Best known for her By Terry hyaluronic acid–infused setting powder and rose-powered skin-care products—she’s also the brilliant mind behind YSL’s Touche Éclat, which she launched in 1992 prior to creating her namesake brand—Terry de Gunzburg is a beauty wizard. Now, she’s adding a new product to her cult-favorite lineup, which skin-care expert Nadine Baggott says “has more hyaluronic acid in it than any other product I know of.” On a recent Zoom meeting with the two beauty brains, I got the full inside scoop on Hyaluronic Global Face Cream ($79).
During the lockdown, de Gunzburg says her motivation to create and launch new products completely changed. “I rethought my personal skin-care routine, and I felt like I had to create extremely efficient products with the motto of ‘less is more.’ Full comfort and efficiency with more benefits.” What she ended up with is what Baggott describes as “eight products in one: This could technically replace two hyaluronic acid serums, a niacinamide serum, a moisturizer, an eye cream, a day cream, and a night cream.” The reason why? It contains eight different sizes of hyaluronic acid (HA), plus other key actives.
“I started my career as medical student, so I adore science,” says de Gunzburg. “This is my biggest innovation in skin care so far. It contains eight different sizes of HA in three different molecular weights, and each one has a different role. At first I thought we could only have three HAs, but when I spoke to the doctors, I was inspired to investigate more and I asked my team to find the best lab in the world with the purest hyaluronic acid. We found a lab in Korea that is working only for us on this subject, and I pushed the boundaries to go from three to five types, having weekly discussions with the scientists. They were also pushing themselves and their own research, and in the end, we developed eight hyaluronic acids. It also contains 5-percent niacinamide and 5-percent phyto-squalane—these are both high percentages—and it’s fragrance-free and good for all skin types. Men love it, too.”
Baggott says many luxury skin-care brands won’t speak about the ingredient percentages in their products. “I love that Terry created this in lockdown with her scientists in Korea, the home of hyaluronic acid, and she is being completely transparent about the ingredients,” she adds. “The way the different molecular weights of HA penetrate the skin is so brilliant—they go through the stratum corneum and then sit with the ceramides within skin for real barrier repair, rather than sitting on the surface. It really locks moisture into the skin.”
Another big hit is the texture. “It’s a gel-cream, but it almost turns into a serum as you rub it in, and you know I’m a serum-a-holic,” says Baggott. “There’s no tightness, no dryness, no white residue on skin, no pilling—it’s really a dream technology for me because I don’t like heavy occlusive things at all. It also sits so beautifully under makeup, including Terry’s other HA products.” De Gunzburg calls it “the second-skin effect,” noting it should be applied as a thin veil all over the face, and can even be used around the eyes because it won’t create milia. “I also use it as a hand mask, and when it dries, all my little fine lines disappear.”
