Non-sticky hyaluronic acid serum

CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum has the best record for a non-sticky feel: 13 of 15 shoppers said it absorbed without feeling sticky or tacky. Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid Serum follows at 6 of 10, and La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum has the weakest record here at 8 of 18. Just three serums cleared the bar for this page, and the L'Oréal True Match tinted serum was left out because it is a tinted foundation.

  • 95 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Feb 2021 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it absorb without feeling sticky? What shoppers said
  1. CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum 15 said either way
  2. Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid Serum 10 said either way
  3. La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum 18 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for stickiness. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum Best record CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum 13 of 15 say it absorbed without feeling sticky See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Stickiness is what pulls the other two down: 42% of La Roche-Posay reviews and 29% of Good Molecules reviews call it sticky. CeraVe's complaint is a different one, pilling, at 32% of its reviews.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum

CeraVe

Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum

Best for a light, fast-absorbing feel

13/15 say it absorbed without feeling sticky

Shoppers like the light feel: 30% call it lightweight and 25% say it absorbs fast. Pilling is the main complaint at 32%, which is a different problem from stickiness. CeraVe's own site agrees at 9 of 9, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 35%
  • Lightweight 30%
  • Absorbs fast 25%
  • No irritation 10%
  • Good value 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Pills 33%
  • Not hydrating enough 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 13 of 15
  • Brand site 9 of 9 shown, not counted
2

Good Molecules

Hyaluronic Acid Serum

Best for good value

6/10 say it absorbed without feeling sticky

Value stands out, with 41% calling it good value and 53% calling it hydrating. The catch is stickiness, since 4 of 10 reviewers who weighed in said it felt sticky. The brand's own site is more positive at 6 of 6, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 53%
  • Good value 41%
  • No irritation 24%
  • Absorbs fast 24%
  • Lightweight 12%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Target 6 of 10
  • Brand site 6 of 6 shown, not counted

Share of 17 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

3

La Roche-Posay

Hyalu B5 Serum

8/18 say it absorbed without feeling sticky

More shoppers weighed in on this serum than on the other two (18), and the verdict is split, with 8 of 18 saying it didn't feel sticky. 25% praise the hydration, while 25% mention the smell and 25% call it too expensive.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 25%
  • Absorbs fast 17%
  • Lightweight 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Smell 25%
  • Too expensive 25%
  • Breakouts 8%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 8 of 18
  • Brand site 4 of 8 shown, not counted

Share of 24 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 3 products ranked here carry 3,930 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about stickiness, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Feb 2021 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid Serum Target (17 reviews counted)
  3. La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum Target (24 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which hyaluronic acid serum isn't sticky?

CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum has the best record (13 of 15), followed by Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid Serum (6 of 10). Both rest on small groups, so the gap is a signal and not a guarantee.

Is La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum sticky?

Often, according to shoppers. It has the weakest record here at 8 of 18, and 42% of its reviews call it sticky.

Why does this page rank just three serums?

Three hyaluronic acid serums had enough shoppers saying whether they felt sticky to be ranked. The L'Oréal True Match tinted serum was left out because it is a tinted foundation.

Does CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum pill?

Some shoppers say so: 32% of its reviews mention pilling. That is a separate complaint from stickiness, and 13 of 15 shoppers still said it absorbed without feeling sticky.

Related problems

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.