Shadowing Practice: THE BEST HYDRATING SERUMS | DOCTORLY UNSPONSORED REVIEWS - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hydrating serums.
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Hydrating serums.
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In this video, we're going to be talking about our favorite hydrating serums.
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Now, you don't necessarily need to use a hydrating serum in your skincare routine,
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but I've personally been using them quite a bit lately.
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I love the way that they feel on my skin,
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and we've reviewed hundreds of them,
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and we're going to tell you our top five.
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Right, so these are the most refreshing,
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lightweight, hydrating serums for your skin.
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We're going to tell you which ones are our favorites.
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Let's go.
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Here we go.
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So I'm going to kick it off by saying when we talk about hydrating serums,
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what role do they really fit in our routine?
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Now the truth is that a lot of times your moisturizer,
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especially if it has any level of occlusive,
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emollient, oils, or any type of humectant like glycerin or hyaluronic acid,
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they're going to do the bulk of your moisturizing for the skin.
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Now where these hydrating serums come in is that they a lot of times are going to be lighter weight.
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people are not going to use a moisturizer in their routine
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and some people like that lightweight hydration and on top of
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that they tend to be a really good base for layering makeup
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and sunscreen on top of it
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so they still fill a role they're not going to be
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like a vaseline in the sense of preventing trans epidermal water loss
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but they do give you that extra kick of hydration
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so actually at this time of year we get a lot
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of comments do i even need a moisturizer do i need a lotion
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or cream whether it's a hot humid environment
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or whether you just have oily skin and that's That's actually where these step in.
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If you are one of those people,
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due to the environment around you,
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or just you, your skin probably could still benefit from some hydration,
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some improved skin barrier functions,
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some improved health, and that's where these will fill that void.
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Serums tend to fit in that lighter weight category,
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and so they would go before your moisturizer,
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they would go before your sunscreen,
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they would go before your makeup.
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Now, common question that I get is,
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how do you use this if you're using a vitamin C product,
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a vitamin C serum?
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So generally goes that you apply your vitamin C serum first,
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because it tends to be the more finicky ingredient,
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allow it to dry and settle into your skin and then follow with your hydrating moisturizer.
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Yeah, so no science to this,
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no perfect formula, but in general,
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that's the way you'll do it.
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Cleanse vitamin C hydrator, or just cleanse lightweight hydrating serum, doesn't much matter.
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Now, what we have for you is a smorgasbord,
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word on screen please, of,
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mostly because I don't know how to spell that word,
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of different types of hydrating serums.
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Now, some are just simple, cost-effective, hydration, moisturization, refreshing.
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Some have a little bit of a bonus,
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but really their primary function is going to be restore the skin.
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Most of your active serums,
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the ones containing your retinols,
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the ones containing your other active ingredients,
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your vitamin C's, those are off the table for today.
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So I'll do one, then he'll do one, then I'll do one.
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We would probably agree on a lot of these, to be honest.
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So I'm gonna kick it off by starting with the Snail Mucin from COSAR-REX.
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And you think to yourself,
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well this is not an hydrating serum, but it is.
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And honestly, it truly is.
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So this is one of my favorite products.
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This is the Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence.
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And I'm not gonna lie to you,
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When I first heard about snail mucin, I thought, no way.
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I'm not falling for this trap.
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But when you use it on your skin and you see how hydrating it is,
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especially compared to like a traditional serum,
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it's kind of like hyaluronic acid meets glycerin meets ectoan.
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Like your skin just feels so hydrated and it's a long lasting hydration on the skin.
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And this one has really stood the test of time for me.
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So when I first tried it,
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it wasn't this product that ended up back in a drawer for me.
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It ended up going through one bottle and then two bottles and then three bottles and continuing to like it.
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Now we have a whole review on the science of snail mucin that you can find on our channel,
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and why we endorse this type of ingredient in the first place.
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Now these aren't made in the most humane ways,
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I would say, because even if the snails are treated humanely,
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you are cultivating them to release mucin in the end,
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and so it's not a vegan product by any mean.
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But it is effective, it is hydrating,
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and I'm gonna show you what the snail does.
