Benefits of Pure Hyaluronic Acid for Dry Skin
Whether you have naturally dry skin or live in a climate that seems to sap all of your skin’s moisture, hydration is a common skincare concern. Everybody needs it — and finding the perfect balance of hydration for your skin can make a world of difference for a wide range of complaints.
“Hyaluronic acid is a superstar ingredient for hydrated, plump, youthful-looking skin.”
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Shani Darden, esthetician
But while you may have heard the buzzword “hyaluronic acid,” you may not actually know what it means or what it can do for your skin. Let’s talk about this amazing molecule and all of the benefits it has to offer, and then break down the easiest ways to work it into your routine to create healthy skin.
What Is Hyaluronic Acid?
Hyaluronic acid, sometimes called sodium hyaluronate, is a compound that your skin already produces on its own. It’s a part of your body and your skin’s makeup, naturally present in your eyes, joints, and skin. It’s also important for retaining moisture.
This is because hyaluronic acid is what’s known as a humectant, similar to glycerin. Humectants are a key part of keeping your skin hydrated because they attract water molecules to them like magnets. Once they’ve attracted water, they’re also able to bind it to themselves — and can hold hundreds, if not thousands, of times their own weight in water molecules.
Hyaluronic acid can also help to keep your skin flexible. It can have a positive impact on your skin’s elasticity overall, which can have a firming effect and help your skin appear younger for longer.
How Can Hyaluronic Acid Help Your Skin?
Because your body produces less and less hyaluronic acid as you age, it’s important to supplement your natural production. Many people turn to skincare products to make sure their skin feels soft, smooth, and hydrated. But how can hyaluronic acid help your skin when used topically?
First of all, it can help soothe and calm irritation. After all, you’re not putting something foreign and potentially irritating on your skin — you’re just returning something that was meant to be there to begin with.
Hyaluronic acid can make your skin texture softer and your skin tone more even. It’s similar to other ingredients your skin loses over time, like ceramides or collagen.
Hyaluronic acid can also promote overall skin wellness because it can help support your body’s immune system and can even support natural wound healing while soothing irritation.
And as we highlighted above, hyaluronic acid is amazing for hydration because of its ability to trap and retain water molecules. It can help minimize TEWL, or transepidermal water loss, which occurs when your skin barrier isn’t strong enough to hold water within your skin. This can cause persistent dryness, no matter how often you moisturize.
Keeping your skin hydrated with hyaluronic acid can also help minimize visible signs of aging. A hyaluronic serum can minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles due its hydrating and skin-plumping effects.
Is Pure Hyaluronic Acid Safe To Use?
If you’re balking at the idea of a “pure” serum, there’s no need. Because hyaluronic acid occurs naturally, it has virtually no recorded side effects, so it’s perfectly safe for sensitive skin — even if you’re using a pure hyaluronic acid serum. It’s also not oil or wax, so it’s a great option for hydratingoily skin and breakout-prone skin.
So if you’re looking for intense hydration that works for all skin types, have sensitive skin, or struggle with a skin condition that’s easily exacerbated, hyaluronic acid may be worth a try..
How Can You Use Hyaluronic Acid in Your Skincare Routine?
While you can use hyaluronic acid in every step of your skincare routine, you don’t have to. But because it’s such a gentle ingredient, you can if you want to. Here are a few of my favorite ways to incorporate hyaluronic acid into my skincare routine.
Cleanser
My Cleansing Serum is a luxurious lathering cleanser that seamlessly melts away makeup and pore-clogging impurities without stripping away natural oils.
This formulation can leave your skin feeling ultra-clean, silky soft, and never dry or tight. Olive and chicory leaf extracts chime in to help soothe irritation, while oat bran extract can help to support the skin’s natural barrier to better defend against moisture loss.
But hyaluronic acid is the real game-changing ingredient here. While my cleanser can remove every trace of impurities, you’ll finish up feeling so hydrated that you might not even think you need a moisturizer (although you definitely should still apply one). It’s also paraben-free and vegan, so you can feel good about using it.
Whether you cleanse in the morning, the evening, or both, make sure to choose a gentle cleanser like this one that will nourish your skin as it cleans. After all, many skincare concerns can be traced back to low-quality or mismatched skincare products.
Serum
Adding a hydrating serum to your routine before your moisturizer is one of the easiest ways to guarantee your skin is going to be clear, healthy, and hydrated. A pure hyaluronic acid serum is always a great option — all of the good stuff and none of the bad.
But the real beauty of a hyaluronic acid serum is that, unlike with other ingredients, there’s nothing stopping you from layering it with just about any other ingredient out there.
Use an anti-aging serum in the evening? You can apply your hyaluronic acid first, and it generally shouldn’t have any negative effects — in fact, I often recommend doing this because it can help keep your skin hydrated while using powerful ingredients like retinol.
Hyaluronic acid serums even work with other chemical exfoliants. They can help to keep your skin balanced and hydrated while your exfoliant helps slough away all of those old cells, revealing new and healthy skin that’s moisturized from the start.
And because it plays well even with ingredients that can be a bit finicky, you can rest assured that hyaluronic acid works well with other neutral products, such as niacinamide or vitamin c serums, too.
You can work hyaluronic acid into your routine in the form of a dedicated facial serum. My favorite is Serum No 1, a hydratingface serum that helps soothe dryness with a combination of key ingredients like brightening ginseng root and calming edelweiss flower.
It’s made with A-grade hyaluronic acid, which is made from a combination of high molecular weight and low molecular weight hyaluronic acid to penetrate your skin more fully, maximizing hydration. As a bonus, it’s also fragrance-free, cruelty-free, and absorbs well enough to be used under makeup.
Moisturizer
Hyaluronic acid is also a common ingredient in many moisturizers and eye creams. It's also part of my Weightless Oil-Free Moisturizer, working with super-powered hydrators like collagen and red algae extract to deliver non-comedogenic hydration.
For normal to dry skin types, try my Hydration Peptide Cream for smooth hydration that keeps dry skin at bay. Apply these moisturizers in the morning and in the evening for smooth, soft skin that won’t feel clogged or congested. Finish off your routine with a high-SPF sunscreen, and you’re good to go!
The Takeaway
If you’ve noticed hyaluronic acid appearing more and more in best-seller products with raving customer reviews, it’s for good reason. While some ingredients may seem more like hype than actual results, hyaluronic acid is one ingredient that just about every dermatologist would probably agree works.
If you’re not already using a product with hyaluronic acid in it, it’s definitely one you should check out as soon as possible. It has something to offer for every skin type, works well even when paired with powerful products like a retinol serum, and can help your skin look brighter, clearer, and smoother with ease.
Sources:
Hyaluronic Acid | Cleveland Clinic