This week, I received Lise Watier's HydraForce Hydra-Protective Comforting Creme to test and review from Glam Sense (Please note that I received these products for free to test and review from Glam Sense. The following review and opinions are solely my own.). I was mostly excited to receive this product because I needed a better facial moisturizer. I'm currently using one that I like, but don't quite love. It's a basic, unscented moisturizer that does it's job: it moisturizes. But if you recall, I'm currently using the Bioré Baking Soda products for my face wash and scrub, and it does leave my skin a bit dry. I needed something more hydrating than my current facial moisturizer. So you can see why I'm really excited to try a high end facial product.

The Lise Watier HydraForce Hydra-Protective Comforting Creme (gawd, what a mouthful!) retails for $45 CAD and is a formula for normal to dry skin. Lise Watier also sells HydraForce Hydra-Protective Creme-Gel for normal to combination skin. What's interesting about these products is that they use Gaspé algae extract to combat extreme weather conditions and maintain healthily hydrated skin. According to Vanessa Craft from ELLE Canada, the Gaspé algae (also known as Laminaria saccharina) "helps to reinforce the skin's protective barrier and prevent water loss." (read her short article about this 'miracle' algae here). Craft says that the Gaspé algae is a "seaweed found along the cold northeastern part of the Atlantic coast" that "develop[s] a highly efficient system in order to survive in [extremely cold] conditions. If harvested in the fall, it contains a higher active molecule concentration than at any other time of the year." I don't know about you, but I thought that this was really neat. In addition to this 'miraculous' seaweed, according to Lise Watier, this product boasts that 100% of women claimed that their skin felt more hydrated after use (this information is based on an evaluation for 25 women after 28 days of treatment with HydraForce).

Think the algae was neat? I haven't even gotten to the most interesting part about this box. With my facial moisturizer, I received a little device that plugs into my phone's audio jack and tells me how hydrated my skin is. It's a cute little gadget with what looks like two small, silver angel wings. First, I had to download the free Hydra-Detect app by Lise Watier onto my phone, then plug the little device in. When you open the app, you have five tabs. One is the main testing page, which is followed by tabs labelled Hand, T-Zone, Cheek, and Moisture Levels. You click the tab of the area that you want to test, hold the little angel wings against your skin, and wait for your phone to buzz and tell you what your moisture levels are. The Moisture Levels tab is handy because it tells you what the percentage of hydration your skin is — ranging from Dry to Normal, Hydrated, and Exceptional.

I have tested this app several times by deleting the app and reinstalling it to clear my data and start fresh. This is why, for those of you wondering, why my results from my unboxing video and the pictures I've attached to this blog post are different.

For my hands, my levels before moisturizing were 37.5%, and after moisturizing my result was 60.7%. The first time I tried this test, my level before moisturizing was 5% (ouch!). I guess even the app realizes that I have eczema on my hands.

   

Next, I tested my T-zone, where my results were higher than I expected. During my first tests, my results pre-moisturizing were much lower. I should note that I used this device after washing my face. I felt like washing my face before taking these tests would strip my skin of its natural moisture, but compared to my first results, if anything it boosted my moisture levels.

   

Last, I tested my cheek. These are my results:

    

My moisture levels for my t-zone and cheek were surprisingly high for the pre-moisturizing tests. During my first test, my results were lower than 50%, so I feel like washing my face definitely skewed my results.

If you are interested in learning more about Lise Watier's HydraForce products and want to test your hydration levels as well, there are HydraForce events happening in several Canadian cities. If you don't live near these locations like me, you can also test your hydration levels at a point of sale near you. The cities that are participating in these events are Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, and Dartmouth. If you would like to learn more about these events, click here.

Please feel free to tag me on my Instagram and Twitter (@blondiesnails) and share your HydraForce experience. Just be sure to use the hashtag #GetInTheBubble!