Supercharged hydration begins by giving every layer of your skin the important ingredients it needs to maintain a smooth, supple, plumped feeling, visibly changing the appearance of your skin for the better. These ingredients work by allowing skin to hold on to its natural water content while fortifying against further moisture loss. If you do this, while avoiding ingredients that irritate skin, you’ll love what you see in the mirror!
The Best Moisturizing Ingredients to Boost Hydration
Here are the top ingredients you want to see front and center when shopping for the best moisturizer for dry skin, a hydrating serum, and an eye cream for dry skin:
- Hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance in skin that can hold 1000 times its weight in water, or its salt form, sodium hyaluronate. Give skin more of it and the results will be impressive.
- Glycerin, one of the hardest-working hydrators, and also naturally present in young, smooth skin.
- Amino acids, are an amazing small component of skin that can nourish and hydrate in big ways. There are many different amino acids, ranging from arginine to glycine, and proline. Peptides are part of this group, too, albeit a more complex part with more power to impact skin by “teaching” it how to appear younger.
- Ceramides are to skin what flour is to cake; one of the substances that literally holds skin together. There are nine ceramides that can benefit skin, or look for sphingolipids, which help revive skin’s natural supply of ceramides.
- Omega fatty acids not only hydrate and replenish, but also have a pronounced strengthening and calming effect on skin’s surface layers.
- Niacinamide, a B vitamin that offers numerous benefits to all skin types, including increasing skin’s moisture content and its ability to resist becoming dehydrated.
Of course, those aren’t the only hydrating ingredients out there, but they’re among the best when your goal is supercharging your skin’s hydration so it looks and feels better fast.
Tip to Moisturize Dry Skin: Layer Hydrating Skincare Products
A quick tip that can really help when skin is feeling dry and dehydrated is to layer hydrating products. By layering a series of hydrating ingredients, you build a stronger shield to protect against moisture loss, especially if you live in or will be visiting a dry, low-humidity environment. Even better, you can be sure you’re giving your skin a broad range of the best hydrating ingredients.
Here’s an example of how to layer products for supercharged hydration:
- Apply a hydrating toner right after cleansing.
- Apply a fluid, antioxidant-packed hydrating serum.
- Apply a booster enriched with hyaluronic acid.
- Finish with an ultra-hydrating moisturizer suitable for your skin type.
If you prefer to use an eye cream because the skin around your eyes is drier than the skin on the rest of your face, a buttery-rich cream that provides “into the next morning” hydration is perfect.
References for this information:
International Journal of Cosmetic Science, August 2016, ePublication
Journal of Clinical Medicine, February 2016, ePublication
Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, July 2014, pages 311–315
Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, June 2014, pages 25-32; October 2012, pages 20–23; and March 2009, pages 38–43
British Journal of Dermatology, July 2008, pages 23–34
