Hyaluronic acid: What’s all the fuss about?

Throw your mind back a few years ago when an Oil of Olay television ad had every cosmetic maven utterly obsessed with Peptides.

‘Oh it’s a lovely cream, adore the packaging but does it contain peptides?!’ we mewed.

Suddenly ‘Peptides’ were the answer to our anti-ageing prayers and every beauty junkie worth their serum was slathering it on whilst simultaneously waxing lyrical about their miraculous age busting benefits.

Since then there has been a huge turning point within the beauty industry; as consumers became more skincare savvy, companies realised they could no longer just rely upon visually appealing advertising campaigns or celebrity endorsements. With consumer interest and knowledge on the rise about the contents of their creams, brands were forced to up their game.

We now live in an age in which we don’t have to listen blindly to advice from magazines, television or even friends. The internet gives us the ability to find out exactly what goes into every product that we’re thinking of purchasing, investigate why this product could be a beneficial addition to our skincare routines and what other women and even experts think of it.

Honest and impartial reviews are readily available online by the bucket load, and if the results aren’t proven, no amount of pretty packaging will shift it from the shelves.

Now, just as we would no longer wear those platform shoes we swore to love forever in 1998, we don’t seem so bothered about peptides in our creams. The current ingredient that is making our fickle beauty loving hearts tick is Hyaluronic acid (HA).

The buzz around this magic ingredient has now reached fever pitch, and it is now included in just about every high end cream, serum and lotion. It is now even available in a drink format with the idea that we can now eat our skincare!

So what exactly is Hyaluronic Acid?

HA is a water holding molecule, originally discovered in 1934 in a small Japanese village called Yuzuri otherwise known as the ‘village of long life.’  But it was after a study conducted in 2000 - which found that their soya, tofu and vegetable rich diet promoted high levels of Hyaluronic acid in the body - that the link between HA and the villagers wrinkle free skin, thick hair, perfect vision and flexible joints was made.

After this discovery, it didn’t take the beauty companies long to take note and start adding it into their products…and so the stampedes began.

How does it work?

HA can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water; so when it’s applied, it encourages the skin to hold on to its water stores leaving it more hydrated, plump and youthful looking.

Although Hyaluronic does occur in our bodies naturally; production slows down dramatically as we age so adding some into your skincare regime could make a huge difference.

Our HA Top Tip

To start boosting your skincare regime with HA we recommend you start with a good quality serum like the Dermaquest B5 Serum.

By layering it under your moisturiser, this clever little product will hydrate your skin as well as allowing the products you use afterwards penetrate the skin more deeply, therefore making them much more effective than they would be if they were used alone.

So if you haven’t yet discovered or included HA into your skincare regime, (It’s also been dubbed the ‘Youth Molecule’), we whole heartedly recommend you give it a whirl; unlike those platform shoes, we guarantee this one will be sticking around.