By Aisling Keenan
06th Mar 2020
06th Mar 2020
Hyaluronic acid is well known for being the ingredient that draws moisture into the skin. The new pretender, polyglutamic acid, has just burst onto the hydration scene. But who wins?
I’ve been using hyaluronic acid products for years now. I’ve gone through the very expensive ones, the budget-friendly ones, the mid-range ones and I’ve always found them to be fairly equal across the board. They all make my skin feel plump and hydrated. Box ticked.
A welcome addition
I include hyaluronic into an already fairly solid skincare process, almost like a second serum. I do it on days where I feel I need particular plumpness. I don’t – of course – mistake hydrators and plumpness-givers for dry skin fixers. If you’ve got dry skin, you need to moisturise and THEN attract moisture to the skin to be held in place by an acid.
Until recently, I’d never heard of polyglutamic acid, but the geniuses over at The Inkey List provided me with what I never knew I needed. It claims to be ten times more hydrating than hyaluronic. Ten. Times.
The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% +B5
I pitted the two most similarly-priced acids against each other. The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic and The Inkey List’s Polyglutamic. I tried both for two weeks, noting daily how my skin responded.
Pros of The Ordinary Hyaluronic:
My skin felt plump, the quench noticeably lasted an hour or so. Cons? My make-up didn’t go on over it very well — the formula is a little bit sticky.
Pros of The Inkey List Polyglutamic:
My skin, again, felt super plump. I genuinely noticed my lines were less defined, and that happened maybe 20 minutes after application. I felt the effects of it for longer, maybe a noticeable three hours. And I loved the feel of the formula, the texture was pleasant. Cons? I don’t know if I felt ten times the difference, but then, my face is not a science lab.
The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid
To conclude what is an incredibly tight contest, I would say that they both have their merits, they’re both incredibly good value and they both make good additions to an already established skincare routine. But still, I can’t get over how quenched my skin felt with the polyglutamic… *buys eight more bottles*
Read more: Game changers: 4 serums to help target four different skin concerns
Read more: Facial mists: The good, the bad and the useless (and why I love them anyway)
Read more: Meet Cohederm, the ingredient hyaluronic acid wishes it was
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