Do Hyaluronic Moisturizers work?

Hyaluronic acid moisturizers have become popular over recent years. But do hyaluronic acid acid moisturizers really work, and if not can you get the benefits of hyaluronic acid to your skin some other way?

Hyaluronic acid (which can also be called Hyaluronan or HA) is an important component of your skin, where it acts as a connective tissue, and it is also found to varying degrees in other parts of the body. Along with collagen and elastin it has an important role in maintaining skin health and elasticity.

Hyaluronan helps the skin retain water, being hygroscopic, thereby obviously aiding in maintaining skin hydration. It will absorb around 1000 times it’s own weight in water. This ability to retain moisture also helps keep the collagen and elastin in your skin moist which keeps the skin looking more supple and youthful.

Studies over the last few years have shown that those people who have a naturally higher intake of hyaluronic acid in our diets seem to age, or appear to age slower, and it is theorized that it is the higher levels of hyaluronic acid that are responsible for this. It has a significant role in skin elasticity in tissue repair.

There’s even been a documentary that has called hyaluronic acid be “key to the fountain of youth” for these reasons.

For this reason hyaluronic moisturizers are becoming more popular, on the presumption that if you include hyaluronic acid in a moisturizer you will improve the levels of hyaluronan in the skin merely by applying the moisturizer. This would seem to make sense.

However the obvious is not necessarily a correct conclusion. For example there are some doubts about whether some forms of hyaluronic acid included in moisturizers will successfully penetrate the skin. HA used in moisturizers generally comes from the eyes of cattle, the combs of cock birds and even from human placentas.

Although it is not entirely clear it would seem that some HA used in moisturizers has a molecule size which is effectively too large to enter the skin, and that for this reason, although increasing the levels of hyaluronic acid in the skin is good for the skin, doing so by means of this form of hyaluronic acid moisturizer is ineffective.

There is an alternative. Rather than attempting to add the stores of HA in the skin it may well be better to prevent destruction of HA in the skin, thereby preserving what is there already.

There is an enzyme in the skin called hyaluronidase. Hyaluronidase breaks down hyaluronic acid in the skin, and so therefore reduces the amount of HA in the skin. So if you’re able to reduce the capacity of hyaluronidase to break down the HA you are effectively increasing your skin’s supplies of HA.

There is a seaweed found around the coast of Japan called Phytessence Wakame. Phytessence Wakame is a large part of the Japanese diet and it is thought that this is one of the major reasons why the Japanese have such wonderful skin right into old age. Research has now shown that Phytessence Wakame helps limit the actions of hyaluronidase, thereby helping your skin maintain its existing stores of hyaluronic acid.

It is now possible to get high quality natural skin care products that contain Phytessence Wakame, and which therefore help the skin retain the skin healing properties of hyaluronic acid.

The company that makes these excellent natural skin care products does not make a hyaluronic acid moisturizer, in fact it does not make any moisturizer at all, because it includes Phytessence Wakame, along with some other excellent natural ingredients, in its entire range of skin care products, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated moisturizer.

All skin care products from this company moisturize extremely effectively. And they give their customers a money back guarantee. That’s putting your money where your mouth is.

It is entirely possible to buy hyaluronic acid moisturizers. More doubtful is whether or not they are effective at delivering the hyaluronic acid into the dermis of the skin. There is no doubt that increasing the stores of HA in the skin is of great benefit to skin health, but it’s a matter of how to do that.

Using natural skin care products containing Phytessence Wakame eliminates the problem found with a hyaluronidase moisturizer that may fail to deliver the HA into the skin.

So you need a facial moisturizer. Natural moisturizing is always the best, (because many moisturizers are dangerous).

If you’re looking for a good facial moisturizer natural is always best. We’d like to look at why a natural facial moisturizer is always better than many of the mainstream beauty products and facial moisturizers commonly available. And to look at one specific example.

You may understand the benefits of daily facial moisturizing. Your skin produces natural oils, and these oils are very important in maintaining the ongoing health of your skin. Many natural factors such as wind and sun combine to strip out some of these natural oils and the result is that your skin naturally loses some of its protection.

A healthy complexion requires a certain level of natural oil, which is called sebum. Sebum helps keep your skin hydrated by limiting the loss of natural skin fluids. It also helps retain skin fluids which are often rich in organic nutrients. If your skin is lacking in natural oils these can be replaced with a good moisturizer.

Unfortunately however many consumers are not aware that many mainstream beauty, skin care and anti aging products contain ingredients which are actually harmful to your skin and even to your health. Gradually consumers are becoming more aware of this fact due to the activities of such organizations as Teens Turning Green and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Both of these highlight the fact that many modern beauty products contain ingredients that are less than beneficial to your skin and health.

Lets have a look at a specific example. The Jergens Natural Glow Daily Face Moisturizer. From the name it sounds wonderful. It sounds like it should be natural, and produce a glowing complexion. Daily facial moisturizers such as this should be great for your skin.

However if you search at the Cosmetic Safety Database you’ll see a range of the Jergens Natural Glow products there with a hazard score, in almost all cases, of 7. The Cosmetic Safety Database ranks the likely hazard of a wide range of personal and beauty products on a score of 0 to 10, with 0 being safe and 10 being high hazard. A score of 7 is a “high hazard”.

Lets look little deeper. Lets consider the Jergens Natural Glow Daily Face Moisturizer for Fair Skin Tones. If you examine the risks highlighted by the Cosmetic Safety Database you will see that it is linked to – Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Allergies/immunotoxicity,
Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes.

This wide range of health concerns from this particular facial moisturizer is worrying. The reason is the ingredients used in the product. You’ll see the ingredients listed there on the same page.

Perhaps now you’re beginning to see why we are suggesting that if you use a good facial moisturizer natural is best.

Unfortunately the personal and beauty products industry in the US is largely unregulated. Most of the products that it produces utilize chemical ingredients that are not tested for safety, and the FDA is not required to test any particular product to satisfy itself that that the product is safe for the customer.

There are many chemical ingredients which are banned in Europe which are used in products freely available in the US.

However there are companies which manufacture high quality skin care and anti aging products with a demonstrated commitment to making products such as facial moisturizers that use only natural ingredients that are known to be safe and are also highly effective.

These are generally smaller niche companies which recognize the growing consumer trend towards more natural and safer skin care and anti aging products, and which make use of readily available natural ingredients and natural oils such as jojoba oil, olive oil and Shea butter, all of which are safe and very effective at moisturizing your facial skin.

If you’re looking to prevent premature aging with a high quality daily facial moisturizer the first thing to consider is whether the product you are using poses health risks. Many do. The Jergens Natural Glow health complexion range is only one example out of many.

In fact the company which makes what we consider to be the very finest quality natural skin care products available do not even make a moisturizer. The reason is that the natural oils we have already mentioned, which moisturize so successfully, are found in all their products, and so there is no need for them to make moisturizers at all, because all their products moisturize effectively as moisturizing is a huge part of great skin care.

And if you visit their site you can even read customer reviews from people who are already using the products. And they offer a full money back guarantee on their products, which is very rare.

So remember, if you are looking for a good moisturizer, natural is best. So many mainstream products, whilst sounding wonderful, are not so great for your skin, or your health. Be careful.

And remember too, a healthy lifestyle can be one of the best things to do for your skin.