WTH is Hyaluronic Acid?

You may have heard that Hyaluronic Acid is the key to plump, glowing skin but it’s important that you know how to use it, or it could make your complexion very unhappy.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a type of molecule naturally found in your skin that takes water from the air and absorbs it into your face like a sponge, helping your skin stay moist throughout the day. Due to its ability to retain water, you’ll also find it in a lot of hydrating skincare products, such as face serums, moisturizers, and makeup products like foundations and concealers. It’s also the go-to ingredient used in fillers.

If you’ve scanned the ingredients list on your favourite hyaluronic acid product and you don’t see anything that says “hyaluronic acid” on there, don’t panic. Different products include different forms of the ingredient, one of the most common being sodium hyaluronate (a salt form of hyaluronic acid).

For best results, you should use Hyaluronic Acid twice a day as long as you’re applying it to clean, damp skin, then locking it in with a moisturizer and face oil. If you put hyaluronic acid on top of sunscreen or a moisturizer, it’s not going to work 0- it must sit on that top layer of your skin to hold the moisture in so it doesn’t evaporate from your skin barrier.

A good trick is to apply your hyaluronic acid to slightly damp skin, then immediately slather on a moisturizer suited to your skin to lock it in – you can also tip this off with a layer of face oil in the evenings to maximize the hydration.

Generally, hyaluronic acid is something that everybody’s skin could use, and it very rarely has any side effects but there are different sizes of hyaluronic acid molecules found in products that penetrate your skin at different depths. Studies show that hyaluronic acid with lower molecular weights penetrates deeper into the skin, which can cause inflammation, so if you’re noticing any dryness or irritation from your HA serum, stop using it and switch to another.