Hyaluronic Acid for Thirsty Skin: Meet the Super Hydrator

We all experience dehydrated skin. From that tight and uncomfortable feeling to inflamed skin prone to breakouts, our body’s largest organ has a way of communicating with us when it’s in need of moisture.

Enter hyaluronic acid! A super hydrator that occurs naturally in the skin, this ingredient is a deep moisturiser that can quench your skin’s thirst. Beneficial for all skin types, hyaluronic acid traps in moisture, providing the skin with the hydration it needs. The result? The appearance of fine lines and wrinkles is reduced, making way for firmer, plumper skin and a brighter complexion. We love it! 

What’s the difference between dry and dehydrated skin?

Surprisingly, there’s a big difference between the two, and how you treat your skin depends on whether it’s dry or dehydrated.

Dehydrated skin is a temporary skin condition brought about by the skin lacking water, while dry skin is a skin type caused by an absence of naturally produced oils.

Dry skin

Dry skin lacks oils in the skin’s outer layer. People with this skin type produce less sebum (the skin’s natural oil), which is crucial to retaining moisture in the skin. Not only does this result in dry skin, it can also reduce the effectiveness of the skin’s protective barrier.

Signs of dry skin include:

• Flaky or cracking skin
• Irritable, itchy skin
• Rough-feeling skin
• Skin tightness
• Fragile skin prone to damage
• Inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and rosacea

Dehydrated skin

Dehydrated skin lacks moisture. Unlike dry skin, dehydrated skin is temporary and means your skin is crying out for water. There are several causes of dehydrated skin, and it could be down to the climate (the UAE isn’t great for skin!), your indoor environment, or your body’s overall health. It’s a common misconception that oily skin types cannot have issues with dehydrated skin – a lack of water can affect all skin types.

Signs of dehydrated skin include:

• Congested skin (a build-up of impurities and sebum in the pores, leading to breakouts)
• An oily complexion
• Skin tightness, even after moisturising
• Pronounced fine lines and wrinkles

Hyaluronic acid for dehydrated skin

So, how can you help your uncomfortable, irritated, dehydrated skin? This is where hyaluronic acid comes in!

But first, it’s important to start with a strong foundation. Ensure you support your skin health by drinking plenty of water from morning to night and eating a healthy and balanced diet. In addition to any lifestyle changes you make to help your dehydrated skin, it’s crucial to use products that work to increase the skin’s water content. Hyaluronic acid is great for replenishing the skin’s moisture, delivering a hydrating boost to your thirsty skin.

How does hyaluronic acid work?

Hyaluronic acid is a humectant (a substance that retains moisture). It’s a sugar molecule that occurs naturally in the skin and works to keep the skin hydrated by binding water to collagen and trapping it in the skin. This has the effect of making skin appear firmer and dewier. And who doesn’t love firmer, dewier skin?

Collagen is the protein in our body responsible for our skin’s natural elasticity. Our body’s hyaluronic acid molecules bind to collagen on one side and attach themselves to water molecules on the other. This forms a gel that acts like a sponge, drawing moisture from our environment and retaining it to nourish our cells.

Among its many roles in the body, natural hyaluronic acid helps to heal the skin and lubricate and cushion our joints. However, as we age, our body’s production of hyaluronic acid decreases, and our skin loses its plumpness. With many factors contributing to dehydrated skin (and even causing breaks in the skin’s protective barrier that allow water to escape), our skin needs help to retain moisture.

Amazingly, hyaluronic acid can bind over 1,000 times its weight in water. Products with hyaluronic acid in them contain a lab-grown version of this natural ingredient, meaning your body knows exactly how to set it to work to reap the rewards of this super hydrator.

How to use hyaluronic acid properly (and optimise it)

Hyaluronic acid can have deeply moisturising effects, but it’s important to use it properly. Serums, creams and balms containing hyaluronic acid attract moisture from the external environment. Even when humidity levels in your environment are low, hyaluronic acid still acts as a natural sponge, and can draw up moisture from the deeper levels of your skin to the surface, where it evaporates. This can lead to skin becoming tighter and more dehydrated.

To harness hyaluronic acid’s hydrating properties in any environment, we recommend applying it to damp skin and using hyaluronic acid products that are combined with other active ingredients, like CBD, to seal in the moisture.

CBD reduces inflammation and regulates your skin’s oil glands to ensure you produce a good balance of natural oils. When these ingredients are combined, CBD locks the moisture into your skin, so you benefit from the skin-calming effects of CBD and the intense moisturisation of hyaluronic acid.