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The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA.

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA
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Moisturizers
About this product

A lightweight, water-based moisturizer combining natural moisturizing factors (amino acids, fatty acids, minerals) with hyaluronic acid to hydrate and support the skin barrier.

Full ingredients

Aqua (Water), Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Alcohol, Propanediol, Stearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, Glycine, Alanine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Glucose, Maltose, Fructose, Trehalose, Sodium PCA, PCA, Sodium Lactate, Urea, Allantoin, Linoleic Acid, Oleic Acid, Phytosteryl Canola Glycerides, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Lecithin, Triolein, Tocopherol, Carbomer, Isoceteth-20, Polysorbate 60, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate

More from The Ordinary 88 products · Guru Score 84% →

Guru Score

71%

Mixed

14 experts · Strong agreement

What the gurus are saying

This balm earns consistent praise for strengthening the skin barrier and suiting most skin types, especially those with eczema or sensitivity, the natural moisturizing factors replenish what compromised skin already lacks. Gurus note it's lightweight and affordable at $6.50, though a few found it insufficiently hydrating for very dry or mature skin in winter, and one mentioned it can occasionally pill under certain sunscreens. Best suited to normal, oily, and mildly dry skin; those with severely dry skin may want to layer it or try The Ordinary's ceramide versions instead.
Synthesized from 14 expert reviews · most recent take September 2026

What they liked

  • Lightweight yet hydrating texture
  • Affordable for the bottle size
  • Soaks in without greasy residue

What they flagged

  • May not hydrate enough for very dry mature skin
  • Can pill under certain sunscreens

