NIOD

Hydration Vaccine.

About this product

A thick balm-textured moisturizer designed to hydrate and lock in moisture while acting as a makeup primer, formulated with multiple soothing and hydrating actives.

Full ingredients

Caprylyl Methicone, Aqua (Water), PEG-12 Dimethicone/PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Glycerin, Propanediol, Sodium Polyacrylate, Leontopodium Alpinum Callus Culture Extract, Disodium Acetyl Glucosamine Phosphate, Proline, Alanine, Serine, Xylitol, Xylitylglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Adansonia Digitata Fruit Extract, Polypodium Vulgare Rhizome Extract, Cetraria Islandica Thallus Extract, Sphagnum Magellanicum Extract, Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract, Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter, Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil, Squalane, Lecithin, Hexamethyldisiloxane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Polysilicone-11, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Hydroxide, Gluconolactone

Guru Score

80%

Yay

4 experts · Moderate agreement

4Gurus

3Yay

1Mixed

0Nay

What they liked

Soft focus effect on skin
Doesn't peel under makeup
Alcohol-free and fragrance-free

What they flagged

Thick texture limits morning use

What the gurus are saying

This balm hydrates the skin surface while delivering a soft focus, silicone-smoothing effect that sits beautifully under makeup without pilling, and gurus praise it as a preventative step to ward off winter dryness before it takes hold. The thick, silicone-forward texture earns its fans for evening use, though one reviewer found it paired awkwardly with other products in a morning routine and reserved it mostly for night, suggesting you may want to test how it layers with the rest of your lineup depending on when you plan to use it.

Synthesized from 4 expert reviews · most recent take November 2024

Best for

Dry skin

Type

Balm & ointment

Key actives

Vitamin ESqualane

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

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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.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

Nadine Baggott

164k subs

✓Yay

"Hydration Vaccine is a really unique beautiful moisturizer and it's unlike most moisturizers I love in that it tends to be quite thick. [...] What I love about it is it almost feels like a balm but it's got a soft focus effect on the skin. It does hydrate the surface of the skin, it's loaded with actives, but it's also got a silicon masking effect. [...] It doesn't peel under makeup. It's beautifully under makeup. It's actually formulated to be a hydrator and an emollient but also a makeup primer."

Mad About Skin

727k subs

✓Yay

"The Hydration Vaccine I think is a genuine game changer. This is a really nice serum cream which will help dial up the rate of hydration in the skin and just lock it all in for winter. So if like me you're super dryness prone in those cooler winter months, this Hydration Vaccine can be a great way of just kind of preventing some of that dryness. [...] I like the term vaccine because that implies that you're almost protecting against something. This is the sort of product that you really want to start using before that dryness takes hold and that way it'll just prevent it from occurring all the way through the cooler winter months. A really nice product and one of the unsung heroes from NIOD, doesn't get shouted about a whole lot but it's honestly a really great formulation and a great preventative step in your skincare routine."

Top Pick: serum cream

Beyond50Skin

32k subs

✓Yay

"The Hydration Vaccine is something I've been dying to try for my winter skincare routine. It's a balm moisturizer that has over 20 soothing, calming, and moisturizing ingredients in it. It's alcohol-free and fragrance-free, so I'm really looking forward to giving that a try."

Sincerely Miss Ash

195k subs

✓Mixed

"For night time this is great but I don't use it all the time, I only use it when I feel like it so I'm going to give this an 8 out of 10. I feel like that's a really good rating. I would give it a 10 out of 10 if it had a different texture to it, something that I could use more so in my morning, because I'm only able to use it at night. It does have that silicone feel and sometimes it just doesn't pair up nicely with other products, so again it's trial and error you'll just have to figure out whether or not it would be something for you."

What the evidence says.

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

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

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is NIOD Hydration Vaccine?

A thick balm-textured moisturizer designed to hydrate and lock in moisture while acting as a makeup primer, formulated with multiple soothing and hydrating actives.

Is NIOD Hydration Vaccine worth it?

Mostly yes. 3 of the 4 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 80%.

What is NIOD Hydration Vaccine's Guru Score?

NIOD Hydration Vaccine holds a Guru Score of 80%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 4 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.