Product: HadaLabo GOKUJYUN Super Hyaluronic Acid Lotion
Price: USD 12.80 @ Sasa
Review:

It’s about time I started to review the HadaLabo products that I had purchased earlier this year, right? I’ve used this lotion other Sasa products for 1-2 months now and feel confident enough to give my opinion on it. You get 170 ml of product, which is quite a lot for the price you can get it for on Sasa.

Ingredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, PPG-10 Methyl Glucose Ether, Disodium Succinate, Methyl Paraben, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Succinic Acid, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate

Personally, I think that this lotion and the entire HadaLabo line of products is sort of over-hyped. Looking at the ingredient list, I was actually a little bit disappointed. For a “Super hyaluronic acid” lotion, I definitely would have expected hyaluronic acid to be one of the top ingredients – but it’s not. Judging by the ingredient list that I was able to find for this product, I would say that the main moisturizing ingredient is the glycerin.

The part that makes this ‘super hyaluronic acid’ is the sodium acetylated hyaluronate, which is basically an chemically altered form of normal hyaluronic acid. This altered form makes it both hydrophobic and hydrophilic so that it can bind better to your skin and to water. It’s supposed to help soften the top layer of your skin and retain twice as much moisture compared to regular hyaluronic acid! In my opinion, this should be at the top of the ingredient list though, not at the bottom. But what do I know?

As you can see, this lotion comes out more like a toner - it’s clear and has a gel-like or jelly-like consistency. It is still pretty liquified and runny though, so it’s easy to spread onto your skin. I generally used only about 3-4 drops of it in the morning and night. Unlike a toner, you don’t apply this with a cotton pad. It’s meant to be patted into your skin – I’ve heard YouTuber’s say that you have to tap/pat it into your skin for best absorption and it’s sort of true.

If you like to rub this into your skin, you just have to spend extra time to wait for it to fully absorb but it’s not like it won’t absorb. Something about how the tapping motion “activates” the lotion but I think that’s an advertising/skincare gimmick that can be unnecessary if you aren’t used to patting products into your face.

Due to the gel-like consistency, this “lotion” was actually pretty sticky when being applied to the skin at first. The sticky feeling doesn’t stay but it just takes it a while for it to fully absorb. My skin does feel more hydrated after using this product. This is especially true if you live in a place with a little bit of humidity or a place that isn’t bone-dry during the winter season. My skin feels plumper, if that makes any sense?

My only complaint would really be the stickyness of the lotion – for some reason it bothered me. I wasn’t used to the texture and consistency of it. Maybe it was a psychological thing? Also, I wanted to make an note that hyaluronic acid and the ingredients in this product is simply meant to help your skin bind more water from the air around you. This is great if you have some precipitation and moisture in the air where you live. Winters where I am (northeast United States) are below-freezing with not much moisture in the air – so, what I’m saying is, this lotion doesn’t work as well if there isn’t anything to “bind” to begin with. You follow?

I had a huge issue with flaky skin during the winter months. This lotion didn’t 100% get rid of all the flakyness and dryness but it helped. This lotion isn’t some “magic, miracle, one-shot” product that could fix all my problems but it was definitely still very soothing and hydrating.

One bottle lasted me well over two months – I used this product for all of April, both morning and night, and in the morning during the month of May. I still have a little over 1/4 of this product left but I don’t use it anymore since I’m trying out the OCM and manuka honey regimen.

I don’t want to put this product to waste though, so if anyone wants the remainder of this bottle to try out, feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to send it to you if you can pay for the shipping (I’ll ship anywhere). Let me know!

Initial Rating: 4/5