Type

MoisturizersLiquid

Key actives

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

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What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
~Yay
"This is amazing for milky toner beginners, not too heavy. And if you want more hydration, like please layer it. It's great. But this smells so weird because I think because of the fermented item, but between all 15 viral toners, this is the only one has a little exfoliating. So I think for me I feel very comfortable because for me I don't react to the ferment ingredient, but some people does. So if you guys are really sensitive skin, reacting to ferment ingredients, check that out."
~Yay
"I love this moisturizer. It's got a wonderful gellish texture to it. The natural moisturizing factors plus HA is the lighter one on [...] the gel side, which seems to be not quite as moisturizing as I feel like I need right now with how dry everything's feeling. Everything feels nice and soft and smooth and feels good. Like I'm going to wake up with nice clean skin that feels so soft."
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"This one I've repurchased multiple times. It's a great one to mix in with other products. The original is really wonderful. Since this came out they've released a couple different versions of it, the phytoceramide version and the beta glucan version. The phytoceramide version seemed very greasy to me, but the beta glucan one has a nice gel texture. These are all pretty friendly for acne prone skin overall."
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"The original version has a lotion texture, a little bit thicker than the other one. [...] A little bit of it goes a long way, it soaks in pretty nicely, and it sets to a matte finish once it soaks in. I will say under certain sunscreens it can pill up occasionally. You [...] can see the shininess and the matteness on that."
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"I love this moisturizer. It's got a wonderful gellish texture to it. The natural moisturizing factors plus HA is the lighter one on [...] the gel side, which seems to be not quite as moisturizing as I feel like I need right now with how dry everything's feeling. Everything feels nice and soft and smooth and feels good. Like I'm going to wake up with nice clean skin that feels so soft."
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"It's still an alternative to the $69 Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream, and honestly I prefer this one. [...] Every time I apply this it foams up unless I apply it on dry skin with nothing else on it, and even then it foams up. I don't know why something changed, but I used to love this stuff and would go through it so fast, and now I'm still working on the same jar for like [...] a year or two years because it just foams up every time."
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"Good molecules B5 hydrating body serum was good for summer but it's not quite hydrating enough on its own"
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"It promises to keep skin hydrated even after washing, which is a [...] very specific claim. The lotion textured formula does provide instant hydration and [...] does help the skin barrier after one application, but after you cleanse in the shower it cleanses off with you. [...] It's not enough on its own to provide all day hydration for the winter. When I apply it, my skin [...] feels nice and super moisturized, sometimes greasy, but then within two hours I can tell it's kind of dry."
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"It's a very nice body lotion with no scent to it, which makes it nice. It's got a lightweight texture to it, great for layering, or if you don't live somewhere that gets really cold, this is probably enough for most people. Feels very nice, great for dry skin. You can probably use it on your face too. [...] It's got amino acids, sodium hyaluronic acid, several sugar-derived humectants as well as urea and inulin."
~Yay
"NMF plus hyaluronic acid is written as HA. So that's great for eczema prone skin. When you have eczema, you've already got less NMF than the normal population and that's one of the reasons that the skin barrier is compromised. So that's a fantastic product, especially if you have eczema."
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"NMF plus hyaluronic acid is written as HA. So that's great for eczema prone skin. When you have eczema, you've already got less NMF than the normal population and that's one of the reasons that the skin barrier is compromised. So that's a fantastic product, especially if you have eczema."
HYPERPIGMENTATION LAYERING
"After this we want to hydrate the skin. Remember we talked about how important it was to create a healing environment for the skin? Avoid all lotions, you want to go for a thicker moisturizer. So for example, the NMF from The Ordinary. If you feel like your skin is too dry for this particular moisturizer, I recommend you go for one with ceramides in it."
ACNE THE ORDINARY AM/PM LAYERING
"I love NMF because I find it actually very light on the skin but also very hydrating especially at night time when especially if you got air conditioning or you've got central heating you're going to find your skin drying out faster than even during the day."
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"The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA, you get much better hydration. You're going to get a full day of hydration out of it and the price point is much better at 12.80 versus 38."
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"It's better to buy The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA than this, so save your money and buy yourself something lovely."
~Nay
"I think both of those moisturizers are streets ahead of this and practically the same price, so whilst this used to be an amazing product, I think The Ordinary have kind of made it a little bit redundant with their two new moisturizer launches. I would recommend those moisturizers to everyone. [...] The phyto ceramides, the beta glucans are where it's at. I think the original Natural Moisturizing Factors might see its days numbered."
All 3 takes from Mad About Skin
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"I think both of those moisturizers are streets ahead of this and practically the same price, so whilst this used to be an amazing product, I think The Ordinary have kind of made it a little bit redundant with their two new moisturizer launches. I would recommend those moisturizers to everyone. [...] The phyto ceramides, the beta glucans are where it's at. I think the original Natural Moisturizing Factors might see its days numbered."
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"I absolutely love this one by the ordinary. I've spoken about it before on the channel. It's a great option, but the reason that the face one works better than seems seemingly everything else on the market is because they thought about that formulation."
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"I don't think anybody should be buying the standard Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA. There's nothing wrong with it. This is a moisturizer I've used for four years, has some really great results with, but this is the base formulation of the other two moisturizers and for basically the same price point you can get a whole lot more from the other two. [...] Whilst it was a holy grail for a long period of time, I think it's a case of nothing to see here."
~Yay
"I have really been enjoying this and this makes my skin feel so soft. It's really moisturizing and it's not sticky or tacky, which is a great thing. But once it has absorbed it just leaves this nice layer of moisture across the skin and I really love that. So I think this is going to be great for the winter months. I do use this occasionally on my hands as a hand cream which is also fabulous."
All 3 takes from Sincerely Miss Ash
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"I have really been enjoying this and this makes my skin feel so soft. It's really moisturizing and it's not sticky or tacky, which is a great thing. But once it has absorbed it just leaves this nice layer of moisture across the skin and I really love that. So I think this is going to be great for the winter months. I do use this occasionally on my hands as a hand cream which is also fabulous."
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"This is fragrance free, and it's great for all skin types including sensitive skin. This contains amino acids and PCAs, and these are humectants that hydrate the skin so they attract and hold on to moisture, so you do get a little bit of that nice plumpness with the skin as well because of the amount of hydration that this provides. This also contains niacinamide as well as prebiotics, so this can help with your skin's microbiome and it also keeps your skin's moisture barrier in check as well."
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"This is one of their newest moisturizers that they came out with early this year. I don't feel like the [...] original Natural Moisturizing Factors + Hyaluronic Acid [...] is moisturizing enough, although that one is great for those that have dry skin. This one is even better if you're looking for that really rich moisturizing cream. [...] This is very satisfying to use when you need it. It has glycol lipids and also contains ceramides which help to strengthen and repair the skin barrier."
