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e.l.f.

Holy Hydration! Face Cream.

e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream
Moisturizers

About this product

A lightweight facial moisturizer with hyaluronic acid, peptides, and oat extract, formulated to hydrate and soothe the skin.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

84%

Yay

7 experts · Moderate agreement
7Gurus
7Yay
0Mixed
0Nay

What they liked

  • Lightweight, not greasy
  • Fragrance-free option available
  • Affordable price

What they flagged

    Nothing. None of the experts who reviewed it raised a problem.

    What the gurus are saying

    The texture earns particular praise for matching pricier moisturizers, with a smooth consistency that feels more luxurious than the price tag suggests. Both dermatologists and skincare experts highlight the hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid and peptides, plus oat's calming properties, and note it delivers real moisture at $12. One small note: it can go on a little streaky, so you may want to apply it gently and blend well as it sets.
    Synthesized from 7 expert reviews · most recent take December 2024

    What the gurus are saying.

    Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

    All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
    Yay
    "Elf, I love elf. elf completely, 100% that Holy Hydration range is amazing and they do great dupes."
    All 2 takes from Caroline Hirons
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    "I love elf. elf completely 100% that Holy Hydration range is amazing and they do great dupes."
    Listener's Questions w/ Nadine Baggott!
    "Elf, I love elf. elf completely, 100% that Holy Hydration range is amazing and they do great dupes."
    Yay
    "The e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream is beautiful because it's not too heavy."
    Yay
    "The other night cream I use is the elf holy hydration fragrance-free face cream"
    All 9 takes from HotandFlashy
    Best Skincare & Anti-Aging of 2023! Everything You Need to Age Backwards At Home!
    "My thicker night moisturizer is now elf holy hydration the fragrance-free version this is very similar to the one that I've used for years and years"
    Trash or Treasure? Reviewing Products I've Used Up! Makeup, Skincare, Beauty
    "The other night cream I use is the elf holy hydration fragrance-free face cream"
    EASY 3-Step Anti-Aging Skincare Routine! For Mature Skin, Beginners, Over 50!
    "Very similar but at a lower price point is the Elf Holy Hydration Face Cream. Both of these are available in a fragrance free version, so I love both of those."
    Talkin' Trash! Love IT or Leave IT Skincare, Haircare, & Makeup!
    "This is the fragrance-free version and this has many of the same ingredients as the BodyMary and also most of the same ingredients as the Olay Regenerist, which are niacinamide, a peptide, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid. This is a really lovely cream."
    Top 6 Tips for Reducing Wrinkles! Skincare, Devices, Lifestyle, Procedures!
    "There's also this E.L.F holy hydration cream which contains niacinamide, glycerin and hyaluronic acid as well. These are three great things to add to your skin care."
    Best BUDGET Anti-Aging Skincare from the Drugstore!
    "My current favorite peptide niacinamide glycerin cream to use is from E.L.F. It's their Holy Hydration Face Cream. I love that it comes in a fragrance-free version. This is my night cream that I use every night. It is so soothing and so nice feeling on the skin, and it doesn't make any of my other products ball and pill. This is pretty much the last step in my nighttime skincare routine, and it's very, very inexpensive."
    DRY Winter SKIN Tips! These SAVED My Skin! Body + Face!
    "Two of my favorites for a really emollient night cream are the Elf Holy Hydration Fragrance Free Space Cream. They're both very very hydrating."
    Faves + Fails | ILIA Skin Tint, L'Oreal Balm, Vegan Lipstick, The Greatest Face Cream of All Time?!?
    "Looking at the ingredients, this is very, very similar to what's in the Olay Regenerist Night Cream. So if you find that Olay Regenerist at like thirty-ish bucks for a pot of that to be a little bit too expensive, definitely give this ELF Holy Hydration a try because this has like all the same ingredients. It's got niacinamide, it's got glycerin, it's got peptides, it also has hyaluronic acid. It's a much lighter weight formula than the Olay creams, so it's not going to keep your skin as hydrated overnight if you have super dry skin and you're looking for something to really like lock in that moisture. It feels more watery and liquidy when you're rubbing it in than the Olay creams do. So I would recommend this more for people who have more oily skin, normal skin, combo skin as an overnight moisturizer. People with drier skin might not love this as an overnight moisturizer, but I think it's a really good product. It's fragrance free."
