What’s makes moisturizers different?Updated a year ago
A moisturizer is the most fundamental skincare step in every routine. You can feel the difference it makes in your skin immediately - from dull, rough, and dry, the skin transforms immediately into smooth, springy, and blissfully moist.
But what are the moisturizing ingredients that actually make your lotion or cream work?
There are four main ingredient categories that make up a moisturizer, and of them, three will
directly help keep water in the skin: Humectants, occlusives, and barrier-repairing ingredients.
All of these ingredients are actually part of our skin’s natural defense mechanism but age, rough treatment, and exposure to the elements cause them to deplete. That’s why every good moisturizer will include at least a few of them.
In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of these key moisturizer ingredients in detail, and touch on the active ingredients that bolster their effects.
Read on to learn all about:
Stay Ingredient Literate, Stay Moist
When considering whether we should buy a moisturizer, one of the first things we do is flip the bottle or box over. We totally ignore that front panel - the information we want is on the back panel, where the moisturizer’s ingredients are listed.
Water is always in the number one spot, but after that, we want the next few ingredients to be occlusive, humectant, and barrier-repairing.
In our Hyaluronic Acid & Niacinamide Hydration Cream, we included glycerin and hyaluronic acid for humectancy, lightweight fatty acids for occlusion, and the clinically-recommended amount of niacinamide to bolster barrier repair and support the effects of our Retinol Serum. It’s a creamy, smooth formula that feels silky and non-greasy on the skin but provides long-term hydration.
The difference between expensive and cheap moisturizers is often just a question of marketing and cosmetic elegance, especially if there aren’t additional active ingredients to bolster the formula. If all you’re after is simple but effective moisturization, you can find great products at the drugstore.