~Yay
"It's their Natural Moisturizing Factors plus HA moisturizer that is super affordable at $6.50. I love this one because I think it's suitable for most skin types. If you have super dry skin you may not enjoy it as much in the winter, but certainly it's a great option for like the summer."
~Yay
"One of my favorite products [...] is Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA. When you look at the ingredient list, it's water-based with caprylic triglycerides in there, so derived from coconuts, fantastic for helping the skin barrier. Cetyl alcohol, which is one of the main ingredients of Cetaphil, so it's a really calming, really soothing formulation that's also got hyaluronic acid in there that's going to help retain the moisture."
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"One of my favorite products [...] is Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA. When you look at the ingredient list, it's water-based with caprylic triglycerides in there, so derived from coconuts, fantastic for helping the skin barrier. Cetyl alcohol, which is one of the main ingredients of Cetaphil, so it's a really calming, really soothing formulation that's also got hyaluronic acid in there that's going to help retain the moisture."
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"You can also use this which is the natural moisturizing factors from The Ordinary which will work very well with the serum that you put on over the top. It's a nice cream based formulation so you can put this on and then you can put even a thicker moisturizer on afterwards."
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"I like the ordinary NMF, it's really pretty cool. You can use slightly more kind of like lighter moisturizers."
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"The natural moisturizing factors are fantastic. This is great at repairing the skin barrier. It's got loads of essential fatty acids, triglycerides, glycerin in this product, which is fantastic for nourishing that barrier and just calming the skin down."
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"One of my favorite products [...] is Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA. When you look at the ingredient list, it's water-based with caprylic triglycerides in there, so derived from coconuts, fantastic for helping the skin barrier. Cetyl alcohol, which is one of the main ingredients of Cetaphil, so it's a really calming, really soothing formulation that's also got hyaluronic acid in there that's going to help retain the moisture."
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"You can put on just a little bit more of a moisturizing cream such as The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA, which are fantastic just to help seal the skin barrier and repair the skin."
~Yay
"The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA moisturizer is a really nice midweight moisturizer. It has super nourishing ingredients in there, has a ton of different amino acids that help to strengthen and support your skin barrier, and it just feels nice and creamy but not too heavy. It doesn't leave your skin looking greasy, so I find that it's just a really nice moisturizer for most skin types but especially for someone with dry skin."
~Yay
"My absolutely favorite high street moisturizer of all time is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors. It's basically a tick list of everything your skin needs to hydrate itself. It's got a beautiful mix of humectants to lock in water, emollients to keep your skin smooth and soft, and then it's got a little bit of an occlusive in it to lock everything in place. It's beautiful. You can use it morning and night."
~Yay
"This is the Natural Moisturizing Factors plus HA and this is a great moisturizer. It has ingredients that your skin naturally uses and produces like hyaluronic acid and it's inexpensive and lightweight. It has a nice fluffy texture but it's not the most moisturizing, so if you have combo skin you can use this, which also means if you're oily or if you're dry this is a great choice. It won't treat acne but it supports a healthy skin barrier."
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"Moisturizers like the Natural Moisturizing Factors, the original, if you're a little bit more oily to dry, or if you're super dry, the Firce Ceramides, so gentle, so calming, it's like a ceramide sheet for your face."
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"The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors was a moisturizer that I liked but it wasn't my favorite. [...] They finally have a fantastic moisturizer. It's so good, and I'm an oily print person, so [...] this really impresses me. It has like five ingredients and it is literally a gentle foaming facial cleanser. It's meant to not strip your skin's barrier, which it holds up to you very well."
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"This is the Natural Moisturizing Factors plus HA and this is a great moisturizer. It has ingredients that your skin naturally uses and produces like hyaluronic acid and it's inexpensive and lightweight. It has a nice fluffy texture but it's not the most moisturizing, so if you have combo skin you can use this, which also means if you're oily or if you're dry this is a great choice. It won't treat acne but it supports a healthy skin barrier."
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"As a moisturizer to keep this inexpensive and really effective, I love The Ordinary's Natural Moisturizing Factors. It's five or six dollars, so it's really not the best deal since a couple cents off a five or six dollar moisturizer isn't that much, but if you're trying to keep this under fifty dollars, [...] that is what I would recommend."
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"Natural Moisturizing Factors are also great if you have super dry skin, but they won't be enough if you tend to be oily. It's a good one. I love this one."
~Nay
"The other one was from The Ordinary, their Natural Moisturizing Factors. This is not going to be a repurchase for me. It's just not hydrating enough for my dry mature skin and it just didn't do the trick. I felt like I always had to reapply and reapply, so this will not be a repurchase for me."
~Nay
"I find that for me this didn't rub into the skin very well. It just kind of moved around my skin, got all caught up in my eyebrows, my beard, my hairline. Whilst this isn't super heavy in any way, it felt kind of suffocating on my skin. I didn't really enjoy it, but I know loads of people love this. It's a moisturizer that moisturizes with hyaluronic acid to hydrate, super super simple. This is 6.50."
~Yay
"After cleansing, this has to be like my all-time new favorite hair treatment serum. This is a barrier-fortifying serum for the scalp that's so good I want to use this on my face, and the only reason why I don't is because my face already gets so much. The [...] texture [...] is super lightweight, very milky but lightweight, very hydrating without the use of alcohols, which actually is in the majority of hair serums that I've tried."
~Yay
"This is recommended by my dermatologist and it is really, really a beautiful body lotion. I absolutely enjoyed this product even through the winters. Once I got this product and given my skin was going through all of those things, I finished the product. It is really good. It's a good product, but I would not specifically go buy this because I like to use fragrance in my bath and body products. But for the itching situation, this kind of served its purpose."
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"This is recommended by my dermatologist and it is really, really a beautiful body lotion. I absolutely enjoyed this product even through the winters. Once I got this product and given my skin was going through all of those things, I finished the product. It is really good. It's a good product, but I would not specifically go buy this because I like to use fragrance in my bath and body products. But for the itching situation, this kind of served its purpose."
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What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Urea

Urea both holds water in the skin and gently loosens dead surface cells. At higher strengths it has good evidence for very dry or thickened skin.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA?

A lightweight, water-based moisturizer combining natural moisturizing factors (amino acids, fatty acids, minerals) with hyaluronic acid to hydrate and support the skin barrier.

Is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA worth it?

The gurus are split. 11 of the 14 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 3 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 71%.

What is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA's Guru Score?

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA holds a Guru Score of 71%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 14 expert reviewers we have collected.

Who is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA best for?

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.

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