and it’s gone.
In fact, I have to be careful to spread it out quickly, otherwise it all gets absorbed into where I dabbed it...
Once applied my face feels exactly how it did before applying the serum.
It doesn’t feel moisturized, soft, wet, oily or sticky.
And if I don’t work quickly I can’t even tell where I’ve applied the serum and where I haven’t. 
I then move on and apply my moisturizer. Then I feel moist (well duh), but there’s no real textural difference than if I applied the moisturizer without having applied the Serum first.
So, so far, it seems like a dud right?
*laughs* that’s what I thought too.
But OMG, when I wake up in the morning, my face feels amazing. It’s like I just moisturized. My skin is soft and smooth and almost plumper.
And that softness carries on through most of the day. Even under make-up my skin is better moisturized.
It’s amazing.

The best part of all though is it makes even cheap moisturizers seem like magic. 
This stuff is so worth the money!


2 comments:

  1. I just got a chance to read through your posts...and I am loving your blog!
    It is very useful! Love the reviews...
    Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, now I have to try this out!

    ReplyDelete