This powerful anti-aging ingredient is a must-have!
If you really want to up your skincare game, the best way to is to know what it is you're putting on your face.
Sounds simple but it's amazing how many people never read the ingredients list in a product. They’re more interested in the "hope in a jar" promises of erasing lines and wrinkles or minimizing age spots. There are so many skincare products out there so it makes sense to educate yourself about what's worth your money and your time. And hyaluronic acid, one of the power players, is definitely one of them.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a molecule that naturally occurs in the human body. It helps make up the connective tissues in your body and keeps hair, skin, joints, nerves, and eyes well lubricated. It holds a thousand times its weight in water, which is why it’s essential in keeping the skin moist and glowing. But as we grow older, our bodies naturally produce less HA. That means skin gets drier and less taut unless we're constantly replenishing it. When people get fillers like Restylane and Juvederm, they are getting injections of a gel form of hyaluronic acid.
HA works well alongside most other skincare ingredients (actives like AHAs and BHAs), so it will be a good add on to your routine. Also, HA works best at low concentrations. Industry standard is between one to two percent (higher amounts can be drying to the skin). Stephen Alain Ko, the cosmetic chemist behind skincare blog KindofStephen, says this, “Hyaluronic acid is a viscous polymer, meaning that it swells in water and turns it into a gel. There are limitations to how much you can put in a product and still have it be usable. 1-2% or 75% hyaluronic acid often refers to a solution of hyaluronic acid, so 75% of a 1% hyaluronic acid solution would give you 0.75% hyaluronic acid overall. Most products contain about 0.2-0.5% hyaluronic acid by dry weight.”
According to Ko, “Hyaluronic acid has been shown to penetrate to different layers of the skin based on its molecular weight. Lower molecular weight hyaluronic acid penetrates the deepest, while higher molecular weight hyaluronic acid forms a film on the surface which slows down the loss of water from the skin due to evaporation.”
The best way to choose a good HA product is to check out the ingredient list. Skincare ingredients are listed in order of amount. The first 10 or so ingredients will be the highest concentrations. But, hyaluronic doesn’t have to be in a large quantity to be effective. NOTE: HA may also be listed as sodium hyaluronate, (salt form).
Regardless of what product you use, you need to finish with a moisturizer. It seals in your layers of skincare and helps prevent evaporation or TEWL (trans-epidermal water loss). If you haven't already, we encourage you to add our Euro Botanicals Hyaluronic Acid Serum to your routine!