Neutrogena

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (reformulated).

Moisturizers

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About this product

A lightweight, fragrance-free water gel moisturizer with hyaluronic acid and ceramides designed to hydrate and plump skin without heaviness or greasiness.

Guru Score

79%

Yay

5 experts · Moderate agreement

5Gurus

4Yay

1Mixed

0Nay

What they liked

Upgraded formula with amino acids
Fragrance-free
Lightweight gel texture

What they flagged

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

What the gurus are saying

This gel absorbs quickly and feels barely-there on skin while delivering serious hydration, gurus praise how lightweight and plumping it is, especially for oily and acne-prone skin in warm months. The reformulated version earned particular excitement for adding amino acids and natural moisturizing factors to an already simple formula people loved. One note: those with very oily skin may find it better suited to winter, and anyone with sensitive skin may want to patch-test first.

Synthesized from 5 expert reviews · most recent take April 2025

Best for

Oily skin Combination skinNormal skin

Type

MoisturizersGel

Where to buy

Ulta → Amazon → Google → iHerb →

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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.

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The Budget Dermatologist

724k subs

✓Yay

"One of my all-time favorites is from Neutrogena, their Hydro Boost. It comes in a gel."

Cassandra Bankson

2.46M subs

✓Mixed

"What about Neutrogena's famous Hydro Boost moisturizer? Everyone loves that moisturizer, but first off it's so expensive. Number two, it's not revolutionary. Number three, it has fragrance in it. Like, the very first ingredients in the Neutrogena hyaluronic acid water boost product, it's water, dimethicone, and glycerin, which are fine, and that's why this product feels like a primer on your skin. Everyone loves it, but it's like 20 or 30 dollars now. Like, why?"

No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Yay

"They added a lot of amino acids which are nice to see, amino acid skin identical ingredients in this new formula. So they took something super simple that people loved and added some good ingredients to it and I'm really happy with it. The texture and everything else is nearly the same. They just added some nice ingredients. Typically Neutrogena they don't go out of the way to impress customers like me but this did impress me. I was pretty happy with it."

HotandFlashy

1.23M subs

✓Yay

"I also use the Neutrogena Hydro Boost for sensitive skin as the second step in my double cleanse routine."

Dr Dray

2.69M subs

✓Yay

"The new fragrance-free water gel represents a substantial improvement upon the old formula. It has a variety of amino acids that are part of skin's natural moisturizing factors. [...] It's not really solely now a hyaluronic acid focused moisturizer; it has some other things going on that are beneficial for moisturizing the skin as they are naturally present in skin's outermost layer. These help with hydrating."

What the evidence says.

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

Frequently asked.

What is Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (reformulated)?

A lightweight, fragrance-free water gel moisturizer with hyaluronic acid and ceramides designed to hydrate and plump skin without heaviness or greasiness.

Is Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (reformulated) worth it?

Mostly yes. 4 of the 5 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 79%.

What is Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (reformulated)'s Guru Score?

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (reformulated) holds a Guru Score of 79%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 5 expert reviewers we have collected.