Review: Drunk Elephant B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel

I’ve been moisturizing my skin differently for several months now. Before then, I had been sticking to the application of a daily moisturizer, day and night, sometimes with a serum underneath but clearly, I mainly relied on my face cream to hydrate my skin. 

I then started getting more interested in K-Beauty and even more interested in skincare ingredients in general, so I wanted to try other ways to hydrate my skin.

I realised that I could obtain a much better result with my skin, by applying several products, with lighter textures, than just one thicker one.

Indeed, thicker products have a tendency to remain on the surface of the skin too much. I noticed I was achieving a much better absorption through my skin with lighter and/ or liquid products. 

But that doesn’t mean that your daily moisturizer is useless, or that you must stop using it. A good hydration of the skin must be done on the surface and deeper! The moisturizer is very useful to protect the skin and prevent hydration from evaporating. It’s basically like a protective layer for your skin.

Brands Focus on: Drunk Elephant, “clean” and innovative skincare Drunk Elephant is a super trendy American skincare brand: very focused on natural ingredients but which doesn’t leave aside neither the technology nor the chemical elements essential for a real effectiveness on the skin. “Clean skincare” sure, but that works! Read more

And, by the way, the Drunk Elephant B Hydra gel can play both roles: it can be used as a serum or even on its own, instead of your day (or night) cream. It’s a great multi-tasker!

Product presentation: Drunk Elephant B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel

It’s a moisturizing product, that can be used as a serum or instead of your day (or night) cream. Its very light texture is intensely moisturizing for the skin and it has the ability to hydrate the surface of the skin but also in its deeper layers.

For some skin types (usually combination to oily) and in some climates (the humid ones), it’s a great daily moisturizer to use instead of a conventional day cream, no need to add anything on top. Personally, I have used it both as a serum, and as a daily moisturizer and I have found it effective in both cases.

Like most Drunk Elephant products, it can also be mixed with other products from the brand. I like it a lot when mixed with their Marula Oil. The combo of the two gives a very silky serum, that is very easily and well absorbed by my dehydrated combination skin.

In short, it’s a fairly versatile product in terms of use and it can be used by all skin types.

My experience:

This is not my first ever moisturizer, far from it, but most of those I used before this one, had a rather different type of texture. In the past, I used serums, creams, fluids but not a lot of gels. The ones I used didn’t really meet my expectations, to be honest: they were quite watery, and even if I appreciated the fresh feeling they left on my skin, they weren’t  very comfortable over time.

Skincare Review: Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil Marula oil is the new trendy face oil, of the moment. This natural oil is supposed to be highly beneficial for the skin, especially from an anti-aging perspective. There are several Marula oils, at very different prices (from one to ten times the price!). The Drunk Elephant Oil, Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil is probably among the most expensive options. Let’s see if it worth its price! Read more

Recently, I also decided to introduce more hyaluronic acid-based products into my skincare routine. I talked about it in the past on my blog in my article Focus on Hyaluronic Acid.

Unlike other moisturizers that I used, the Drunk Elephant B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel is really super nice to use. There’s no comparison with its “dupe” from The Ordinary, for example. The latter is quite sticky when you apply it while the B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel literally melts into the skin in a few seconds and leaves you with a comfortable feeling all day long.

So when you have a fairly extensive skincare routine (like me), even if you apply several layers of other products after, this gel doesn’t prevent the other products I apply on top from penetrating into my skin.
And in the case of a more minimalist routine, it also works perfectly, especially mixed with an oil if you have a drier skin type.

I was especially impressed when I used it mixed with the Marula Oil from the same brand. This combo is very comfortable without being greasy and it leaves your skin super comfortable throughout the day.
I sometimes apply a moisturizer on top, but especially during the summer, I don’t always need it.

Result:

My skin is supple and well hydrated with this product. It doesn’t feel tight throughout the day. About its anti-aging action, it’s obviously difficult to tell because the result is generally only visible after using it for a very long time, but what is certain, is that I like the appearance of my skin when I use this product.

This is my second bottle of B-Hydra. It’s one of my favourite moisturizing products on the market. Obviously, there are a lot of cheaper options out there, but the texture is rarely as nice (or if it is, it’s full of silicones, and my skin can’t stand it, it clogs my pores, so I prefer avoiding them).

Value for money:

For me, it’s good value for money, because even if the price is rather high, the formula is really excellent quality and very pleasant to use.
My skin loves it! I like that it’s not “just” a moisturizing product, there is really an added value in terms of anti-aging and protective effect on the skin.

The packaging is also excellent, it’s pretty and preserves the good quality and ingredients of the formula. A bottle usually lasts 4 months.

In summary:

In short, it’s an excellent product, very well formulated and effective. I have repurchased it several times already and I intend to keep on using it in the future!

The Drunk Elephant B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel retails for $52 (50ml).