It has come to my attention that I have a tendency to overspend. This realization may or may not have something to do with the purchase of a certain lipstick… But that aside, I do get excited about hunting for the Absolutely Ultimate Thingybob and overlooking perfectly good, effective products that do not cost the amount of the Greek bailout programme. It’s partly because I don’t like to feature anything that isn’t extraordinarily great – because people might actually buy the stuff and if it’s no good, it’s all my fault.

So I’ve been thinking: what reasonably priced products would I recommend without any hesitation, even if I could have something twice or thrice as expensive? And I do have an answer: Hylamide SubQ Anti-Age Advanced Serum and Hylamide SubQ Eyes Advanced Serums. Hylamide is one of the Deciem brands that are creating quite a buzz in the beauty industry right now. If these products are any indication, the buzz is perfectly justified.

These two are light, watery serums with a very serious ingredient list – different types of my good friend hyaluronic acid, peptides, saccharides, you name it. And being watery is a good thing, as it means the product will penetrate better. Both serums target dehydration, fine lines and wrinkles, textural issues and sagginess; the eye product also addresses puffiness and dark circles. If you prefer your skincare science-led rather than just organic and nice-smelling, these are for you. I am especially fond of the eye serum and prefer it to most of my expensive eye creams, which also means I have almost finished my bottle (this is rare, as I’ve got so many things in use at once).

This shouldn’t give an impression that the face serum isn’t excellent. I went to bed yesterday with only that on my face (in the name of science!) and woke up perfectly human-looking and hydrated. If you like hyaluronic acid serums but wish they did more than just hydrate, I recommend Hylamide as the next step. It’s very similar in texture and feel, super lightweight, does the same instant rehydration thing, but has more long-term benefits.

To say that Hylamide products are cheap would be an exaggeration, but if you want proper ingredients, there are limits to how cheap you can go. For the quality, these two are certainly reasonably priced: 36 and 33 euros for face and eyes, respectively. I bought mine in Boots, but you can also buy from the company directly, if you can figure out where they ship. I have my eye on the Glow Booster as well…