Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and its salt form Sodium Hyaluronate are there everywhere - and I mean everywhere! You'll find it hard to find a skincare product which wouldn't contain HA somewhere in the list of ingredients. There are many skincare brands that launch entire skincare lines championing Hyaluronic Acid - think Neutrogena's Hydro Boost line - and as an ingredient, is best known for it's hydration and anti-aging abilities.
So what makes it so beneficial for the skin, and to start of, what even is Hyaluronic Acid?
What is it?
Hyaluronic Acid is a glycosaminoglycan, essentially a big sugar molecule. Chemically it is made of long chains of sugar with amino acids, and is one of the most hydrophilic (water - loving) molecules found in nature. Another important property of HA is that it is hygroscopic, meaning it is able to absorb water from the atmosphere. These two aspects work together to help retain water and HA is known to be able to bind 1000 times its weight in water, which translates to 1 gm of HA binding approx. 6 litres of water!
I mentioned earlier that it is a big sugar molecule, but let us try to put that in perspective - Our skin can allow ingredients that are 15 - 50 nm (nanometers) in size, as that's the space between skin cells, HA is about 3,000 nm in diameter. Let's get more comparisons in, a HA molecule can weigh upto 4 - 6 Mn Da (Dalton is a unit of measurement for molecular weight), the molecular weight of sugar is approx. 340 Da.
What this means for you as a consumer is that, when you apply HA on your skin, it can get absorbed into your skin and then attract and absrob water from the atmosphere and uses that water to hydrate your skin! Morever HA is able to hold that water and deliver it to the skin in the best possible manner (too much water can break down key bonds that hold the skin's surface intact).
An interesting fact is that our bodies, and most mammals already contain HA. A human body on an average has approx. 15 gms of HA in it, and almost 50% of that is concentrated on our skin. It literally acts as a sponge soaking in water from the atmosphere and providing it to the skin. Apart from hydration, other skin-related functions include maintaining the skin's elasticity, reducing the skin's inflammatory response, regenerating the damaged skin barrier and plumping up water-loss related wrinkles. Essentially, helping the skin to look and feel healthy and young.
You can find HA in your eyes, in the umblical cord, the fluid at the joints of our bones, and is present in all tissues and fluids of the body such as skeletal tissue, heart valves, the lungs, etc.
It has been assumed that as we age we lose our HA stores which leads to a thinner and dried look of aged skin, but new research suggests that the amount HA in our body doesn't decrease, but instead gets redributed to other parts of our body for better functioning.
What are the benefits?
1. Anti-Aging - Hyaluronic Acid has been used as fillers (for eg. lip fillers) for many many years now. Even applied topically, HA does have similar wrinkle and skin plumping abilities. HA can penetrate the outer layer of the skin and draw in water to the regions it is applied on, which can give a plump / filled look on wrinkles and fine lines.
2. Hydrating - With the ability to absorb and draw water to it, HA is an excellent ingredient to help hydrate your skin. Keep in mind that hydration and moisturization are two different things, and you would need to apply a moisturizer or occlusive to lock in that moisture.
3. Delivery Agent - There has been some doubts whether HA can actually penetrate the skin or not given its size and molecular weight, however, lower molecular weight HA have been proven to be able to penetrate the skin. HA can in this sense act as a delivery agent where it can help other active ingredients in your skincare products penetrate better into the skin giving you better and faster results. A classic eg. of this would be the pairing of HA and Vit C, whereing HA can enable Vit C to reach the deeper layers of our skin and work more effeciently.
4. Skin-restoring ability - There have been multiple studies that have shown that HA can help aid the skin to heal itself. One study showed the HA improved the skin's defense and other studies have shown that HA helps in reducing skin inflammation, and can be helpful for those with rosacea.
5. Antioxidant - Hyaluronic Acid also acts a good antioxidant and is known for its sun protective and after-sun repair abilities. This is especially true with low molecular weight HA.
Points to keep in mind
1. Using Moisturizers - We've spoken about how HA can absorb water from the atmosphere, but what if you stay in regions with hot and dry climates (or if you have the AC on all the time)? HA in that scenario could then absorb the water from the deeper layers of the skin. There have been many conversations about how this could lead to your skin becoming more dry or dehydrated in the long run. It is always advisable to follow using HA serums with a water based mositurizer to ensure your skin gets the hydration it needs and stays hydrated. Alternatively, you'd find HA moisturizers usually in a gel form to provide the water HA would need. Always pay attention to how your skin feels and reacts after using HA.
2. Low Molecular Weight - Some people have noted that Sodium Hyaluronate has caused skin irritation. This could be the case when low molecular weight HA is used, which can potentially penetrate deeper into skin and inturn irritate it. Brands do not specify the molecular weight of the HA used, and hence it would be difficult to discern the cause of the irritation. This could especially cause a number of issues for those with sensitive to very sensitive skin and rosacea prone skin. Unfortunately trial and error is the only way to understand if a product works for you or not! Always Patch Test!
3. Source of HA - There are two main sources of HA that is used in today's skincare and cosmetics - bio-fermentation (made from safe bacteria) and rooster combs (the little red thing on top of roosters)! You read that right, rooster combs as they contain over 15 times as much HA as human skin. Though today most of the HA used is manufactured in labs, brands do not always disclose where their ingredients are sourced from, and it would be better to choose cruelty-free and vegan brands just to be sure.
4. Ingredient List Order - Given the popularity of HA, in the recent years almost every brand has jumped on the bandwagon of HA and you'd find very few products which do not have HA in them. However, despite the marketing material that is shown to you, always look at the ingredient list to see where in the formulation it lies. If you see HA / Sodium Hyaluronate in the top (atleast top 10), you know there is a good amount of HA in it and it can deliver the promised results. What I have noticed is that many products that tout the HA horn have it in the bottom of the list (usually bottom 5) of a long long list of ingredients (25 - 35 odd ingredients). I'm not saying the product won't work, but it potentially would not deliver the best possible results from using HA.
Disclaimer: I am not a dermatologist. The overview of the ingredient has been sourced from multiple reputable websites that provide well researched and latest information on ingredients commonly used in skincare and make-up. Wherever specific facts and figures are mentioned, these have been sourced from published Journals, Paula’s Choice Ingredient Dictionary or INCI Decoder, and Journal sources listed on these websites. Wherever, information has been taken from the source, the references will be listed as well.
I neither take credit for this information, nor can I guarantee the accuracy of these facts and figures and do not take responsibility for the same.
My main aim of the ‘What’s on the label’ segment is to help people understand what the ingredients in their skincare or make-up routines are, and more specifically how these ingredients can deliver benefits to our skin. If I have made any error or mistake, please do let me know, and we can work together to make the necessary changes.
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