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So I don't know if we can see this on camera,
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but there's very few things with this level of hydration
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and with this staying power And it's very non-irritating for the skin Extremely non-irritating.
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It's so well studied the data backs it up for sensitive skin healing skin
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So snail mucin one of my favorite all-time ingredients also something I wanted to dislike ended up loving over time
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And I use this regularly It's probably the most commonly applied product before we shoot videos
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that I'm feeling like my skin looks a little flat and dull I'll slap on some snail mucin.
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I did it today actually So it's it really is a tried-and-true product.
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So mine I'm gonna save I think my hidden gem for last
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which I know that half of you aren't going to see
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But so you're missing out one of the most interesting ones is this one.
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It's the beauty of Joseon calming green tea and panthenol So I am a sucker for a green tea.
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I'm obsessed with this ingredient.
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It's so soothing It's such a good antioxidant
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and it also does a little bit of oil control It's just so good for the skin.
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I might be my favorite antioxidant Although a flip-flop between that and maybe ferulic acid.
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So this one is 50% green tea water, like Camellia Sinensis water.
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That's the first ingredient on the product.
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I love that.
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I also love like a green tea toner that's like mostly green tea.
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And then panthenol, amazing hero ingredient for the skin barrier.
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But it's that hydration that really hits.
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And it's just such a soothing product.
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And it's also a little green.
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If you don't know this,
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I am also a sucker for colors.
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But the body of this, it's actually pretty rich.
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So it's like not sticky,
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not tacky, but it's very full and just settles in like thick water if that sounds at all refreshing.
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Yeah, so not sticky at all,
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not tacky, sets into the skin really nicely and gives you that nice cooling, hydrating feel.
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Plus, it's loaded with a lot of great ingredients.
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And if you've tried products from Beauty of Joseon or really any Korean brand,
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the elegance is really hard to match.
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So my next product, which I don't have in front of me right now,
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but it's a product that I love.
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It's on my counter at home.
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I use it every single day.
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It's the Abib Jericho Rose Bifida Serum from Abib,
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which is a Korean skincare brand.
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And I've really never heard anyone else talk about this,
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but it's one of those products.
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It's more of like a milky hydrating serum where you apply it and your skin just feels immediately calm afterwards.
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And Bifida is one of the best ingredients for people who have sensitive skin.
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And again, this is a Korean skincare brand,
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so the textures are just hard to match.
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All right.
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So funny that you should mention this
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because I have a product in my pocket
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that I wasn't sure I was going to talk about is like on the cusp.
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This is an Ambozzin's number three skin softening serum.
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And the reason it almost didn't make the cut,
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and it kind of didn't,
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so I'm just throwing it in with his,
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is this first ingredient is bifida ferment lysate.
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Second one, galactomyces ferment filtrate.
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And there's such value to these probiotics, postbiotics, prebiotics.
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These are actually probably more technically,
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I don't know, it's one of the three.
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I forget.
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But they do so much for the skin barrier.
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And this serum has a great aesthetic.
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Also just calms the skin immediately.
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It's incredible.
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I was just thinking like maybe that's too much of an active ingredient,
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more like a skin barrier than hydrator But I completely agree with his train of thought.
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I was right there with him.
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Just a different product in mind Hmm, okay.
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Yeah, and these are different.
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This one is more of this is actually true Like the numbers in one is more of like your traditional like H.A.
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Glycerin serum the one from Abee is more of that milky serum.
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So I don't really delineate,
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you know,
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we did a whole nother video where we talk about how
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like serum versus toner versus essence are really just marketing and trying to describe the texture of the product.
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When I think about this,
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I think, you know, kind of hydrating serum and it definitely falls into that category for me.
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Okay, so this one.
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This is like my elegant pleasure.
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Not quite a guilty pleasure because it's not expensive enough to really warrant a guilty pleasure.
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But this is Biosan Squalene Firm and Lift Dual Serum.
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You probably can't see, but it is separated in space and time.
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We have this non-emulsified water and oil concoction.
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You are supposed to shake it actually.
