Review: Safi Hydra Glow Oil-free Serum (one of my first skincare products)

Hi everyone! Today in my first review post, I want to share with you guys my thought on one of Safi’s products from their Hydra Glow range, that is their Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid oil-free serum.

This was the very first serum I used back when I began my skincare journey (and I’m still using it today). I remember being with my colleague, checking out a newly opened Guardian store in the town where I’m living. This colleague of mine was the one who got me into skincare, and she was also the one who suggested me this serum. I was using Safi Natural cleanser at that time and seeing that I had no negative experience with this brand, my colleague suggested me to try Safi’s products for starter. She helped me pick this particular serum since it was labelled “oil-free” (because I’m oily) and I ended up buying it alongside its moisturizer.

On the box, this serum claims to be able to soothe skin redness, rebalance oily T-zone area, and give your skin the shine-free and weightless hydration. Since this one is oil-free, it’s definitely catered to oily and combination skin.

Turning and learning

One thing I like the most about this serum is the top 5 ingredients in their ingredients list.

1. Water (the most common solvent and skincare ingredient of all)

2. Panthenol (also known as pro-vitamin B5, which has good moisturizing ability)

3. Niacinamide (one of my favourite ingredients in skincare, also known as vitamin B3, very good for wrinkles, fine lines, and skin brightening, also helps strengthen skin barrier and improves skin hydration together with ceramide)

4. Glycerin (natural moisturizer that’s in our skin)

5. Sodium hyaluronate (salt form of hyaluronic acid, a great moisturizer property)

With them being in the top 5, there’s going to be quite a high percentage of them in the product (about 5% to 2% if I’m not mistaken). Based on my little breakdown for each ingredient above, you can certainly tell that it is a soothing and moisturizing serum.

I also spotted these three other great ingredients that are in the product, and although two of them are on the lower part of the list, doesn’t mean that it’s not a good addition.

1. Hyaluronic acid (most famous ingredients for moisturizer)

2. Ceramide 3 (skin-identical ingredient, great for improving skin barrier)

3. Aspergillus ferment (or rice germ ferment, used in a lot of Asian skincare products for its brightening ability)

For its price range (about RM25 for 30ml), I’d say this serum is a good bargain. I mean, just look at all the ingredients above. You can easily find these sorts of ingredients in high-end products for even higher prices compare to this Safi one. 

Also, it is indeed free of oil-based ingredients!

The texture and the feels

The texture feels liquidy, but not watery. I wouldn't really say it's liquid gel kind of feeling because to me I find the texture to be lighter than that. And the reason I say it's not watery is because it's not that light to the point that it's runny. It's not. I hope you can get that... kinda? Anyway, I find that 3 drops are more than enough to cover my entire face and neck area. 

It is a clear, lightweight serum and it absorbs pretty quickly, too. I personally don’t find it sticky, but it does leave a slight tacky feeling on my skin once it has dried down, especially when I layer it with moisturizer afterward. It might be a me problem, though. And it's not really serious. It doesn't make my skin feel uncomfortable or anything.  

Another thing I should point out is that the serum has this fermented rice smell. (Obviously.) But the scent is faint, so if you’re fine with this sort of fermented smell, I believe it won't be a big deal-breaker.

Personal thought

I would say that it does live up to its claim (soothing skin redness). My chin nowadays has been a hot spot for pimples to grow, so it often gets red easily. After using this serum consistently for a month or two, I do notice a significant improvement on my chin area. It becomes less red and my skin texture gradually feels smoother as well. I especially like how it leaves my skin feeling bouncy and hydrated after every use. This serum, to me, also makes a good primer for my makeup other than moisturizer. I find that it helps the products sit nicely on my skin and makes the whole applying process easier for me.

Since this serum primarily focuses on skin hydration and moisturization, it doesn’t, as expected, help with my whitehead/blackhead problem. And it’s not enough to control my skin oiliness either. I still need something that specifically targets my skin concerns and helps it in the long run. Even so, I’m still using the serum to this day for its nice hydrating ability. 

Will I recommend it? Definitely! It is a good serum for those with oily and combination skin, as well as those with skin redness issue. And for a skincare beginner, this Safi serum has absolutely earned a green light from me.

If you're looking to try this product, I hope you find this review helpful in some ways! I'm still in the process of figuring out my review style, so if there's any information or insight that you'd like me to include in my future review, feel free to let me know in the comment down below! In the meantime, I'm going to go through the backlog of skincare products I need to write a review on.

Thank you for reading. Hope you're having a good day and see you again in my next post! Bye (●'◡'●)