Hyaluronic acid is one of the most popular skincare ingredients on the market today. It can help keep your skin looking young and radiant because of its moisturizing properties, and it also has other benefits for your skin and body. 

Your body naturally produces some hyaluronic acid, but sometimes you may need a little boost in certain areas. In fact, dermatologists and physicians often recommend this ingredient to support everything from skin texture to joint discomfort. Read on to learn more about what hyaluronic acid is and how it works. 

Table of contents:

• What Is Hyaluronic Acid?
• How Can Hyaluronic Acid Benefit Your Skin?
• 1. It Hydrates Your Skin
• 2. It Helps Minimize Visible Signs of Skin Aging
• 3. It Plumps Skin
• 4. It Supports the Skin Barrier
• 5. It Helps With Blemishes and Scarring
• How Can Hyaluronic Acid Benefit Your Body?

What Is Hyaluronic Acid?

Before we get into the benefits of hyaluronic acid, let's review what it is and how it works. 

As we mentioned, hyaluronic acid is a molecule that naturally occurs in your skin and connective tissue. It's a clear substance that acts as a lubricant for your joints, nerves, eyes, skin, and hair, although half of the hyaluronic acid in your body can be found in your skin. 

You can find hyaluronic acid in topical skincare products like serums, gels, and lotions. You can also take an oral hyaluronic acid supplement, but you should consult your doctor before adding any new supplements to your daily routine.

In skincare formulas, hyaluronic acid can take many forms. Some formulas use sodium hyaluronate, which has a lower molecular weight and can penetrate deeper into your skin. Other skincare formulas use hyaluronan, which has a higher molecular weight and sits in the top layers of your skin.

How Can Hyaluronic Acid Benefit Your Skin?

Here are a few reasons why hyaluronic acid deserves a spot in your skincare routine:

1. It Hydrates Your Skin

No one likes dealing with skin dryness. It doesn't feel comfortable, and in extreme cases, it can make your skin look dull and rough. 

Your daily environmental exposure to pollutants, UV light, and even the weather can result in dry skin. You can also develop dry skin from dehydration, some medications, and certain skincare products. Basically, dry skin is just a part of life sometimes.

Topical hyaluronic acid can come to the rescue. These little molecules are excellent for skin hydration because they're humectants. Humectants are substances that help your skin attract and retain moisture. These types of ingredients can help your skin look dewier and feel healthier. 

If you're looking for a way to support your natural skin moisture, try WOW Skin Science's Hyaluronic Acid Water Gel. This gel contains hyaluronic acid, Pro-Vitamin B5, and vitamin E. 

Hydration superstar hyaluronic acid can help you restore lost moisture and revive tired and dull skin. Meanwhile, the soothing effect of the gel delivers deep hydration to the epidermis, which helps to protect your skin's natural moisture barrier. 

For best results, apply the gel both morning and night. Cleanse your face first, and then apply one to two pumps of gel to your face and neck. 

Gently massage the gel into your skin using an upward motion. We recommend allowing it to soak into your skin before moving on to other skincare products. 

2. It Helps Minimize Visible Signs of Skin Aging

Hyaluronic acid has also been shown to reduce visible signs of aging. It doesn't happen overnight, but consistently using hyaluronic acid serums and eye creams for several weeks can help your skin look bright and youthful.

One double-blind study showed that products containing hyaluronic acid reduced the appearance of wrinkles and skin sagging within a month of consistent use. Some of the participants reported fuller-looking lips and cheeks. This little molecule packs quite a punch!

Hyaluronic acid can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles because hydration helps support your skin's elasticity. When your skin is better hydrated, it can appear fuller and firmer. 

Plus, the hydrating effects of hyaluronic acid products can help soothe the skin irritation that can come with more powerful age-defying ingredients like retinol.

If you're ready for younger, healthier skin, try WOW Skin Science's Coconut Water Full Cream With Hyaluronic Acid. This moisturizing formula can give your skin what it needs to look younger and brighter. This cream contains pure coconut oil, tripeptides, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E, all working together to help hydrate your skin. 

It can also help diminish the appearance of age spots and support a more even-toned complexion as well as softer, more supple-feeling skin. 

This cream is packaged in an airless jar to help protect the product, but you can dispense the cream by pressing the top. Before you apply it, make sure to cleanse your skin thoroughly. 

Once you've cleansed, dab the cream over your face and neck and massage it in until it's absorbed. Finish by tapping your skin with your fingers to avoid leaving any residue on the skin. 

3. It Plumps Skin

When you see someone in their 40s with smooth, youthful-looking skin, they could just have amazing genetics – or they may have had a little help from our friend hyaluronic acid. 

Dermatologists will sometimes use prescription hyaluronic acid filler injections to smooth the skin's appearance and reduce aesthetic concerns like drooping eyes and lip sagging. You can also get these fillers in places like your cheekbones, tear troughs, temples, and smile lines to help your skin look younger. 

These fillers work by attracting water to help plump and firm the areas around your fine lines and wrinkles, giving you younger-looking skin. 

