According to Zoolander philosophy — moisture being the essence of wetness and wetness being the essence of beauty — a little, blue, glass jar of Laneige’s Water Bank Moisture Cream is brimming with beauty. My thirsty face can attest to that. Despite my best and most hydrating efforts, my epidermal barrier hasn’t exactly emerged from the throes of winter completely unscathed. The tight, stretched skin on my cheeks and under my eyes couldn’t be quenched without the help of several hydrating serums, occlusive moisturizers, and face oils, which in turn would clog my dry pores, creating an upsetting combo of dehydrated yet congested skin.

The last time I got a facial (about a month ago), my esthetician said that my skin was “extremely dehydrated,” which besides being extremely rude, was more disappointing and a personal embarrassment for me, a dedicated skin-care disciple. Too many chemical exfoliants and not enough hydrators and sealants basically gave me glass-appearing skin that just happened to devoid of moisture. It’s like chugging fruit juice when what your body really wants is Gatorade.

Anyway, in my quest for moisture (and wetness and beauty), I remembered Laniege’s reputation as an authority on all things wet, especially when it comes to K-beauty (and if anyone knows glass skin, it’s Koreans, duh). The brand's Sleeping Pack was one of my first intros to a Korean skin-care routine and I enjoyed it thoroughly, so I assumed the moisturizer would also be firmly on team hydro. And I was correct.

The Water Bank Cream is a great balance between lightweight and effective moisturizing. It doesn’t feel heavy, and yet makes my skin feel thoroughly plumped as a last step in my evening skin-care routine. How does it do this? By leading its own agenda using a patented “Hydro Ionized Mineral Water,” which deploys an A-team of zinc, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and sodium to not just hydrate but to maintain hydration levels and prevent future moisture loss. (I suppose it’s like a loss-prevention plan for moisture — dryness is the perp and Laneige is a cop with no sense of humor.)

Using this moisturizer under my sunscreen and makeup in the daytime and as a last step in my nighttime skin-care routine for a week did me the huge favor of flooding the dehydrated husk of my skin with a silky, squishy, moisturized version of my face that plumped out the little wrinkles under my eyes when I smile and turned my cheeks into velvety pillows. My makeup looked and wore better on my skin and I didn’t have that tight feeling around my forehead and eyes when I emoted with my facial muscles. I did discover that using this in conjunction with a hyaluronic acid serum underneath and cutting back on the chemical exfoliants in general were big contributors to those results. And, thankfully, the hydration levels of the Water Bank Cream made my previously requisite “sealant” layer of face oil redundant — and thus my pores remain unclogged. Two birds, one moisturizer!

You'll find this moisturizer in our May 2019 Allure Beauty Box for just $10.

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