LANEIGE
LANEIGE Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Gel Moisturizer 50ml
The summer-weight moisturizer for oily mornings.
Meadowfoam seed oil fourth of twenty-two and squalane tenth — the light-lipid pairing doing the real work.
Cool gel, near-matte finish.
What this gel moisturizer does
A 50 ml gel-cream built on meadowfoam seed oil and jojoba esters, structured with C20 and C22 fatty alcohols, with malachite extract and a black yeast ferment near the end.
What is actually holding this together
Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil is the fourth ingredient. Meadowfoam is one of the most oxidation-resistant plant oils there is — over ninety-eight percent long-chain fatty acids, which is why it keeps almost indefinitely where sunflower or rosehip would go rancid. It is also unusually light for how well it holds.
Jojoba Esters at ten are not really an oil at all. Jojoba is a liquid wax, and its esters are closer in structure to skin's own sebum than any triglyceride is — which is why they absorb without leaving the film a plant oil leaves.
Then the structure: Behenyl Alcohol (C22) at six, Arachidyl Alcohol (C20) at eleven and Arachidyl Glucoside at sixteen. That trio is a self-emulsifying system built from long-chain fatty alcohols and a sugar — no PEG, no silicone, no soap. It is what gives this the particular bouncy, non-slippery texture that the Water Bank line is known for.
Those five ingredients are the product. The rest is water, three humectants, the gel network and the claim ingredients.
Being straight about the name
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is the nineteenth entry of twenty-two, below Fragrance. It is the only hyaluronate in the formula.
This cream does hold water well. It does not do it with hyaluronic acid — it does it with Propanediol, Glycerin and Betaine at positions two, three and five, and then it stops that water leaving with the meadowfoam and jojoba. That is a better mechanism than a trace of HA, and it is the one nobody put on the front.
Malachite, and the black yeast
Malachite Extract at twenty is a copper carbonate mineral — the same green stone used as a pigment and a gem. In skincare it is used as a source of copper, and it is a genuinely uncommon ingredient. At position twenty it is a trace, and we are not going to claim a trace does measurable work.
Aureobasidium Pullulans Ferment at twenty-one is more interesting. Aureobasidium pullulans is a black yeast, and fermenting it produces beta-glucan — a polysaccharide that both holds water and has a long research record on the look of irritated skin. Also a trace here, but a considered inclusion.
Key ingredients
Ingredient · What it is, and what it is used for
- Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil
- Meadowfoam oil. Over 98% long-chain fatty acids, so it resists going rancid better than almost any plant oil. Fourth on this list.
- Jojoba Esters
- Esters from jojoba, a liquid wax rather than an oil. Structurally close to skin's own sebum.
- Behenyl Alcohol
- C22 fatty alcohol. Gives body and stabilises the emulsion — part of the texture, not a drying alcohol.
- Arachidyl Alcohol
- C20 fatty alcohol. The other half of the fatty alcohol structure.
- Arachidyl Glucoside
- Sugar-based emulsifier. Completes a PEG-free, silicone-free emulsifying system.
- Propanediol
- Plant-derived diol. Used to pull in water and hold it. Second on this list, and the main humectant.
- Betaine
- Amino acid derivative from sugar beet. Used to pull in water and hold it.
- Malachite Extract
- Copper carbonate mineral. Used as a copper source; uncommon in skincare. Twentieth on this list.
- Aureobasidium Pullulans Ferment
- Ferment of a black yeast. The source of beta-glucan, which holds water and is studied for irritated skin.
- Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
- Hyaluronic acid of reduced molecular weight. The only hyaluronate here, at position nineteen.
- Mentha Arvensis Leaf Extract
- Extract of wild mint. It is where the cooling sensation comes from.
- Tocopherol
- Vitamin E. Used to slow oxidation, in the formula and on skin — here it also protects the oils.
How the formula works together
Twenty-two ingredients is short for a moisturiser at this price, and short is usually good. Carbomer and Tromethamine form the gel; Glyceryl Caprylate and 1,2-Hexanediol handle preservation without a conventional preservative on the label.
There is no silicone, no PEG, no dye and no drying alcohol. What there is: Fragrance/Parfum at eighteen, and mint extract at seventeen giving the cool hit on application.
Who it is for
Worth checking before you buy: The hyaluronic acid in the name sits at position nineteen, below the fragrance — buy this for the gel texture and the lipids rather than the HA.
Labelled for use morning and evening after serum. In practice it suits combination and normal skin, and anyone who wants a light finish with real emollients underneath rather than a water gel that vanishes. Contains fragrance and mint extract — the cooling is deliberate, and it will not suit skin that stings easily.
How to use it
- After cleansing, toning and serum, apply evenly to the face.
- Apply while skin is still damp — the humectants are near the top of the list for a reason.
- Morning and evening.
Details
- Size
- 50 ml
- Made in
- Korea
- Emollients
- Meadowfoam seed oil (4th) and jojoba esters (10th)
- Contains
- Fragrance and mint extract; no silicone, PEG or dye
- Ingredients
- 22, published in full below
Full ingredient list
Water/Aqua/Eau, Propanediol, Glycerin, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Betaine, Behenyl Alcohol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Jojoba Esters, Arachidyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Butylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Arachidyl Glucoside, Mentha Arvensis Leaf Extract, Fragrance/Parfum, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Malachite Extract, Aureobasidium Pullulans Ferment, Tocopherol
In label order, unedited.
Ships from Korea.