These dermal fillers can also support natural collagen production, which is one of the main proteins that help keep your skin smooth. These fillers can last up to a year, but you'll need to get them regularly to keep your results. 

4. It Supports the Skin Barrier

Your skin's main job is to act as a natural barrier to protect everything inside and keep harmful toxins out. Your skin's outermost layer is called the epidermis, and it takes on most of the pollutants you come in contact with on a daily basis. 

As you age, however, your lipid barrier begins to weaken. It's made up of fatty acids that prevent water from leaving your skin and stop irritants from entering your body. 

When your epidermis weakens, you can develop more wrinkles, breakouts, and dry skin. Thankfully, hyaluronic acid can not only help you lock in moisture, but it can also help support your skin's outer layer. 

When your skin barrier is supported by hydration from hyaluronic acid, it's more capable of defending itself against potential irritants. When your skin and body aren't constantly dealing with toxins getting through your epidermis layer, your skin can look brighter and smoother for longer. 

5. It Helps With Blemishes and Scarring

One of the main causes of blemishes is the overproduction of sebum, which is your body's natural oil. Although sebum is an essential part of skin hydration, an excess of this oil can clog your pores and lead to breakouts. Because of this, reducing the amount of sebum you produce can prevent some of these blemishes. 

One study suggests that hyaluronic acid can help support balanced sebum production. Your body might produce an excess of sebum when your skin is dry. Since hyaluronic acid can help you maintain healthy moisture levels, your sebaceous glands won't need to go into overdrive to compensate for dry skin. 

Hyaluronic acid serum may also be able to help diminish scarring due to blemishes. Because hyaluronic acid can help your skin maintain moisture, your skin is able to focus on repairing itself after a breakout. With a hyaluronic acid serum or cream, you can truly say goodbye to those pesky ghosts of pimples past.

How Can Hyaluronic Acid Benefit Your Body?

Hyaluronic acid doesn't just benefit your skin's appearance; it can also help support some of your body's natural functions as well. As you read through these benefits, keep in mind that the hyaluronic acid formulations that are used in beauty and skincare products are not designed to offer these results. 

While hyaluronic acid can support natural wound healing, lubricate joints, and moisturize your eyes, you will need to purchase specialized hyaluronic acid formulations that were made for those specific purposes. Without further ado, here are some of the ways that hyaluronic acid can help the rest of your body:

• It Supports Natural Wound Healing 

Hyaluronic acid can be beneficial in the wound healing process. When your body is healing, it naturally increases the amount of hyaluronic acid in the area of the wound. This process signals your cardiovascular system to send more blood to the wound to help repair it. 

Whether your injury is a sunburn, mouth sore, bug bite, or something else, hyaluronic acid can also help keep the tissue moisturized. This is important because you want certain wounds to stay moisturized to support your body's natural healing processes. 

In one study, researchers found that participants using hyaluronic acid cream saw significant improvement compared to the group using a neutral vehicle. Some participants even said that the hyaluronic acid cream soothed their discomfort.

The research on using topical hyaluronic acid is promising, but more research needs to be done to determine whether supplements can offer the same benefits. However, since it has been shown that oral supplements increase hyaluronic acid levels in the skin, you may want to discuss this supplement with your doctor. 

• It Can Lubricate Achy Joints

Hyaluronic acid naturally occurs in joints, cartilage, and tendons throughout your body. You specifically can find it in a part of your joints called the synovial membrane.

Hyaluronic acid is a main component of synovial fluid, which surrounds your joints and helps them absorb shock and stay elastic. Hyaluronic acid can also help slow down further cartilage degradation by forming a protective layer around your joints. 

Since it already exists as a buffer for your bones, hyaluronic acid is a go-to when it comes to soothing joint discomfort and tenderness. In the medical field, this humectant is used as a supplement to address irritation from joint degradation and injuries. The FDA also cleared the use of hyaluronic acid injections in high doses for joint aches and discomfort. 

There is research to suggest that lower doses can also be effective for alleviating discomfort and joint stiffness, although results may vary. The injections are given by a healthcare provider and administered to the areas between your joints for quick relief.  

• It Can Help With Dry Eye

Many people struggle with dry eyes due to a reduction in tear production. Some people also have tears that evaporate too fast. Hyaluronic acid has become a popular way to soothe dry eyes since it retains moisture very well. 

One study found that eye drops containing 0.2 to 0.4% hyaluronic acid helped with dry eye symptoms and supported overall eye health. These eye drops are often used after someone has had eye surgery to reduce irritation and support the healing process. There are also contact lenses that utilize a slow-release hyaluronic acid that can help with dry eyes. 

While drops have been shown to work, there haven't been studies that have looked at whether an oral supplement can help with dry eyes. 

There are so many benefits to using hyaluronic acid, and with so many over-the-counter beauty formulas, you can easily incorporate it into your skincare to achieve more radiant and youthful-looking skin in the future. 

WOW Skin Science has a selection of products that contain hyaluronic acid and other skin-supporting ingredients like vitamin C, Pro-Vitamin 5, and vitamin E. With WOW Skin Science, you can support your skin so that it looks and feels amazing!