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New best-in-class: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream - an absolute game changer

There are a few other products in their Hydro Boost line also. The facial cleanser gel is pretty good, it comes in a skinny blue pump bottle with a white top.

I found the cleansing 'gel' version to be a little better than their similar looking cleansing 'lotion' with blue top, ... but they're both very nice.
 
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today splash then Neutrogena I think I might prefer this ? less smell left but it fades anyway ? but I think it feels smoother
 
Seems like the only one available in my neighborhood is the aqua gel, would this one have the same performance??

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thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Ever run a bunch of chemical names through a search engine and have your mind melt?

I looked up the ingredients of the gel cream last night and just now. Unlike the water gel’s ingredients @Paul Bearer shared, the gel cream doesn’t contain Blue 1. Beyond moisturizers, there were chemicals to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi, chemicals to keep the serum evenly mixed, and a few to make (skin) surfaces feel soft without hydrating or otherwise cramming fatty acids into the cell walls (not the dimethicone, but dimethicone cross-polymer and dimethicone/vinyl cross-polymer).

After I sealed the pink mist back into my brainpan, it dawned on mye that the Neutrogena peeps likely designed this be a skincare game changer that makes one’s skin feel even more successful than the hydrating/moisturizing ingredients allow.
 

CzechCzar

Use the Fat, Luke!
Gentlemen,

I have been meaning to reply for quite a while, but real life has had to take priority.

Those two posts you guys linked to earlier about hyaluronic acid are actually what started me on my quest to investigate balms containing this compound. I started with B&M's balm, and I was impressed. But still, something was missing. I then tried Zingari Man and PdP, each were good in their own way, none were perfect.

To tell the truth I almost didn't discover this product. I was at Costco one day, and it was on sale, and with Costco return policy it was a no-brainer. Boy am I happy I tried this stuff! Went back a few days later to buy some extras while they were on sale.

I know that the ingredients are not as natural as with some of the artisan aftershave balms, but in my view, this is an international skincare company so they've got to know a thing or two

For those of you who have purchased it, a tip I have discovered is that you should use it on wet skin, not dry skin. The reason is that the hyaluronic acid depends on wet skin to work best
 
another day of splash first and then Neutrogena and I think I like this order best :) but reserve to change my mind hahahahaha

took hands got wet splashed face wiped around and then put on splash so had plenty water on face and then put on Neutrogena right away no dry time and face was wet !!!! but it dried out fairly quick to a nice comfy feeling in next 15min or so :)
might try dry face put on splash let evaporate and then rinse hands and wipe with wet hands and then Neutrogena
I have the time to do this as I clean my gear put things away etc... so just change order a bit
 

CzechCzar

Use the Fat, Luke!
another day of splash first and then Neutrogena and I think I like this order best :) but reserve to change my mind hahahahaha

took hands got wet splashed face wiped around and then put on splash so had plenty water on face and then put on Neutrogena right away no dry time and face was wet !!!! but it dried out fairly quick to a nice comfy feeling in next 15min or so :)
might try dry face put on splash let evaporate and then rinse hands and wipe with wet hands and then Neutrogena
I have the time to do this as I clean my gear put things away etc... so just change order a bit
Definitely agree with you that splash goes first.

My desire to buy aftershaves has vanished.
 
so today & yesterday was splash wait a minute then the Neutrogena and was still awesome I think its a complete cream so the extra water not sure I need it ?


still trying blades again I used a Feather blade ? ahhh I got weepers and irritation but have to say the post is so good its amazing still this stuff is magic YMMV of course :)


Side note My Cella went in the away bin to either sell trade off with my two Fine scents and a few stirling samples
just my old spice next to the little blue jar !
Now that said I do want to try clubman and floid just because BUT the floid is low on want so might skip it now and just get the clubman to try it really has stopped all my desire for so many AS or splash or anything post

I wanted (but no more) to try plain hyaluronic with some nivea but again the going into the skin I think is the Neutorgena magic blend of things that is unique cause I just cant see that making nivea all of a sudden absorb and I am so loving that not the on my face of balm and I love the old spice with this stuff so decided to just use the nivea up on my arms like a lotion dry PHX :)

NOW
nail down blades I love
the soap/cream I love
and razors I love

so one out of 4 is a good start :) narrowed down my post

I started this thinking I could narrow down everything in 6 months and realize its going to take like 2 years to narrow down if I even can :) ahahahah this shaving stuff is quite a fun hobby

it is interesting how one finds things through curiosity as I saw this at costco also and did not act and someone saw it acted started a thread from another thread and without that new one (this one) and its title I might have missed it :) ? strange how we find things :)

anyway just going to say out of all the forums I am loving how nice and helpful and not combative or negative this place has been and so so so so helpful and humble

thanks to all here !
 