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Maybe we can show you.
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So what you see here is it's an oil on water and then you shake it and
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Then you get these
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Insane little bubbles inside of it So there's really very few products
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that are quite like this and this type of experiential element somehow sends me across the edge
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So the key component of this of course is the squalane
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that's what Biosense is known for sugarcane derived squalane highest quality
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then you have glycerin then you have ha you have ectoan you have different types of oils
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that are good for the skin
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and it's just like elegant this is this is i get i don't know how to describe it
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because it's like a skin oil
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but it doesn't leave your oil you're greasy it just sets
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so nicely because squalane absorbs deeply it naturally does that
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and then the other combination of oils
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and ingredients also just like very very deeply hydrates the skin
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like a lot of brands piggyback on the term deeply hydrates this one deeply hydrates
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so if you're someone who's like very dry skin
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and really just wants to elevate
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that to another level really just like restore your skin barrier
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and moisture love this serum i think it's a hidden gem
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that no one's talking about yeah it's a beautiful serum
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and it just it really just feels so good on the skin like
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if i didn't know better i would think this was a korean korean product
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because it's it just feels that good
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so we love biosance um you know i feel like it
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doesn't get as much love as it probably deserves lately and i I think they have incredible products.
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And I would say right alongside that,
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their Copper Peptide Hydrating Plumping Serum is also another phenomenal underrated product that we've talked about a few times now.
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So I'm gonna round out mine by cheating a little bit here.
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And it's because I feel that hydrating serums can do more.
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And hydrating serums can serve an extra purpose.
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Because when you think about actives,
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I think about the risk of irritation.
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I think about maybe an ingredient that doesn't play well with other ingredients.
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But I do think a good way to pair your hydrating serum is a serum
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that is both hydrating and also delivering a peptide And
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so I think this is where this product comes into effect
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and been loving this brand a lot more lately and You know,
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I've sort of learned like I don't really know much about like the origin story of this brand
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or anything like this I believe it's a singapore-based company
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But the more products I try I try for them the more
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that I like this is there
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and the only really hold up from recommending it More often would probably be the price point.
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I think it's a little bit expensive very expensive I would argue,
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especially their growth factor serum.
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But this is a really nice serum.
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This is a copper tripeptide and ectoan advanced repair serum.
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So ectoan is really where you're getting that hydration from.
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You're also getting some other hydrating ingredients in this formula as well,
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but you also get that compounded effect of this acetyl hexapeptide,
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aka argyroline, and you also have two forms of different copper peptides in this formula.
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And so a beautiful blue serum,
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gunk in the cap, which is interesting because I used it earlier today.
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I was also like dying.
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I was like looking all over my house for this product the other day and I could not find it.
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But a beautiful blue hydration serum.
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Let me kind of show you this up close here.
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See if we can capture it properly.
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So you see that beautiful blue and that's from that copper peptide in there.
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And that's kind of how you know it's at a good concentration as well.
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And it's super hydrating.
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It's a super hydrating formula.
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Plus it's delivering those copper peptides into the skin.
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So I might look like a Smurf right now.
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Who knows?
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But if this wasn't so expensive,
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I definitely recommend it more often.
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And so I'm cheating a little bit here by adding this to the list,
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but it's a product that I like a lot.
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I believe we have a doctorly discount code that we put in the description on this one.
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Still only saves you 20%,
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but at least it gets you a little closer there.
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Yeah, yeah.
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This one's my guilty pleasure.
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So that other one from Bioscience is my elegant pleasure.
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Allies of Skin is my guilty pleasure brand because it is just straight up expensive almost all the time.
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But Dr. Shaw brings up a good point in that,
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you know, you break the rules with a purpose or just be deliberate,
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which we've said on this channel for years and do you have to have a hydrating serum that's only a hydrating serum?
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No, you absolutely do not.
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You can find a serum that has some active targeting your skincare goals
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and peptides are always a perfect complement towards anything hydrating and healing because they're so gentle.
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So yes, just get a serum and you'll probably have some hydration alongside it.
