The Koreans understand it, so do skin experts: hydration is key to plump, glowing, juicy-looking skin.
For a long while, though, it took a back seat to things that seemed more action-packed, like vitamin C, fruit acids and retinols. These ingredients play key roles in our skincare, but they don’t work at their peak without hydrating replenishment.
One of the vital ingredients to get skin back to bouncy and glowing is hyaluronic acid. Lauded as being able to hold 1000 times its weight in water, it’s masterful at adding back the hydration your skin loses daily from sun, air-conditioning and travel.
Size matters
Absorption is important. Some argue that hyaluronic acid can sit on top of the skin and not penetrate to where it works best. But science has come to the rescue with new, updated tech that tackles that issue. Take Elizabeth Arden’s latest hyaluronic acid and peptide-dosed serum and water cream. Both have been powered up with next-generation hyaluronic acid molecules that have been downsized so they can penetrate the skin’s surface layers easier.
“Hyaluronic acid has become a daily essential for many,” says Susan Zuckerman, vice-president of global marketing, skincare at Elizabeth Arden. “Our new Hyaluronic Acid + Peptides innovations deliver high-performance, visible plumping, filling and firming benefits, instantly and over time.”
The importance of absorption
With five different types and molecular weights of hyaluronic acid at play in these two new formulations, the magic really happens when the HA gets to its destination. Once absorbed, the size-shifting hyaluronic acid expands to fill and plump the appearance of skin.
This added support gives skin the look of firmness. It also helps support the skin’s natural ability to synthesise its own hyaluronic acid, meaning the complexion can retain more moisture over time.
Support ingredients
To help bolster collagen reserves, the new releases also include a peptide complex (which boasts an impressive 16,000 peptides), to help further firm, fill and volumise the look of skin. And phytoceramides in the cream help replenish and support the skin’s moisture barrier.
Layer up
Fans of the brand’s biodegradable capsules will love the mono-dose delivery of the serum, which ensures freshness, purity and potency every time you pop. The addition of the water cream allows for a drenching layer of moisture (which formulators say will help deliver up to a whopping 240 hours of hydration) to leave skin gleaming.
If things are looking a little lacklustre at pore level, daily doses of hydration could just be your skincare routine’s missing link. So by all means, keep the actives. Just don’t forget to layer them up with the ingredients that will also give your skin that juiciness it needs.
