The products: Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer, Hyaluronic Acid Serum, and Niacinamide Serum
Writing a new blog post feels, every time, like a confrontation. It comes at you with demands: you have to look directly up, whether at a product or at the state of the world. It becomes your job to be awake; to sit with how the world has changed and the fact that, even though your Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer is the same moisturizer it was in January, things are just… different. It becomes your job to zone back into everything you were trying to ignore.
It’s funny. All of the inanimate objects that we surround ourselves with are completely unchanged, but they feel wrong now.
I thought it was kind of ironic that, as a silicone-free blogger, I liked Good Molecules’ oil serums over their moisturizer — but, if I’m paying attention, I guess it makes sense. Despite my never-ending hunt for the perfect silicone-free moisturizer, I’m an oil lover at my core. I dream of swathing myself in a warm, thick bath and emerging as the dewiest sea-creature alive. Great oils are easy(ish) to find, while silicone-free moisturizers remain tough to track down. They exist, but they’re rarely both affordable and silicone-free, and I am loathe to ever recommend my standby silicone-free primer (a numbing $54 CAD, from Make Up For Ever.)
So: to shake off the pandemic, and the protests, and to just sit with a moisturizer for a minute… this one is pretty swell. Let’s start there.
The Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer review
I won’t be giving up my Graydon Berry Rich or Purito Centella anytime soon, but not for lack of a good reason. The Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer ($16 USD) is light and comfortable, with packaging that’s easy to use and hard to drop. It’s very lightweight, and the pump dispenser makes getting the right amount a breeze. The silicone-free formula is completely scent-free, vegan, and never tested on animals, and it really does feel like a primer — it leaves my skin feeling really, really smooth.
One of the ways I’ll test moisturizers for stickiness is to use them for about a week as a hand cream, and this one passes the test with flying colours. My hands get a soft, satin finish, even though they’re small and dry and wrinkly. Overall, the formula is just shy of being hydrating enough for my face (even with an oil, unfortunately), but I like it for skin that isn’t quite as dehydrated. You can really feel the nourishing effects of the formula’s macadamia seed oil and shea butter, and the silicone alternative that they chose (vegetable-derived Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate) is light and dreamy.
This moisturizer has moved to my office as a hand cream, as a treat. It knocks its predecessor (a Clarins day cream, $61 CAD) out of the park.
Availability: $14 USD/$19 CAD for a velvety finish. $8 for the handy travel/trial size.
Water-based serums: Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide Serum reviews
Like the rest of the line, the packaging on these serums is just fantastic. These two bottles are made from chunky, frosted glass, and they feel like they sell for far more than $8 apiece.
Just like the Good Molecules moisturizer, these serums pass the hand test that I use for my more rigorous reviews. They’re not all the way there; where the moisturizer is truly silky and velvety, these are just barely sticky. It’s to be expected from a water-based serum with glycerine in it, and not distasteful on the face. The Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid Serum ($6 USD) sinks in quickly, and layers wonderfully. Their Niacinamide Serum ($6 USD) is a little heavier, but still light for a water-based niacinamide product.
I haven’t used these serums very much, to be quite honest. I find that with a good moisturizer and a Good Molecules oil, I don’t need a hyaluronic anymore. In terms of texture and hydration, however, I’d place these near the top of my budget finds — a little stickier than Purito, but less sticky than The Ordinary.
These are good. They’re not “everything in the world feels completely fine in this moment” good, but what is?
Availability: $6 USD/$8 CAD each, with free shipping to Canada over $40 at Beautylish.
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Disclaimer: These products were sent in for editorial consideration only, and this post contains affiliate links for other products. I really love what I’ve tried from Good Molecules!
