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When we feel thirsty, we instinctively reach for that water bottle because we know it’s our body’s way of telling us that we need more hydration, but what about your skin? Just as getting your fill of H2O is important on a daily basis, it’s also important to make sure your skin stays hydrated as well. As it turns out, the key to achieving hydrated skin is not just using any moisturizer, but one formulated with humectants. Let’s cover some of the basics of hydration, including:
Humectants are active skin care ingredients that play a key role in hydrating skin that is dehydrated or lacking moisture. “Think of humectants as magnets for moisture,” says board-certified dermatologist and LovelySkin CEO Dr. Joel Schlessinger. “Humectants work by drawing water from the air or from within the product itself and binding it in your skin’s top layer, like a sponge.”
Some popular types of humectants include hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, glycerin, honey, ceramides, peptides, panthenol (vitamin B5), fatty acids, collagen, lecithin and betaine. Some AHAs such as lactic acid also act as humectant ingredients as well.
Keeping skin hydrated with a humectant moisturizer is important all year round, but it can be especially crucial in the winter. The combination of cold weather and drier air tends to dehydrate skin, leaving it feeling itchy and irritated. When your skin is dehydrated, it can also look dull, and you might notice that fine lines tend to be more noticeable. When humectant moisturizers do their job of attracting water, they help plump up the top layer of your skin. The result? The appearance of fine lines will be minimized, and skin appears bouncier and more radiant.
Here’s something you might not know: You don’t want to apply a humectant moisturizer to bone-dry skin. Instead, apply your humectant moisturizer to skin after cleansing while it still feels damp. “This provides the humectant moisturizer a well of moisture to draw from, so it doesn’t pull water content from the lower levels of your skin instead,” Dr. Schlessinger says. “Also, unless you live somewhere with a very high humidity level, you’ll want to make sure your humectant moisturizer also has occlusive ingredients to help lock in that moisture, so it doesn’t evaporate into the air,” Dr. Schlessinger says. Popular occlusive ingredients include oils, butters, waxes and silicones.
This humectant moisturizer boosts skin’s hydration levels with ceramides, glycerin and fatty acids. In fact, the patented ratio of 2% ceramides, 4% natural cholesterol and 2% fatty acids is what makes it such an effective treatment for restoring your skin’s moisture barrier and correcting signs of aging. It also contains vitamin E to help support your skin’s natural cell repair process and act as an occlusive to help lock in all that beneficial moisture.
If you have mature skin that tends to feel dry and flaky, this humectant moisturizer is a fantastic choice for you. A fleet of effective humectant ingredients—collagen, aloe vera, glycerin and sodium hyaluronate (the salt form of hyaluronic acid)—all work together to help infuse much-needed hydration into skin. Shea butter also acts as an occlusive to keep that boost of moisture from evaporating. This results in plumper, smoother-looking skin with regular use.
This velvety facial moisturizer features a trio of humectant ingredients—organic aloe leaf juice, glycerin and lecithin—to help infuse your skin with hydration and promote elasticity. It also contains bakuchiol and niacinamide, which work together to target fine lines and rough skin texture with a retinol-like effect without the potentially irritating effects of retinol.
If you’re struggling with skin dryness, flakiness or irritation, these soothing facial drops are ready to come to the rescue with a protective layer of moisture thanks to lecithin, a humectant ingredient. “This facial serum also contains phospholipids, which are a lipid fat that is essential to your skin’s cell membrane function,” Dr. Schlessinger says. Glycolipids and dimethicone also work together to help prevent moisture loss, leaving your skin feeling smooth, healthy and hydrated.
Another great option from Dr. Schlessinger’s own LovelySkin LUXE line, this deeply hydrating face cream is formulated for normal to dry skin. It combines the moisture-infusing abilities of humectant ingredients such as peptides and glycerin with moisture-preserving occlusives, squalane and shea butter. With afaLUXE, a powerful ingredient that has anti-aging properties and helps restore your skin’s natural moisture balance, it’s a versatile multitasker of a product to add to your daily routine.
With a light and silky gel-cream texture, this humectant face moisturizer helps restore hydration in your skin with glycerin, lecithin, ceramides and polyglutamic acid. The formula absorbs into your skin quickly so you can easily wear it under makeup, and it also contains a blend of occlusive ingredients to help lock in moisture throughout the day.
For a daily dose of hydration along with serious anti-aging benefits, this innovative facial serum definitely delivers. With Iris florentina root extract and Sunflower Sprout Extract Technology, this formula targets glycation, which is a chain reaction in the body that causes visible signs of aging due to the breakdown of collagen and elastin in your skin. Humectant ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and peptides help hydrate skin while squalane and jojoba oil act as occlusives to lock in all that valuable moisture.
“Replenish, rebalance, renew” is the philosophy behind this daily facial moisturizer. It contains a blend of humectant ingredients to replenish your skin’s lost hydration (tri-molecular hyaluronic acid, snow mushroom extract, prickly pear cactus extract), prebiotic and probiotic ingredients to rebalance your microbiome (Lactobacillus ferment, goji berry extract) and antioxidants to help your skin feel protected and renewed.
Mature skin types will benefit from this ultra-concentrated anti-aging treatment. In addition to offering powerful hydration with omega-6 fatty acids and hyaluronic acid, this formula also contains Trigger Factor Complex (TFC8 for short) is a proprietary complex of more than forty amino acids, vitamins and other ingredients to help repair skin damage. A blend of soothing oils (avocado, primrose, sunflower seed and apricot kernel) act as occlusives to help keep moisture where you need it most.
BONUS! Pro tip: For skin that’s feeling especially dry, red or irritated, you can follow up your humectant moisturizer with FixMySkin 1% Hydrocortisone Healing Body Balm. This soothing medicated balm contains hydrocortisone to help reduce inflammation as well as occlusive ingredients such as shea butter and cocoa butter to help seal moisture into your skin, so it feels softer, smoother and less irritated.
Are you struggling with dark spots and discoloration? You can learn more about the best skin care ingredients to address hyperpigmentation on the LovelySkin Blog.
Aaron serves as Editor at LovelySkin. Since graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2016 with degrees in Creative Writing and English, he has immersed himself in the beauty industry. When he’s not writing about the latest beauty trends, he spends time cuddling his dogs, scouring antique stores, playing tennis and hiking.
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