    Top Skincare Products for Spring & Summer 2022! Lighten Up for Spring!
    "If I wanted to lighten that up for the spring and summer what I would switch to is the e.l.f. Holy Hydration Face Cream. This is more of like a gel cream consistency. It's very lightweight, a lot lighter weight than the Olay but it has all the same ingredients. It's got niacinamide, peptides, hyaluronic acid, and glycerin. This is an awesome lightweight cream that you could use as your night cream."
    Yay
    "I have one, this is I don't know my fourth, fifth time talking about it this month, elf Holy Hydration, obsessed with this product. It's interesting, it's just like, subjectively the texture is dynamite. It matches very closely those very fine, more like middle, higher end facial moisturizers that you can find. So texturally I just think it delivers, it blows it up. It has hydrating ingredients, it has peptides, and for the price point it just nails it for me. It's been something I've been obsessed with for a little bit here. I'll probably get bored with it, but right now I love it, it's so good."
    All 2 takes from Doctorly
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    "I have one, this is I don't know my fourth, fifth time talking about it this month, elf Holy Hydration, obsessed with this product. It's interesting, it's just like, subjectively the texture is dynamite. It matches very closely those very fine, more like middle, higher end facial moisturizers that you can find. So texturally I just think it delivers, it blows it up. It has hydrating ingredients, it has peptides, and for the price point it just nails it for me. It's been something I've been obsessed with for a little bit here. I'll probably get bored with it, but right now I love it, it's so good."
    Skincare Dupes, Medical Tourism, Ramadan Benefits, & Allergen of the Year | Doctorly Unhinged EP #6
    "The e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream is a peptide cream that I'm obsessed with. I've had it on my shelf for years and I'm just obsessed with it. It comes in both fragrance and fragrance-free versions, and the fragrance-free one is amazing."
    Yay
    "If you're looking for a more affordable option, I recommend the e.l.f. Happy Hydration Cream. This one is a great drugstore find that works to moisturize the skin but doesn't feel too heavy or too thick on the skin. In terms of thickness, the Skinfix one is definitely a lot richer than this one, but if you're someone who has dry skin but you don't want to necessarily look really dewy, this one is a great one to go with."
    All 3 takes from Hyram
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    "If you have really dry skin and want a really rich moisturizer, I'd recommend going for moisturizers like the e.l.f. Happy Hydration moisturizer, a good affordable one for dry skin that has hemp oil."
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    "The e.l.f. happy hydration cream has CBD in it to help calm any irritation or redness."
    Why Your Moisturizer is NOT Working
    "If you're looking for a more affordable option, I recommend the e.l.f. Happy Hydration Cream. This one is a great drugstore find that works to moisturize the skin but doesn't feel too heavy or too thick on the skin. In terms of thickness, the Skinfix one is definitely a lot richer than this one, but if you're someone who has dry skin but you don't want to necessarily look really dewy, this one is a great one to go with."
    Yay
    "e.l.f. also makes a Holy Hydration Face Cream that is pretty affordable."
    Sponsored
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    "I really love their Holy Hydration! Face Cream fragrance-free that's a great option for just a basic facial moisturizer $13"
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    "e.l.f. also makes a Holy Hydration Face Cream that is pretty affordable."
    2022 SKIN CARE EMPTIES 🗑 PRODUCTS I USED UP! @DrDrayzday
    "I finished up a jar of the ELF Happy Hydration Cream. This has hemp seed oil in it which is a nice emollient, may have some antioxidants. It's free of fragrance, it's lightweight, not too greasy. I ended up using this a fair amount when I traveled, and I'm glad I made it through it."
    NYC | Skincare at Glowbar 😊 The Roxy Hotel 🏨 Manhatta 🍽 Boat tour 🗽@DrDrayzday
    "I brought this e.l.f. Holy Hydration Cream with me. It's a great budget friendly find, it has hemp seed oil in it which may have some antioxidants, and I also like that it's fragrance free. I really like it a lot, and it's really affordable."
    MIND BLOWN BY SKIN CARE AT ULTA IN TARGET 🛍 DERMATOLOGIST
    "I like the Holy Hydration cream, it's quite good."
    How to fix DRY WRINKLES ON FACE, UNDER EYES, LIPS, & HANDS | Dr Dray