CzechCzar

Use the Fat, Luke!
so today & yesterday was splash wait a minute then the Neutrogena and was still awesome I think its a complete cream so the extra water not sure I need it ?


still trying blades again I used a Feather blade ? ahhh I got weepers and irritation but have to say the post is so good its amazing still this stuff is magic YMMV of course :)


Side note My Cella went in the away bin to either sell trade off with my two Fine scents and a few stirling samples
just my old spice next to the little blue jar !
Now that said I do want to try clubman and floid just because BUT the floid is low on want so might skip it now and just get the clubman to try it really has stopped all my desire for so many AS or splash or anything post

I wanted (but no more) to try plain hyaluronic with some nivea but again the going into the skin I think is the Neutorgena magic blend of things that is unique cause I just cant see that making nivea all of a sudden absorb and I am so loving that not the on my face of balm and I love the old spice with this stuff so decided to just use the nivea up on my arms like a lotion dry PHX :)

NOW
nail down blades I love
the soap/cream I love
and razors I love

so one out of 4 is a good start :) narrowed down my post

I started this thinking I could narrow down everything in 6 months and realize its going to take like 2 years to narrow down if I even can :) ahahahah this shaving stuff is quite a fun hobby

it is interesting how one finds things through curiosity as I saw this at costco also and did not act and someone saw it acted started a thread from another thread and without that new one (this one) and its title I might have missed it :) ? strange how we find things :)

anyway just going to say out of all the forums I am loving how nice and helpful and not combative or negative this place has been and so so so so helpful and humble

thanks to all here !
I tried the same thing this morning, I applied the cream to a dry face, and it worked better for me too. I retract my previous statement, this stuff works better when applied to a dry face.

Regarding your journey, mine is just coming to a happy close. I can offer some tips if you would like - I feel I have a killer set up that can be had for cheap!
 
yeah I think its a complete well thought out product from a large mainstream company but I have had good luck all my years with neutrogena so they are not mainstream cheapest but seem to care some about what they are doing

yeah I came across that thread of yours :) I was like HEY that is that guy !

I will get there when I do no hurries no worries kinda thing enjoying the journey !
 

CzechCzar

Use the Fat, Luke!
so today & yesterday was splash wait a minute then the Neutrogena and was still awesome I think its a complete cream so the extra water not sure I need it ?


still trying blades again I used a Feather blade ? ahhh I got weepers and irritation but have to say the post is so good its amazing still this stuff is magic YMMV of course :)


Side note My Cella went in the away bin to either sell trade off with my two Fine scents and a few stirling samples
just my old spice next to the little blue jar !
Now that said I do want to try clubman and floid just because BUT the floid is low on want so might skip it now and just get the clubman to try it really has stopped all my desire for so many AS or splash or anything post

I wanted (but no more) to try plain hyaluronic with some nivea but again the going into the skin I think is the Neutorgena magic blend of things that is unique cause I just cant see that making nivea all of a sudden absorb and I am so loving that not the on my face of balm and I love the old spice with this stuff so decided to just use the nivea up on my arms like a lotion dry PHX :)

NOW
nail down blades I love
the soap/cream I love
and razors I love

so one out of 4 is a good start :) narrowed down my post

I started this thinking I could narrow down everything in 6 months and realize its going to take like 2 years to narrow down if I even can :) ahahahah this shaving stuff is quite a fun hobby

it is interesting how one finds things through curiosity as I saw this at costco also and did not act and someone saw it acted started a thread from another thread and without that new one (this one) and its title I might have missed it :) ? strange how we find things :)

anyway just going to say out of all the forums I am loving how nice and helpful and not combative or negative this place has been and so so so so helpful and humble

thanks to all here !
Just want to say that although your aftershave adventure has ended, do try Clubman as a cologne. Well worth it for the scent alone.
 