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And we do have an honorable mention that's the opposite end of the spectrum,
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our OG favorite, Vichy Mineral 89 HA Serum.
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Now this is the flip side.
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This is like 11 ingredients,
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simple formula, hydrating serum, high molecular weight hyaluronic acid.
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Honorable mention just because it was like one of the first products we ever reviewed.
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We've mentioned it a hundred times.
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You all want to see newness.
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But again, this is a product that Dr. Maxwell somehow got in a mega size.
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I don't know where he got this shot.
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I think I got that one in France.
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But this is a phenomenal formula.
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And the reason is
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because a lot of hyaluronic acid serums use a mixture of low molecular weight
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and high molecular weight or sometimes only low molecular weight.
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And those have their benefits because they can get deeper into the skin,
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but they can be pro-inflammatory for some people.
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And the higher molecular weight,
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the one that doesn't penetrate the skin,
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the one that sits on top of the skin, is just gentler.
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It's more cushioning to the skin.
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It's softer on the skin.
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And this uses a high molecular weight hyaluronic acid.
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And it just, the way that it feels, hard to describe.
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I feel like it's lost a little bit of its hype.
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And that's because there's so much newness to get excited about.
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But it is still a phenomenal formula that I definitely stand by.
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Yeah, me too.
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So still an all-time favorite.
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One of my go-tos if I just want some refreshing hydration and yeah, simple formula.
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It just does what it does and does it well.
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I'm trying to figure out where I got this from and yeah,
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it's not in English.
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So this one is definitely some I got in Europe.
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Every time I go to Europe,
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I get like some goodies.
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All right.
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So that rounds out our top hydrating serums.
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There are so many more that we probably missed.
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There's probably hundreds more that I've tried and loved.
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So I'm actually a big fan of this category
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and probably don't talk about it enough
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because I do feel like in a lot of ways it's not like a necessary step in your skincare routine
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but I still love them a lot and personally using my skincare routine.
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Thank you all so much for tuning in.
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Please like, comment, and subscribe.
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Let us know what you're your favorites below and we'll see you in the next video.
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We'll see you next time.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

Engaging with the video titled "The Best Hydrating Serums" not only provides insights into skincare but also offers an excellent context for English speaking practice. The speaker articulates their thoughts in a clear and structured manner, making it a perfect resource for learners. By practicing your speaking skills through the shadowing technique, you can mimic the natural rhythm and intonation of the speaker. This method helps build fluency and confidence as you speak, allowing you to better grasp the nuances of conversational English.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Throughout the video, several key structures and expressions can be highlighted for learners:

  • Using conditional sentences: The speaker often employs phrases like “if you are one of those people.” This structure is useful for presenting hypothetical scenarios in conversation.
  • Present perfect tense: The phrase “I’ve personally been using them” showcases the present perfect tense, ideal for discussing experiences that influence the current moment.
  • Comparative and superlative forms: Expressions such as “the most refreshing” serve as great examples of how to compare different items effectively in English.
  • Descriptive adjectives: The use of adjectives like “lightweight” and “hydrating” demonstrates how to vividly describe products or experiences, which is crucial in both spoken and written communication.
  • Informal conversational phrases: The speaker’s casual tone with phrases like “Right, so” and “Here we go” exemplifies colloquial English and helps learners become more comfortable with informal speaking.

Common Pronunciation Traps

As you practice with this video, be aware of certain words and pronunciation patterns that may pose challenges:

  • Hydrating: This word includes a subtle "t" sound that can be easily mispronounced. Pay attention to how the speaker articulates it.
  • Moisturizer: The blend of sounds in this word can be tricky. Focus on enunciating each syllable clearly.
  • Environment: This word contains multiple syllables, making it important to practice the rhythm of speech while pronouncing it.
  • Serum: Many may find the "s" followed by “er” sound challenging. Listening to the speaker can help you grasp the correct pronunciation.

By utilizing the shadow speech method and focusing on these elements, learners can significantly enhance their skills in English. Whether it’s through engaging with fluid conversation or mastering the pronunciation of new vocabulary, this video serves as an effective tool for your english speaking practice.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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