i swear i wasn’t trying to cheat on my usual. i’ve been a ride-or-die for neutrogena’s hydro boost for like... four years? it’s drugstore, it’s reliable, it’s always on target’s shelf and doesn’t make my skin freak out. do i think it’s amazing? not really. but it worked well enough for me to not care.

then my sister (she’s way more into skincare than me) flew in from LA with a suitcase full of K-beauty stuff like she was a dealer. she made zero effort to hide them either. so of course i got curious. especially when i saw this cute little blue bottle that looked kind of like water but fancier.

i didn’t even ask. i just tried it. one pump, two nights in a row. and then... my skin literally stopped complaining.

first thing i noticed: torriden’s texture isn’t as silicone-y as hydro boost. it feels lighter, but somehow holds moisture better? weird. it sinks in fast, no stickiness, but my cheeks (which are usually desert-level dry) felt soft in the morning. like, actually soft.

by week one, i was using it morning and night. hydro boost started collecting dust. sorry neutrogena.

also — and this might be placebo — my redness around the nose calmed down a bit. i didn’t even expect that. the centella in this serum might actually be doing something? or maybe the formula just isn’t messing up my barrier like other stuff does.

what i really loved was how well it played with other products. vitamin c? check. sunscreen? smooth. makeup? no pilling. with hydro boost, i always had to be careful layering it or it would get gummy. torriden? nope. it just... works.

i didn’t break out once, which shocked me because new products usually punish me for straying.

now i’m 3 weeks in, and yeah. this bottle is half gone. my sister noticed. she wasn’t thrilled. i played dumb. (and then ordered my own bottle that same night.)

i guess what surprised me most is how this doesn’t try to be fancy. it’s just a solid, hydrating serum that actually listens to what my skin needs. no fake glow. no burning. no BS.

would i recommend it? to my fellow dry-skinned, always-flaky friends: yes. especially if you’ve tried things like hydro boost and thought “okay but... where’s the moisture?” this might be your answer.

PS. sis still doesn’t know i finished her bottle. don’t tell her.