La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum On your shelf ✓
Our read, in one look
Glycerin is the reason to consider this serum, with Pro-vitamin B5 behind it.
The case for it
- Glycerin, strong evidence for hydration
- Pro-vitamin B5, strong evidence for the barrier
- No parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readLa Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum is a serum built around Glycerin, Pro-vitamin B5 and Hyaluronic acid. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, anti-aging. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and sensitive skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
Skip it if your skin reacts to fragrance: this one is scented.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it does here.
26 of the 32 sit above the 1% line. The other 6, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Hydrators
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
What it delivers
How it feels A light, fast-absorbing texture that layers cleanly under the rest of your routine, with no greasy film. (estimated from the formula)
What's in it that matters
Classic humectant with strong evidence for improving skin hydration and supporting barrier when combined with emollients.
Humectant and soothing ingredient that helps calm irritation and supports barrier repair and recovery.
Water-binding molecule that increases hydration; works best under occlusive/emollient layers to reduce evaporation.
Purified centella triterpene that calms inflammation supports barrier repair and enhances collagen and elastic fiber remodeling in photoaged skin.
Signal nucleoside that modestly improves periorbital and facial wrinkles and elasticity in Korean cosmetic studies with good tolerability.
Hyaluronic acid cut into shorter fragments, so it sits into the surface rather than resting on top of it. It works with the full-size form rather than replacing it.
How to use it
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
Where it acts
The same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Glycerinderived from what it is
- Hyaluronic acidderived from what it is
- Hydrolyzed hyaluronic acidderived from what it is
- Pro-vitamin B5derived from what it is
4 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend. 2 did not, so they are not on the diagram: no source and no honest derivation means no dot.
Against the average serum
It scores lower than the median serum on brightening.
On hydration, barrier repair, oil control and anti-aging it is level with the median, so that is not what sets it apart.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
The full ingredients list, decoded
Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first). We link the 20 our library knows, name what each one does, and flag anything that can irritate or clog. The rest we leave plain, nothing is hidden.
All 32 ingredients, decoded
- Aqua/Water/EauSolvent (base)
- GlycerinHumectant
- Alcohol DenatSolventcan irritate
- Propylene GlycolHumectantmild irritant
- PanthenolHumectant
- Pentylene GlycolHumectant
- DimethiconeOcclusive
- PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric GlyceridesEmulsifier
- Alpinia Galanga Leaf ExtractBotanical extract
- Calcium Chloride
- Glyceryl IsostearateEmollient (ester)
- MadecassosideSoothing
- PPG-6-Decyltetradeceth-30
- Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate
- Sodium HyaluronateHumectant
- Algin
- AdenosineNucleoside
- Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate
- PropanediolHumectant
- Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic AcidHumectant
- HydroxyacetophenonePreservative
- Caprylic/Capric TriglycerideEmollient
- Caprylyl GlycolPreservative booster
- Citric AcidExfoliantmild irritant
- Trisodium Ethylenediamine DisuccinateChelator (stabiliser)
- Acetyl Glucosamine
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Xanthan Gum down, these 6 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- Xanthan GumThickener
- Butylene GlycolHumectant
- 1,2-HexanediolPreservative booster
- TocopherolAntioxidantmild irritant
- PhenoxyethanolPreservativemild irritant
- Parfum/FragranceFragrancecan irritate
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, Pentylene Glycol, Dimethicone, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Alpinia Galanga Leaf Extract, Calcium Chloride, Glyceryl Isostearate, Madecassoside, PPG-6-Decyltetradeceth-30, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Algin, Adenosine, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Propanediol, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Hydroxyacetophenone, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Caprylyl Glycol, Citric Acid, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Acetyl Glucosamine, Xanthan Gum, Butylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Tocopherol, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum/Fragrance
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Compare it with…
All 15 comparisons
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (Original Formulation)
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (with Ceramides)
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs Eucerin Anti-Pigment Dual Serum
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG Eye Serum
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 5% in Squalane
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs Geek & Gorgeous A-Game 10
- Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum vs Celimax The Vita A Retinal Shot Tightening Booster
Common questions
Is La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum good for dry skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits dry, dehydrated, sensitive skin. La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum is a serum built around Glycerin, Pro-vitamin B5 and Hyaluronic acid. It leans strongest on hydration, barrier repair, anti-aging. Best suited to dry, dehydrated and sensitive skin. Worth noting it contains fragrance, so reactive skin should patch-test.
How do you use La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum?
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
What are the key ingredients in La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum?
The actives that do the work are Glycerin, Pro-vitamin B5, Hyaluronic acid, Madecassoside, Adenosine, Hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum beside a cross-section of skin, with 2 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Glycerin and Pro-vitamin B5 in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
