Light Gel Moisturiser

Details

A water gel with no oils and no butters in it at all, for oily and combination skin, and for anyone who says they cannot wear a moisturiser. Fourteen ingredients, each with a percentage. Two cheats live in this product category and both are numbers. The first is a name with no dose. With niacinamide can legally mean 0.1 percent, and the front of a pack is allowed to carry the word regardless. This one is 4.0 percent, which is the strength most skin tolerates without flushing and where the evidence for oil control and barrier lipid synthesis actually sits. There is a second layer to that number that almost nobody discusses: the raw material matters. Niacinamide hydrolyses to nicotinic acid, and nicotinic acid is the molecule that makes a face go red and hot. The grade used here is tested to under 100 ppm nicotinic acid, and the formula is held at pH 5.8 rather than 5.5 because below about pH 5 that hydrolysis speeds up over the life of a tube. Skin's own surface is 4.7 to 5.75, so 5.8 sits a shade above it, and this is the trade we chose and the reason for it. The second is hyaluronic acid, where the market inflates upward and we are going the other way. This carries 0.5 percent total, not the 1 percent a listing of this kind usually claims, split as 0.1 percent high molecular weight at about 1.5 million daltons and 0.4 percent hydrolysed at about 10 thousand daltons. Above roughly 0.2 percent the high molecular weight grade turns a light gel into a paste that pills under sunscreen, and the extra does nothing the skin can use. A lower number, stated with its molecular weights, is worth more than a higher one. This is the oily end of a three-moisturiser shelf. Normal to dry skin should buy the everyday face cream. Very dry or cracked skin should buy the barrier balm. Between the three, every skin type is covered.

• Full INCI, in descending order: Aqua, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Propanediol, Betaine, Panthenol, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Zinc PCA, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Citric Acid
• With percentages: Glycerin 6.0, Niacinamide 4.0, Propanediol 3.0, Betaine 2.0, Panthenol 1.0, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer 0.8, Phenoxyethanol 0.7, Zinc PCA 0.5, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate 0.4, Allantoin 0.2, Ethylhexylglycerin 0.1, Sodium Hyaluronate 0.1, Citric Acid to pH, and Aqua is the balance at 81.2
• The 1 percent line falls after the panthenol
• Niacinamide 4.0 percent, from a grade tested to under 100 ppm nicotinic acid, because nicotinic acid is what causes flushing and the cheap grades carry more of it
• Hyaluronic acid 0.5 percent total: 0.1 percent at about 1.5 million daltons and 0.4 percent at about 10 thousand. Lower than the category claims, and stated with the molecular weights so the number means something
• Measured pH 5.8 per lot, chosen for the niacinamide's stability rather than to match a marketing figure
• Genuinely oil-free: no plant oil, no butter, no ester oil, no squalane. Oil-free is a claim we can only make because there is nothing here that would break it
• No silicones, so nothing pills under sunscreen or make-up. The slip comes from the acrylates gel former at 0.8 percent, which is what replaced the dimethicone
• No fragrance of any kind, no parfum, no essential oil, none of the 26 EU declarable components
• No parabens, and no MIT or CMIT behind them. Phenoxyethanol 0.7 percent with ethylhexylglycerin 0.1 percent
• No mineral oil, no alcohol denat, no dyes, no exfoliating acids
• Honest trade-off one: a water gel with no lipids in it hydrates but does not repair. If your barrier is actually damaged, this is not the product, and layering more of it will not help
• Honest trade-off two: in a dry Delhi or Shimla winter this will not be enough. That is not a fault, it is what oil-free means. Switch to the everyday face cream and switch back in the humid months
• Honest trade-off three: niacinamide at 4 percent still flushes a small number of people on first use. Patch test on the inner arm for two days before putting it on your face