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This website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Everything You Need To Know About Hyaluronic Acid
The key to glass skin is moisture
Skin Care |Â November 24, 2020
Each year the beauty industry finds new ways to market a new ingredient or product to improve people’s skin. This ingredient has been seen in commercials, stores, and on social media by various influencers. If you have not guessed what it is already, then you should know it is hyaluronic acid. You are probably like me when you first heard about hyaluronic acid and wondered what it is and why so many products are promoting this ingredient. You are curious about what makes this added ingredient so beneficial and why you should add this to your skincare routine, and soon you will find out.
What is Hyaluronic Acid?
Hyaluronic acid or sodium hyaluronate is a sugar that helps your skin cells retain moisture. This substance helps your skin to appear healthier and hydrated. Fun fact we produce this ourselves, skin cells naturally produce hyaluronic acid to maintain moisture levels with our skin. Hyaluronic acid is a humectant, so it can hold large amounts of water within our bodies. The amount of HA is about a thousand times its weight in water. This amount of water is retained in our skin and joints.Â
How Hyaluronic Acid Helps Your Skin?
As you know now, HA is a substance that helps your skin and Joints retain moisture. Moisture is extremely important when it comes to skincare as it keeps our skin in a healthy state. So, using hyaluronic acid is a great ingredient to help hydrate your skin and retain moisture since it is a humectant. HA helps the skin look radiant and plump and feel soft to the touch. So when our skin is negatively affected by uncontrollable environmental factors such as UV exposure, pollution, etc., the levels of HA in our skin decrease which can cause sensitivity, uneven tone and texture, and dullness.Â
Hyaluronic acid can help combat this issue because it has antioxidant properties, and these properties will protect your skin from harmful environmental factors. Also, as we age, the amount of HA in our skin lowers too. A low amount of HA can lead to lines and wrinkles. Hyaluronic acid helps reduce the appearance of fine lines or wrinkles that appear as you get older. Â
How To Add Hyaluronic Acid to Your Skin Care Routine?
If you are not using a product with hyaluronic acid in it then you should consider doing so. HA has been considered a relatively safe ingredient to use, so it is okay to use it If you are not using a product with hyaluronic acid in it, then you should consider doing so. HA has been considered a relatively safe ingredient to use, so it is okay to use it every day, although you do not need to use it in more than one product. A great thing about HA is that it works on all skin types, so you do not only need to have dry skin to benefit from this added ingredient. There are a few ways to add hyaluronic acid to your skincare routine, which are serums, sheet masks, moisturizers, supplements, and injectables.
What you should keep in mind when choosing a product with HA in it is how well the amount of HA in a product will penetrate your skin.Â
So, you should know that hyaluronic acid comes in 3 different sizes;
- Low molecular weight (20 – 300 kDa)
- Medium molecular weight
- High molecular weight (1000 – 1400kDa)
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If the product has a high molecular weight of HA, then the product will only sit on the surface of your face, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. These types of products hydrate and protect the top layer of your skin. The size you would want to avoid is low molecular weight hyaluronic acid because it activates your skin’s inflammation pathways. This is an issue because, as you know your skin naturally produces hyaluronic acid. Which already creates small hyaluronic acid when necessary.
So, using a product that has a low molecular weight hyaluronic acid in combination with the HA your skin naturally produces can cause inflammaging. This is when too much inflammation causes the skin to age quickly.Â
When choosing to apply HA topically, it will help hydrate your skin and maintain the added moisture. So, if you are thinking about adding it to your current routine and you use vitamins, retinol, peels, and other acids then, you can add HA without it causing any issues with your current products. The only exception when it comes to adding HA to your current routine is if you use acids with low ph levels (ex: Glycolic Acid) because it can lower the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid. If you choose to take supplements, then doses of 120–240 mg per day should work as well.Â
If you are someone that doesn’t mind needles, then injections with hyaluronic acid fillers can be added to your skin routine. Dermatologists or plastic surgeons use a gel form of hyaluronic acid injectables such as Restylane and JUVÉDERM. The gel adds volume to the dermal layer of the skin, so it helps keep the skin looking youthful by minimizing any fine lines, sunken areas, shadows, or wrinkles.Â
The injection lasts for about a year as it slowly dissolves throughout the year. When choosing to do any cosmetic surgery to yourself, you should always be mindful about the side effects and who is doing the surgery because they should be trained and board-certified plastic surgeons. As for the side effects, it is mainly some swelling or bruising that will last a couple of days but, overall the side effects are minimal
Why You Should Add Hyaluronic Acid To Your Skincare Routine
1. To Have Healthy Hydrated Skin
Using hyaluronic acid in your skincare routine will help promote more supple skin by increasing the amount of moisture your skin will be able to receive. You want to keep as much moisture as you can to promote healthy skin. So as you use hyaluronic acid in your routine, you are giving your skin more moisture and retaining that moisture at the same time.
2. You Care About How Your Skin Ages
As we get older, the amount of HA our skin cells produce begins to decrease, and cell turnover slows down. This causes the skin to lose elasticity and the amount of moisture to decrease leading the skin to show signs of aging. Adding HA to your skincare routine will help bring back any lost moisture and reduce the look of aging skin.
3. You Have Dehydrated Skin
You are dealing with dry, itchy, and dull skin. Dehydrated skin can often be confused with dry skin, but the main difference is that dry skin is lacking natural oils, and dehydrated skin is lacking moisture. Using Hyaluronic Acid will help add more moisture back to your skin to reduce any itchiness, dullness, or dark under-eye circles.
Here Are Some Products With Hyaluronic Acid
Serums
Supplements
Moisturizers
Hyaluronic Acid can help many aspects of your body so overall it is a great ingredient to consider when improving or changing your skincare routine.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
