Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel On your shelf ✓
€0.22 an application · about 40 usesOur review, in one look
Glycerin is the reason to consider this moisturizer, with Hyaluronic acid behind it.
The case for it
- Glycerin, strong evidence for hydration
- Hyaluronic acid, strong evidence for hydration
- No alcohol or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readNeutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is a moisturizer built around Glycerin and Hyaluronic acid. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry and dehydrated skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
Cost per use: what a day of it costs
€0.22 an applicationabout 40 uses from 50 ml
measured: 2.5 fingertip units for face and neck, about 1.25 g; from €9 as read in September 2026 and a 50 ml pack.
how this is counted
About €0.22 an application, about 40 uses from 50 ml.
- Long & Finlay 1991, Clin Exp Dermatol: face and neck 2.5 fingertip units (PMID 1806320, abstract read)
- Long, Finlay & Averill 1992, Arch Dermatol: 4 hand areas = 2 FTU = 1 g (PMID 1497374)
- Finlay, Edwards & Harding 1989, Lancet: the fingertip unit defined (PMID 2567912, a letter)
- density taken as 1 g per ml: assumed, as on the sunscreen calculator
- Measured or assumed: the rule, and the dose table
Skip it if your skin reacts to fragrance: this one is scented.
Fragrance, texture and film: what the label says of its feel
- fragranced (parfum on the label)
- a moisturiser in a jar
- leaves a film: dimethicone, dimethiconol
- no plant or mineral oil on the label
Facts off the label and the pack only. How it feels on a face is not something this page will say without having used it.
The formula, in order
every ingredient at its place on the label
Coloured by the job each one does here.
4 of the 20 sit above the 1% line. The other 16, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- inferred from the chain length
- did not feed it
Fungal acne: what on this label feeds the yeast (Malassezia)
the yeast: Malassezia furfur, globosa, restricta
Nothing on this label was measured to feed Malassezia; 2 are inferred to from the chain length (cetearyl olivate and sorbitan olivate).
Each result is a pure ingredient on a lab dish, never this product on skin.
where this comes from
- cetearyl olivateInferred from the chain length: Except for elaidinic and nervonic acids, all saturated and unsaturated fatty acids tested support growth.PMID 1249447
- sorbitan olivateInferred from the chain length: The strongest growth was observed in the presence of natural oils and waxes, primary alcohols, as well in the presence of fatty acid esters with fatty chain lengths above 12 carbon atoms.DOI 10.3390/cosmetics6030045
What does it do? What its ingredients deliver
How it feels A smooth, silky lotion that spreads easily and leaves a soft, near-blurred finish. (estimated from the formula)
Key ingredients: what in it does the work
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Glycerin: This one works on contact: there is nothing to wait for.
how it was measured
Measured on stratum corneum hydration, corneometer capacitance after a single application; on contact, by mechanism.
Water-binding molecule that increases hydration; works best under occlusive/emollient layers to reduce evaporation.
What only this label says
Hyaluronic acid is 15th of 20, under the 1% line: a trace, not a treatment.
why
The 1% line is inferred from Phenoxyethanol at position 5; below it the order is the brand's choice and 16 ingredients share that tail.
Glycerin is the 3rd of 20 ingredients: above the 1% line.
why
Position 3 of 20 on the label as printed; compared with the 125 other labels in the catalogue that carry a polyol.
≈ €0.18/ml, about the median moisturizer in our catalogue (€0.18/ml).
why
~€9 for 50 ml, checked September 2026; the median of the 28 moisturizers in the catalogue with a known size.
All 2 actives carry strong evidence in our base (Glycerin and Hyaluronic acid).
why
evidence_level in our base, per row, as printed on each glossary page.
Water, then dimethicone: a richer, emollient base.
why
The first two ingredients on the label, in the order printed; the second's role is read from its name (a row in our base).
Fragrance is listed, and none of the 26 allergens the EU requires to be named is on the label.
why
Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Annex III: a label must name any of the 26 fragrance allergens present above 0.001% (leave-on) or 0.01% (rinse-off).
Fragrance allergens: the ones this label names
This label names none of the 26 EU fragrance allergens, though fragrance is listed. What the 26 are →
How to use it, and when
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
Where in your skin it works
All 2 of its placed actives act on or in the dead surface layer, none below it: the same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Hyaluronic acidderived from what it is
2 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend.
How it compares with the average moisturizer
It scores lower than the median moisturizer on oil control, anti-aging, brightening and barrier repair.
On hydration it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
Full ingredients list, decoded
16 of these 20 ingredients are in our library, linked and named for what each one does, with anything that can irritate or clog flagged; the 4 we cannot place are left plain, nothing is hidden. Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first).
All 20 ingredients, decoded
- WaterSolvent (base)
- DimethiconeOcclusive
- GlycerinHumectant
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Phenoxyethanol down, these 16 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- PhenoxyethanolPreservativemild irritant
- PolyacrylamideThickener
- Cetearyl OlivateEmulsifier
- Sorbitan OlivateEmulsifier
- DimethiconolEmollient
- C13-14 IsoparaffinOcclusive (wax)
- Dimethicone CrosspolymerEmollient
- ChlorphenesinPreservative
- CarbomerThickener
- Laureth-7Emulsifiermild irritant
- Sodium HyaluronateHumectant
- EthylhexylglycerinPreservative booster
- FragranceFragrancecan irritate
- C12-14 Pareth-12
- Sodium HydroxidePh adjustermild irritant
- Blue 1
Copy the raw INCI list
Water, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Dimethiconol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Chlorphenesin, Carbomer, Laureth-7, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Fragrance, C12-14 Pareth-12, Sodium Hydroxide, Blue 1
Worried about clogged pores specifically? The pore-clogging checker reads this same list against the published comedogenic ratings.
Add it to your shelf and the app puts it in the right step and checks it against what you already use.
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Dupes? The closest formulas we have
The 3 products of the same kind sharing the most of its 2 actives. A count, not a likeness: the rest of each label, its base and its preservation, is what the count leaves out.
Compare it with…
19 duels are built for this moisturizer, CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion among them: type a name, or pick one below.
Common questions
Is the hyaluronic acid in Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel enough to do anything?
Hyaluronic acid is 15th of 20, under the 1% line: a trace, not a treatment. Below the 1% line the rules stop requiring descending order, so an ingredient there can be any trace amount the brand likes.
How high up the list is the glycerin in Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel?
Glycerin is the 3rd of 20 ingredients: above the 1% line. Position is the only amount the law makes a brand declare, so 3rd of 20 is the one number on this label a reader can check.
Is Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel expensive per ml?
≈ €0.18/ml, about the median moisturizer in our catalogue (€0.18/ml). A price per millilitre says nothing about what the formula does; it only tells you how the bottle compares with the others of its kind we have priced.
What is the base of Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel?
Water, then dimethicone: a richer, emollient base. The first ingredients are the bulk of a formula; the actives come after them.
Does Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel contain fragrance allergens?
Fragrance is listed, and none of the 26 allergens the EU requires to be named is on the label. These are the substances the EU requires a label to name because a known share of people react to them; naming one is a legal duty, not a warning about you.
Is Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated skin. Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel is a moisturizer built around Glycerin and Hyaluronic acid. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair. Best suited to dry and dehydrated skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
How do you use Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel?
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
What are the key ingredients in Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Hyaluronic acid. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
