I have seen a ton of posts lately talking about hyaluronic acid being dehydrating. So this post is going to answer the question is hyaluronic acid good for dry skin. Let’s talk about the science of hyaluronic acid and whether it being potentially dehydrating is fact or fiction.
If you follow skincare news, you may have heard if misused hyaluronic acid can actually be dehydrating. As a result, there are claims other molecules like poly glutamic acid are better for your skin than hyaluronic acid. While there is some truth to this, it is also a bit misleading. Today we will talk about if hyaluronic acid can dehydrate skin and if hyaluronic acid is good for dry skin.
What is Hyaluronic Acid?
Hyaluronic acid is a biopolymer commonly used for dermal fillers and a skincare ingredient for hydration. The polymer is made in your skin by cells and by bacteria industrially. Specifically, hyaluronic acid is a type of polymer called a hydrogel. Hydrogels are polymeric materials that can hold many times their weight in water. This is why hyaluronic acid is looked at as the “great hydrator” in skincare. It can theoretically act as a water reservoir keeping your skin hydrated long term.
How Does Hyaluronic Acid Work in Skincare?
For hyaluronic acid to be effective in skincare, the polymer has to be the correct size. The skin is comprised of three layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous layer. The epidermis is a protective barrier and will not allow large molecules to penetrate through its surface. Therefore if a hyaluronic acid molecule is too large, it will only sit on the surface of your skin. It will not penetrate. When smaller hyaluronic acid molecules are applied to your face, they have the ability to penetrate through your epidermis. This means they travel to the dermis, where all the cells and blood vessels are located.
This makes hyaluronic acid a pretty effective ingredient when the molecules are the correct size. This is one way that hyaluronic acid stands out from other skincare actives. A lot of other skincare actives do not penetrate the epidermis. Therefore they fall short of many companies’ claims about benefits. This is because the touted benefits only occur when they come in contact with skin cells in the dermis.
Is Hyaluronic Acid Good For Dry Skin?
Now, let’s get to the claim of hyaluronic acid being dehydrating or bad for dry skin. When people say hyaluronic acid can be dehydrating, they are basing this statement off of an assumption. This assumption is because hyaluronic acid has a high affinity for water. As a material with a high affinity for water, a humectant hyaluronic acid has the ability to pull water from its surroundings. This leads people to believe as a skincare ingredient, it can pull moisture from the air and pull moisture from the other layers of skin. With that train of thought, if there is not enough moisture in the air, hyaluronic acid will pull it from your skin. This would then give your skin a tight, dehydrated look and feel.
However, this is probably just not true. What is actually happening is that your skin does not have a positive reaction to hyaluronic acid. Or there is not adequate moisture before the hyaluronic acid is applied so the hyaluronic is having no effect. The reason one of these two things is probably taking place is a biological phenomenon called homeostasis.
What is Homeostasis? And How Is It Related?
Homeostasis is our body’s tendency always to try and reach a stable equilibrium between interdependent elements. And if you’re like, that’s great, and all, but what does that have to do with hyaluronic acid? Let me explain.
Your body does an excellent job maintaining the balance of all of the molecules like water and nutrients that cells and organs need to function. Specifically, in your body, diffusion is a process where molecules (in our case, water) tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane (the hyaluronic acid) from an area of high concentration (still the hyaluronic acid) to an area of low concentration (your skin) thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane. This a dynamic process that is constantly happening. So if your skin becomes drier than the hyaluronic acid, the hyaluronic acid will continually release water to get to the equilibrium.
Final Answer: Is Hyaluronic Acid Good for Dry Skin
So the answer to the question is hyaluronic acid good for dry skin? Sure, if you are using it properly and your body reacts positively to it. Hyaluronic acid will not dehydrate your skin and cause it to look or feel tight. If there is a lot of moisture in the air and your skin, hyaluronic acid can grab even more moisture and act as a reservoir. However, it is not going to “super hydrate” your skin. If there is not much moisture in the air and your skin is dehydrated, hyaluronic acid will not make it worse. What will actually happen is the water is the hyaluronic acid product will diffuse through the hyaluronic acid into the skin to evenly distribute the water constantly.