Rodial’s Dragon Blood

Obviously as a lover of gimmicky things I was initially attracted to Rodial Dragon’s Blood Hyaluronic Moisturiser ($60) because of the name and bright red hue. I’m a major Rodial fanatic (Tummy Tuck and Boob Job are go-to products for temporary firm ups), because they fuse cute product names with great packaging and formulations with lots of active ingredients. Hyaluronic acid is a star ingredient for moisture because it has incredible water binding abilities. I’ve spoken to countless dermatologists over the years and time and time again I’m told to look for it in my daily facial moisturizer because it’s a gentle, but very effective moisturizing humectant and skin conditioning ingredient.

In addition to the moisturizing property of hyaluronic acid in this Dragon’s Blood product, the lightweight moisturizer has SPF 15 making it good for year-round sun protection (remember however that SPF means it only shields against the burning UVB rays not UVA rays). As for the actual dragon blood ingredient, obviously it’s not actually from a dragon:) It’s an ingredient sourced from the red sap of the sangre de drago tree in South America and it has been shown to protect against environmental damage and work as an anti-inflammatory. The plumping cream has four other actives in it to help even out and brighten the complexion and it’s backed by clinical results that showed results were visible in just five days and keep going, hitting their peak at about 60 days.

The cream is very light and absorbs fast so you could easily wear this under makeup (possibly even instead of a primer if your skin isn’t that dry). It also brightened my skin and made for a great counterbalance to a somewhat dehydrating Murad acne cleanser I’m currently using (damn hot yoga!).