SPECIALIST testing LA ROCHE POSAY HYALU B5 SERUM: Review +How to use it?

Hyalu B5 by La Roche Posay is a Hyaluronic Acid Serum with Vitamin B5 that has been on the market for a while now.

Is this the best Hyaluronic acid serum I’ve ever tried? As always, let’s go over the ingredients, claims, who can use the product, and how to use it so I can give my final verdict.

INGREDIENTS

In this serum, we have two types of Hyaluronic acid—low molecular and high molecular. This is great! I’ve already reviewed some Hyaluronic Acid serums and I always mention that it’s important to get one with both high and low molecular Hyaluronic Acid. That’s because high molecular Hyaluronic Acid is just going to sit on the outermost layers of your skin and hydrate the skin. And low molecular Hyaluronic Acid has a higher chance of penetrating deeper into your skin and actually reducing wrinkles.

Then we have Vitamin B5, also known as Panthenol. This is a great ingredient to have in your serum, as it works as a moisturizer and a humectant. There’s another serum that also has Vitamin B5 and Hyaluronic Acid, and that one is by The Ordinary, which I have already reviewed.

You can check out the video down below.

Both the La Roche Posay’s Hyalu B5 and The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic Acid 2%+B5 serums have similar ingredients and claims. However, the prices are not that similar. So I’ve made a video in which I compared both of them.

The video is listed below.

Back to the Hyalu B5’s ingredient list, the next ingredient worth mentioning is Madecassoside. This ingredient has anti-inflammatory properties, stimulates collagen production, and is good for acne-prone skin. It’s a great anti-aging ingredient to have in your serum. I haven’t used any products that have this ingredient so far, so this one is new for me.

These are the three ingredients that La Roche Posay is emphasizing on their website: Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin B5, and Madecassoside.

However, there are a couple more ingredients that I would like to emphasize as well. One of them is Glycerin, a great humectant that binds water. Then we have Vitamin E, which is an excellent antioxidant that is going to fight the free radicals. And last, an interesting ingredient that caught my attention is Dimethicone. Dimethicone is a silicone that creates a protective barrier on the skin and works as an occlusive.

Hyaluronic Acid serums don’t usually have any occlusives. They have water, solvents, Hyaluronic Acid, and humectants. They just hydrate the skin, so you have to apply an occlusive moisturizer on top to lock all that moisture in. This serum has Dimethicone as an occlusive ingredient so, in theory, it can be used on its own. But of course, I don’t recommend using it that way! I always put a moisturizer on top of the serum.

Also, Dimethicone can also temporarily fill in the fine lines, so if you see any immediate results when using this serum it’s probably because of this ingredient.

CONTROVERSIAL INGREDIENTS

There are two controversial ingredients that I have to mention. The first one is Alcohol, and it’s listed pretty high up in the ingredients list. I don’t mind Alcohol in my products—I actually think that I prefer products with Alcohol, especially serums. And this is because Alcohol is a solvent but it’s also a penetration enhancer.

Alcohol is going to help the active ingredients penetrate deeper into your skin. I find that serums that have Alcohol in their ingredient list give me a better result than the serums that don’t.

I wanted to mention this because I know a lot of people have strong feelings toward Alcohol. It does have Alcohol listed in third place on the ingredient list.

But it does not influence the effect on the skin negatively and it’s not drying on the skin.

That’s why I don’t mind Alcohol in my serums. But in case you absolutely hate Alcohol in your products, be warned.

The last controversial ingredient is Fragrance. It’s listed last, so we can maybe call it lightly fragranced. I have to mention that I did have problems when I used L’Oreal’s Hyaluronic Acid Serum. That one was heavily fragranced and it burned my skin because at the time I was using Retinaldehyde as well.

Retinaldehyde is a Vitamin A derivative that increases your skin’s sensitivity. I’m usually not sensitive to Fragrance in my products, but when I started using Retinaldehyde I became sensitive to it. When I first saw that this product had Fragrance I was kind of skeptical. However, I did try this serum out when I was using Retinaldehyde and it didn’t burn my skin. So I guess we can call it lightly fragranced and whether or not this serum will irritate you will depend on how sensitive your skin is.

CLAIMS

La Roche Posay says that this serum:

1. REDUCES FINE LINES

2. RESTORES ELASTICITY

3. GIVES A FRESH LOOK ON THE SKIN

Can it do all that based on the ingredients? Yes. Low molecular Hyaluronic Acid can reduce your wrinkles, Dimethicone can fill in fine lines, and Madecassoside can stimulate Collagen production. So this is an anti-aging serum and we can say that the claims are true.

WHO CAN USE THIS SERUM

Pretty much everyone can use this serum. Even acne-prone skins, since it doesn’t have any comedogenic ingredients. But I have to emphasize that if you are highly sensitive to Fragrance in your products maybe you can avoid it. It’s lightly fragranced, so if you can handle a little bit of Fragrance then you can use this serum for sure.

One more thing I have to mention, even though it’s very rare, some people have sensitivity to Hyaluronic Acid. If you are not sure, you can do a patch test before using this serum just to be sure.

HOW TO USE IT

I’ve already made a video on how to use Hyaluronic Acid, so you can check it out for more clarifications.

To apply it, I first start by cleansing my skin. Then I take a few drops of the serum and apply it to my wet face. I like to use it on a wet face because Hyaluronic Acid binds to water, and you want to bind as much water as you can. I wait for the serum to become tacky before going over it with an occlusive moisturizer right away. This will lock all that moisture in and prevent it from evaporating into the air.

You can watch the demo application in this video.

FINAL VERDICT

Is it the best Hyaluronic Acid Serum that I have ever tried? Yes. This is by far the best Hyaluronic Acid Serum that I’ve tried so far. And I have tried a few!

I really love the effect it leaves on the skin. Nothing makes my skin as hydrated and well-nourished.

It does have Alcohol in it. But, as I mentioned, I like that it has alcohol since I think it’s contributing to leaving a better effect on my skin. And YES, they could have skipped the Fragrance so more people could use it. For me, it wasn’t a deal-breaker. But for other people, it could be.

If you are not sensitive to Fragrance I totally recommend that you try out this serum. You will not regret it!

Text adapted from Pharmacy&Makeup’s Youtube Video by Sofia Gioiosa