What do smooth, supple skin, powerful anti-aging, and improved wound healing all share?
They are all benefits of using hyaluronic acid in a natural skin care regimen!
This incredible skin care ingredient can keep you looking young and vibrant even when cold winds, harsh environmental pollutants, and even time leave you feeling dry, cracked, and wrinkled.
1. Hydration
Proper hydration is about more than just introducing new moisture to the skin. Sometimes, the most powerful way to improve skin hydration is by retaining the moisture you already have. When it comes to moisture retention, hyaluronic acid tops the list.
Each hyaluronic acid molecule can absorb and hold up to a thousand times its weight in water. Hyaluronic acid locks this water into your skin’s cells where it can be used rather than letting that water escape and evaporate as it tends to do under dry conditions.
In professional skincare circles, this is known as preventing transepidermal water loss. Hyaluronic acid safeguards your cells’ natural water supply so it can be used to make your skin feel well-moisturized and healthy.
One study found that hyaluronic acid cream, serum, or lotion improved skin hydration by 96 percent after eight weeks of regular use.
2. Anti-Aging
One thing your skin must have to look young and supple is hydration. Because hyaluronic acid is a phenomenal moisturizer, it’s also a great anti-aging ingredient.
The age-defying properties of hyaluronic acid may produce impressive results. Women in the same eight-week study discussed above experienced a 40 percent reduction in the depth of their wrinkles and a 55 percent increase in skin elasticity and firmness. These percentages were compared to a baseline group of individuals who did not use hyaluronic acid during the study period. (See natural approaches to wrinkles and firmness.)
3. Wound Healing
Skin moisture is a vital component in cellular repair. That makes hyaluronic acid a powerhouse for aiding in wound healing. While you shouldn’t apply hyaluronic acid inside really deep cuts, its skin regenerative properties make it a great option for the area around wounds and smaller, surface-level cuts and abrasions.
Hyaluronic acid not only helps to preserve moisture—which can speed the healing process—it also reduces inflammation and promotes healthy tissue repair. This can reduce the appearance of scars in the months or years following an injury.
In fact, hyaluronic acid is so effective at reducing the appearance of scarring that it’s often used in products for healing acne scars and stretch marks.
4. Skin Flexibility and Elasticity
Smile broadly during the depths of winter—or after taking a hot shower, using a harsh cleanser, or spending a day in the sun and wind— and you’ll feel that familiar dry, cracking sensation. Unpleasant, certainly, but it’s also not great for your skin’s health in the long run. Allowing your skin to dry out and crack repeatedly over time can promote the development of fine lines and wrinkles.
Hyaluronic acid can help reverse this premature aging process.
Hyaluronic acid improves your skin’s elasticity and flexibility, helping it to bounce back when stretched. If you use hyaluronic acid regularly, it will help prevent the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
5. Skin Health
Facial redness, irritation, and inflammation affect many people on occasion. Even on darker skin tones where redness isn’t as noticeable, the underlying inflammation can still cause pain and itchiness. And for fairer skin tones, the redness can cause a continual struggle between winter dryness and summer sunburns.
Hyaluronic acid is a winner at helping combat skin irritation. The moisturizing properties of the acid help eradicate dryness and help soothe sunburns, windburns, and other types of chapped skin. Use a hyaluronic acid cream, serum, or lotion once or twice daily to experience these benefits.
People suffering from eczema (acute or chronic) can also benefit from regular use of hyaluronic acid. The problems eczema causes—dry, red, itchy, inflamed, and cracked skin—are conditions that hyaluronic acid helps treat.
If you suffer from severe eczema, you should check with your dermatologist before altering your skincare routine.
6. Other Health Benefits
These aren’t technically skin care uses, but they are so interesting that we want to include them, Studies have shown (and anecdotal evidence has all but proven) that hyaluronic acid can have a number of positive health benefits when used as part of an overall wellness routine.
Some people use hyaluronic acid as a dietary supplement to help “moisturize” the inner workings of their bodies. Hyaluronic acid supplementation may provide extra lubrication for joints and help keep your lungs and perhaps even mucus membranes retain moisture in dry conditions.
Hyaluronic acid is frequently an ingredient in eye drops and contact lens solutions because it is so effective at keeping delicate eye surfaces moist and soothing irritation and redness. Similarly, you’ll find it in shampoos, conditioners, hair oils, and other hair products because of the benefits it can have on hair follicles and your scalp.
This is a powerful ingredient for many reasons. Not all formulas containing hyaluronic acid will be equally effective.
For best results, choose a product from a skincare line that you trust. This is the best way to ensure you use effective, high-quality ingredients without any chemicals or impurities that could undermine your best natural skin care efforts!
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Autumn is here, and winter is coming, but that doesn’t mean you have to endure dry, brittle, frizzy hair until spring. The right strategy and healthful, natural hair care ingredients will help you maintain your bouncy, shiny locks all winter.
First, let’s discuss your winter hair care routine. Then we’ll discuss the products that we recommend for best results.
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