What is it?
A hero ingredient when it comes to hydration, Hyaluronic Acid (HA) is known as the body’s lubricant molecule due to its ability to hold 1000 times its weight in water (1g of HA can bind 6 litres of water). It secures moisture and creates fullness by maintaining a ‘reservoir of water’ in the top layers of the skin. It is found naturally in your body, but sadly our ability to produce it decreases rapidly as we age, which is why our skin loses fullness and becomes drier as we get older.
What’s so great about it?
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In topical products like moisturisers and serums, the hyaluronic acid molecule is too large to be absorbed into the skin, so it sits on top of the skin and acts like a magnet to anything you put on top of it. This means that the water in your moisturiser (which you would apply on top of your serum) will sit on the skin for longer, keeping everything hydrated, rather than evaporating into the environment. Hydrated skin = youthful, healthy skin.
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It is good for the skin in other ways, too: it has an anti-inflammatory component and is very soothing on the skin, and it also aids wound healing. This is great news for those of us who suffer with blemishes as it helps prevent spots from occurring and helps existing spots heal quicker.
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High molecular weight HA is an excellent surface hydrator – it secures moisture and creates fullness by maintaining a ‘reservoir of water’ in the top layers of the skin. As mentioned earlier, it sits on top of the skin and acts like a magnet to anything you put on top of it.
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Low molecular weight HA will be able to penetrate deeper into the skin and replenish the reserves on a more cellular level.
Apart from hydration, the skin-related functions include maintaining the skin's elasticity, reducing the skin's inflammatory response, regenerating the damaged skin barrier and plumping up water-loss related wrinkles. Essentially, helping the skin to look and feel healthy and young.