Cougar Beauty Products - Anti Oxidant Defence Serum with Hyaluronic Acid Review

I've mentioned it a few times, but I love serums. I love trying new ones and I also enjoy layering them in my skincare. I've realized over the years that relying on just face cream alone just isn't enough. 

If you're not too familiar with Cougar Beauty Products, they're a company that is based in UK and all of their products are manufactured there as well.

Taken from the Cougar Beauty website:

Designed for those who enjoy high quality products and are not prepared to compromise [...] all products are new, edgy, of the highest quality and most importantly, they work [...] all ingredients are sourced locally [...] cruelty free formulas, that are never tested on animals. All of our packaging is recyclable and any mark marketing material is made from recycles material

I really love Cougar Beauty's vision. High quality ingredients are very important, but knowing that their packaging is used from recycled materials, is also an added plus.

As skincare and makeup are becoming incredibly popular, it is nice to know that there are brands out there that focus on quality all the while reducing their carbon footprint as well.

If you're looking for a moisture replenishing product, consider incorporating hyaluronic acid into your skincare. When I was still learning about skincare, I remember reading one product that boasted hyaluronic acid as a skin whitener and it deterred me from ever trying any products that contained it. But luckily, through one of my subscription boxes, I was given a hyaluronic acid mask and after reading up about the ingredient, it completely changed my opinion of it.

Hyaluronic acid is a glycosaminoglycan. Glyo-what what? It's essentially a natural substance that is produced in the body. It has the ability to retain and replenish moisture and it's what keeps our skin looking youthful and healthy. As we get older, our skin loses the ability to retain as much moisture.

Taken from Cougar Beauty website:

Our Anti Oxidant Defense Serum works to keep the balance between the free radicals and anti oxidants, but also protects and prevents free radicals forming, resulting in protection from serious illnesses and diseases [...] hyaluronic acid is also added for skin defense [...] lock in moisture, vitamis and nutrients that the body needs to maintain a bright, healthy and youthful appearance

Packaging 

The packaging definitely stands out, very bright and vibrant. Though I'm not a huge fan of the pump. I've basically become a pump connoisseur. I feel like this one sticks a bit. It could be because the spring within the pump is on the short side, so when I press down and it pops back up, it doesn't feel as smooth. 

The pump doesn't actually pump out too much product, so I found that 4 pumps provided enough product for my entire face (pea sized amount) 

Product
The product has a pretty strong scent. It does take a bit of getting used to as it's so strong, but now when I apply it in the morning or night it is usually covered up by my creams. It has a strong citrus scent, but not typical lemon scent we're accustomed to. When I look at the ingredients list, it contains papaya fruit extract, cranberry extract, strawberry extract and lemon extract to name a few (all organic). You'd think with all the above listed, the serum would smell great right? Not true. While the base scent is citrus it also has a little earthy undertone as well. To be honest, I don't really like it.

I'm used to serums being more liquid, but this is sort like a thick ampoule or a gel. Even so, it is not overly thick and my skin absorbed the serum easily. Another thing worth noting is that it did not leave any tackiness on my skin.

I implemented this serum into my morning and night routine and found it to be more effective for my PM routine. After about a week and a half of use, in the mornings my skin looked more plump and bright.

Though it did not provide as much moisture as I hoped it would. I've used other Hyaluronic acid products in the past and they were so moisturizing that I could walk around my home without having to applying cream. With this serum it was not the case.

Overall Thoughts
I found the serum to be fairly decent. It isn't sticky or heavy and I like how my skin looks and feels once it's applied. I've been using this daily both morning and night and even with 30 ml, I still have 1/3 of it left.

At this time, while I like it, nothing really stood out to me to warrant me to restock once I'm done with it.

Cougar Beauty sells this on their website for $23.21 USD approximately $31.70 CAD. Cougar beauty ships to Canada (via Royal mail) but it can be fairly expensive.

Summary

The Good
- Not thick
- Did not leave skin feeling tacky
- Moisturizing
- Organic ingredients

The Bad
- Strong scent
- Expensive
- Pump not amazing

What are your thoughts on Hyaluronic acid? Do you like using them in your skincare?

*This product was provided to me complimentary in exchange for my honest review. My opinion is my own and it is in no way influenced