yeah amazon has 16 oz of the clubman for $9.98 or something :)

and again another awesome post feel day

I have never been a cologne guy no reason I reckon but I am kinda liking this shaving being fancy and all :)
I work from home etc... I from the islands (now on mainland) my normal wear was surf shorts and shirt :) now on mainland I work from home so regular shorts and shirt :)
BUT I have thought to try a few colognes for fun at 58 I reckon why not try something new :)
 

CzechCzar

Use the Fat, Luke!
yeah amazon has 16 oz of the clubman for $9.98 or something :)

and again another awesome post feel day

I have never been a cologne guy no reason I reckon but I am kinda liking this shaving being fancy and all :)
I work from home etc... I from the islands (now on mainland) my normal wear was surf shorts and shirt :) now on mainland I work from home so regular shorts and shirt :)
BUT I have thought to try a few colognes for fun at 58 I reckon why not try something new :)
Very cool what island are you from?

My desire to try a new aftershave has disappeared. Fully on board with this product. Remarkable!
 
went to school on mainland
Maui is my home or was :)
moved off in my mid 40s now 58
I really want to get to Portugal for year as it seems like a great place with great people Madeira is super high on list
also want to spend a few years in Japan
kids are 12 and 17 so have to wait a bit for them to be finished with school

my nivea balm went to the away bin and yeah Old Spice is only splash left on counter do have some clubman in my amazon cart but am done searching for post :)
the Neutrogena is for sure now my go to have never felt better post shave
whats funny is I am testing a ton of blades for my GC and now all of them are so smooth post its amazing how soothing this has been
 
Ok, by all these posts I was tempted to buy the Neutrogena cream. I found it in the supermarket here in Belgium at 15€.
And found out that just over the border (15km) it was 1/3th cheaper in France. (Long live unified Europe.?? ❔).

Performance wise: it is good, it is even very good but is it the miracle some discribe here? nope.
Yet I will buy it again.... great find.
 
With all this talk I had to try this one too. I went on a balm hunt last year to try to find a replacement for Nivea.

It took a while and there were plenty of duds but I was ultimately successful. My current top picks are Antica Barbieria Colla, Baume, Fitjar and Pre de Provence. All are very nice and do the job perfectly. I tried this was more out of curiosity than needing an improved balm.

So what do I think?

First it was easy to find. All the local supermarkets in Australia stock it as well as the big pharmacies. This isn’t a specialty product that needs to be bought online and shipped halfway around the globe. So it’s a tick there. Easy to find.

Price wise it’s pretty expensive here. $27 AUD for a 50ml rub is the going RRP. The discount pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse sells it for $13 so there are deals to be has. They were out of stock so I ended up paying full price. $54/100ml is pretty close to the top end of town for a balm. Of all my favorites only ABC is more expensive. So it’s not cheap but kind of in line with the top end balms price wise.

Performance. Like others have said, it’s very good. It certainly blows Nivea out of the water for face feel. The product goes on wet and thin and spreads easily. Very soon after it soaks in completely and leaves a dry silky feel to the skin. Your face feels hydrated all day without feeling loaded up or oily. It’s a light dry finish which is nice. I’d say it’s a very good performer. A tier one balm if you will. Not good enough to replace my other favorites but certainly playing at that level.

Different to my other balms this one has practically no scent. There is no added fragrance as far as I can tell. What little intrinsic scent the product does have does not linger. I’m kind of moving away from strong scents now preferring to let my EdP stand on its own rather than compete with all sorts of conflicting scents. Along these lines I’ve recently started using an Alum block for deodorant. It’s very effective and scentless but that is another story.

I think this will make a good summer balm due to it’s light / dry feel with almost no residue. Wetting your face later in the day is a good test for residue. There is none or almost none to speak of. This is nice in the summer when you might be putting on a sunscreen or sweating a little during the day. I think this will play well with my favorite summer sunscreen Neutrogena, Ultra Sheer Fluid, Facial Sunscreen. Another good Neutrogena product that I’ve been using for a while now. A little pricey but an absolute top performer with a dry touch. We digress…

So ultimately I’d like to thank you guys for bring this one to my attention. It’s a very nice product that should see plenty of use this summer. It’s another good Neutrogena product that should help keep the wrinkles at bay a bit longer. A nice addition to the den.


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