Indeed Laboratories Hydraluron Review

Indeed Laboratories are a relatively new brand in Australia. They’re known for making refreshingly simple skincare products that feature one star ingredient, and there’s been a lot of hype around their products. I’m a big fan of layering my skincare, so I was very excited to try Indeed Laboratories Hydraluron.

Hydraluron is probably Indeed’s best known product. It’s a serum that features hyaluronic acid as its key ingredient. Hyaluronic acid is a humectant moisturiser that sits on the surface of the skin and holds onto water much like a sponge, keeping your skin hydrated.

Hydraluron ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Propanediol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ahnfeltia Concinna Extract, Carbomer, Butylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol.

The ingredients list is simple. The hyaluronic acid used in Hydraluron is advertised as being free of animal-derived raw materials and organic solvent remnants. There’s also Ahnfeltia Concinna Extract, a red algae extract, which is advertised to “cause controlled and mild stimulation of skin turnover to allow thorough penetration” of the hyaluronic acid. I can’t find any reliable references on the action of red algae extract though, so I’m not sure how this works, but it should have some antioxidant effect too. There’s not much in Hydraluron to provide long-term moisture, so it’s best used under a moisturiser that has occlusive properties to keep the moisture trapped over time (i.e. most moisturisers). This definitely won’t work well on its own, and it’s not designed to.

Marketing

Now the marketing…here’s where I get all critical. The packaging contains a bunch of sneaky tricks from the “misleading science” book.

• False equivalence – The packaging firstly talks about how hyaluronic acid is used as an injectable in Swiss clinics, which sounds great but injectable hyaluronic acid is so different to hyaluronic acid creams, it’s like saying that rubbing a silicone phone case on your boobs will make them bigger because silicone’s in breath implants. (Of course, they’re careful not to say that it has anything to do with the cream, but it’s right there on the packaging, so the implication is obvious.)

 

• Graph scale shenanigans – There are two graphs on the packaging, which show that hyaluronic acid is amazing. I mean, look at the size of that column! Look at the giant spike! Hyaluronic acid is twice as good as the control!

Except, of course, it isn’t. The vertical axis has been purposely shortened to amplify the difference. This is a classic data presentation trick, and while it’s not entirely shifty (Excel automatically shortens the axes, for example), it’s not the most transparent way to present the data.

I replotted graph 1 on a more realistic scale that starts at 0. Graph 2 starts at 0, but it’s about percentages, so I replotted it so it goes from 0-100%:

This is a more realistic representation of the effects of Hydraluron. If the data’s reliable, then sure, the product still works relative to the control – but the data manipulation definitely exaggerates the benefits.

(They also have a bit of a boo-boo on the packaging – they’ve mixed up the meanings of in vivo and in vitro, saying that in vitro means performed on real people, but it’s an understandable mistake.)

 

How Hydraluron worked for me

I used Hydraluron under my regular moisturiser at night, and while I did find that my skin felt more hydrated the next day, I get better effects with glycerin. People with dry skin seem to rave more about hyaluronic acid than people with oily skin like me though. My hypothesis is that because hyaluronic acid is much larger in size than glycerin, so it has a hard time getting through the layer of oil on my skin, so it doesn’t hold water as closely to my skin as glycerin does. I do really like the simplicity of Hydraluron though – it’s a well-formulated, light-feeling gel that has very little in the way of potential irritants. If you’re looking for a way to boost moisture in your skin without changing your routine too much, this is a fantastic product; you might also want to try a glycerin spray (which can also be DIY’ed). If you’re looking for a one-step moisturiser, this isn’t the product for you.

I’ve also been trying out Indeed’s Retinol Reface, which works much better with my skin and my routine – I’ll be reviewing it soon!

This product was provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.