A Wren Says

Let’s break down the Dr. Dennis Gross Fill + Repair serum. It is part of the brand’s Derminfusions line and designed to improve your skin barrier and give more plumper, more hydrated skin. Key ingredients are hyaluronic acid, ectoin, and peptides. I previously wrote about my experience with the moisturizer in the line. If you read that, you might be able to guess my experience with this product.

I didn’t like how this product made my skin feel. It didn’t plump, blur, or smooth. A key issue for me was that it didn’t help my skin get hydrated. It didn’t do anything for me to hold moisture in my skin. When I used this at night, my skin felt drier in the morning, regardless of which moisturizer I paired it with. The worst part was that I also noticed that it stung some of the areas of my face that react easily, namely my nose and cheeks. Because this is billed as something that will help soothe irritation with the inclusion of ectoin, I wondered  what gives.

When I looked at the ingredient list to find the culprit, I noticed that niacinamide is the third ingredient behind water and butylene glycol. From what I have read, if the concentration is too high, niacinamide can lead to irritation. Given how high it is on the list, I also wonder why the brand didn’t put it on the key ingredients list.

From my personal experience, I don’t know if I would recommend this product to anyone. But if you are dealing with dry skin or are sensitive to niacinamides, I would suggest you be careful with this. Perhaps if you have stronger, more resilient skin that is normal to oily, this could work for you. If you do get a chance to use it, please let me know what your experience was.