    "I really like the Holy Hydration Cream. It's fragrance free with hyaluronic acid that acts as a humectant to pull hydration into the top layers of the skin, plus niacinamide and peptides that have a skin firming effect. If you put a blindfold on and put this on your face you would think you were using some really expensive moisturizer, but you don't need to be blowing through your bank account on expensive moisturizers. You can tap it around the delicate skin of the eyelids to improve the look of those little fine wrinkles."
    Vlog: MOISTURIZING & SUNSCREEN // HAIR CARE // GETTING IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT 🎄🎄 \\ Dr Dray
    "I just moisturized with this e.l.f. holy hydration cream, the fragrance-free one, which is a drugstore moisturizer favorite for the face. It has hyaluronic acid, a humectant that helps pull water into the top layers of the skin, but it also has occlusive ingredients to trap that water in place so it doesn't just evaporate right out. It's got peptides that can have a skin-firming effect similarly by helping with hydration. Some peptides may have a potential for boosting collagen production although that's kind of hand-wavy. It's also free of fragrance."
    How to STOP GETTING SHINY SKIN | Dr Dray
    "The ELF holy hydration face cream is a thick cream with niacinamide in it. It also has some peptides in it which are good for plumping up the skin, and it's got aluminum starch which can help in degreasing the skin and absorbing excess oil. It has dimethicone too, so this is a really good moisturizer for people who have oily skin prone to looking shiny. It is a thick cream though, and some people find that thicker creams make them feel overheated, which can make your skin look shiny right away."
    Yay
    "e.l.f. has the Holy Hydration Face Cream in the fragrance-free version and that's amazing and very affordable."
    Sponsored
    All 5 takes from The Budget Dermatologist
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    "e.l.f. has the Holy Hydration Face Cream in the fragrance-free version and that's amazing and very affordable."
    My Drugstore Anti-aging Skincare Routine | Step-by-Step with The Budget Dermatologist
    "Another one by e.l.f., the Holy Hydration fragrance free is a little bit of a thicker texture moisturizer. I love this one, this one's almost gone too."
    Top 5 Moisturizers of 2021 | Affordable Must Haves!
    "This is a very creamy texture but it is still lightweight and wears a bit more like a cream than a lotion. I recommend all skin types can use this, especially sensitive skin. This is not my first choice for very oily skin types; instead I like the gel moisturizer from e.l.f better. But otherwise, for all other skin types and conditions, this is one of my top five moisturizers that I have loved this year."
    Skincare Under $15! | The Budget Dermatologist
    "I use this in my routine on nights that I don't use my retinoids, so when I just want my face to kind of reset and get rid of some redness if I feel like it's getting irritated, I will take the night off from treatment and use this to restore my skin. This is really hydrating, it's a cream form, it's thick but it rubs in really nicely and easily, it's lightweight and it's not greasy. Really all skin types can use this but I like to use it for the nights when I'm feeling a little more dry. It's great for the fall and the winter or year-round if you just have dry or sensitive skin. This is an incredible product and it's only twelve dollars."
    My Top BUDGET Sunscreen Pick! | The Budget Dermatologist
    "Another current favorite moisturizer that is super effective for an extremely good price is the E.l.f. Holy Hydration Face Cream. This is what I am currently using at night right now and I highly recommend this one."

    What the evidence says.

    Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

    Niacinamide

    Niacinamide has evidence behind it for redness, uneven tone and supporting the skin barrier, and it is usually well tolerated even by skin that reacts to most things.

    Source: DermNet

    Humectants and emollients

    Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

    Source: DermNet

    Peptides

    Peptides are short protein fragments meant to signal repair. The evidence for them is thinner than for retinoids or vitamin C, and it varies a lot by the specific peptide, so the category is more promising than proven.

    Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

    Frequently asked.

    What is e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream?

    A lightweight facial moisturizer with hyaluronic acid, peptides, and oat extract, formulated to hydrate and soothe the skin.

    Is e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream worth it?

    Yes. All 7 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 84%.

    What is e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream's Guru Score?

    e.l.f. Holy Hydration! Face Cream holds a Guru Score of 84%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 7 expert reviewers we have collected.

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