Hyaluronic acid: hydration, properly explained
It's a humectant, not a moisturiser — and the molecular weight on the label tells you how it behaves.
Hyaluronic acid is a humectant: it binds water and draws it toward the skin's surface. That makes it excellent at adding hydration, but it isn't a moisturiser on its own — it needs something on top to stop that water evaporating away.
Molecular weight is the whole story
High-molecular-weight HA sits on the surface and plumps; lower weights travel into the upper layers for deeper hydration. A formula that uses several weights together hydrates at multiple depths, which is why you'll see both sodium hyaluronate and hydrolysed forms on a good label.
Apply damp, then seal
In a dry climate, humectants can pull water from deeper skin instead of the air, leaving you tighter than before. Apply to damp skin and follow with a moisturiser or oil to lock it in. That one habit makes all the difference.
