Hi, I hope you're doing really well. In today's video I'm going to be talking about an ingredient that you are probably already using in your skincare, whether you know it or not, I'm talking about hyaluronic acid. We're going to be uncovering what it is, how does it work, and the reasons why you might not be using it to the best of its ability. My name is Abigail James, I'm a skincare expert facialist, mum of three, author, yogi and welcome to my channel. Firstly, if you haven't got hyaluronic acid in your skincare routine, you are missing out. It doesn't matter how old you are, whether you're 15 or 95, whether you have acne or sensitive or aiding skin, hyaluronic acid is one of the only ingredients actually that is really going to suit and benefit every single skin type. So we're going to be uncovering exactly what it is and how it works. If you're into your skincare health well-being, don't forget to subscribe to my channel so that you are first in the know and like this video. So let's jump in. Hyaluronic acid isn't actually an acid, it's more of a sugar. It's a clear, gooey substance, we naturally have it in our bodies. It's mainly in our skin, however connected tissues, eyes, it kind of lubricates joints. It's a really essential part of us as a physical body. For about the age of 30 onwards and natural levels of hyaluronic acid are decreasing by about 1% a year. So that's 10% a decade. I suppose the biggest benefit of hyaluronic acid is that it has the ability to hold a thousand times its weight in moisture. So if you imagine a molecule is this size and then we multiply that by a thousand, that is a huge amount of hydration that it can physically hold onto. It's not just about the hydration, it actually helps with some of the healing response that goes into the skin as well and helps nutrient pass through to where it needs to be. There are so many lovely benefits to adding in hyaluronic acid into your skincare routine. Because of its ability to hold so much moisture within the skin, it has a plumping out effect. So where we've got crepiness and wrinkles, it's going to soften the appearance of those. It's not a permanent getting rid of but it definitely softens the appearance of. Because it's adding that moisture, if we've got a dry skin condition, whether that is a dermatitis, a psoriasis, that type of skin, it's not going to fix it, but it's going to be a really nice ingredient and safe to add in to support those kind of skin conditions. It also has that supporting of the healing process of the skin. It's safe to add the hydration to an oilier skin because it's more water-based, it hasn't got the oil content. So there's so many skin conditions and things that it benefits. And for those of you who might be having fillers or no friends having fillers, often now dermatologists are injecting a really thick form of hyaluronic acid that kind of plumps out the skin from underneath. That's obviously not what we're doing with our skincare, but just so you're aware that that's another use for hyaluronic acid. How does hyaluronic acid actually work? So as much as we're saying, it's amazing because it can plump out and it draws water. It obviously is drawing water to itself, but where's it getting that from to give it that effect? And this is a key point for why you might not be using it to the best of its ability. Basically, it's drawing moisture to itself, so that can be from the air around us, the environment that we're in, but it can also be from further down in the skin. I will be sharing some of my tips later as to how to get the best out of your hyaluronic acids and also to prevent dehydration from actually using them, which can actually happen if you're not using them correctly. So are all hyaluronic serums the same? The answer is no, absolutely not. There are obviously loads of them on the market and loads of different products with hyaluronic acid in, but even individually, there are big variants with how the serum or the product is physically formulated. So let's kind of delve in a little bit deeper as to the differences with your hyaluronic. So plant-based hyaluronic is usually derived through a fermentation process, and then it's kind of processed to the specific molecular size that is wanted. We're going to cover molecule size in a moment. Some are derived from a wheat source, so if you do have a wheat allergy, I'd potentially check that. Hyaluronic acid can also be from animal source. It's not so widely used now, but from the, they're called the combs on the roosters. So if you imagine a rooster chicken and the red combs that they have on the top, because obviously animals have hyaluronic acid in their bodies as well, like we do, and that was considered one of the best forms from animals. But like I said, that's not so commonly used now. Hyaluronic acid molecule size is huge, so it can't physically penetrate into the skin. A little bit like trying to get a football through the eye of a needle. That's kind of the comparison we might be looking at. So it's a great surface hydrator, the top of the dermis, but then when we want it to get further down for deeper down hydration, that's actually where the molecule size of your hyaluronic acid really comes into play. And you might have some products where it says multi-molecular. There might be a high medium and low weight of the hyaluronic. So with that, you've got the the the high weight, which is kind of hydrating the surface of the skin, then the middle of the galebidea and so on. So that's where you know, probably price-wise of some of the serums and products that you're picking up. That might be dependent on almost like the science and the technology that has gone into those products as to how effective it is to really benefiting the skin. So the crucial part, I think all of you are going to be most interested in is how to get the best out of your hyaluronic serums, because actually if you are using them incorrectly, you could be making the skin actually more dehydrated. So let's talk around a few scenarios with your hyaluronic serums or products within your skincare routine. Firstly, if you are using a hyaluronic serum, basically you might cleanse the skin, put your serum on and then moisturise. SPF obviously during the day. To get the best out of that as a routine, I'd be cleansing the skin, absolutely. If the skin is just a little bit damp, when you apply your hyaluronic serum, that might benefit. Also, if you are massaging in your hyaluronic serum, the key is to get the moisturiser on reasonably quickly, because the hyaluronic acid is going to be drawing moisture from where it can, and then your moisturiser is going to be sealing that in. Or you might end up with it kind of making the skin a little bit more dehydrated. A little bit like, you know, if you are respritzing during the day with a tonic hyaluronic spritz, which I absolutely love, but if you are respritzing with a hyaluronic during the day, it needs to grab moisture from somewhere. So it might be drawing that from the skin or the environment around you, so ideally we really need to be sealing it back on top. However, some of the formulations that you'll find now aren't just pure hyaluronic acid in serum, or hyaluronic acid in the spritz or a moisturiser. And this is actually where brands now are creating in a lot more, an intelligent way. So yes, we've got the hyaluronic, but actually we've put some ceramides and some other things into this serum as well to really help the product work in its best way. So yes, it's not just drawing water from wherever it can, and potentially making the skin dehydrated. They've also kind of got the ingredients in there to help seal that moisture in. The other key thing from obviously a health point of view, we need to be drinking enough water and fluid. You know, we need ourselves to be hydrated internally, not just reliant on our skincare products. So please, please be drinking your water, your herbal teas count in my head they do, as long as you're not adding milk to your teas. I don't think anybody adds milk to herbal tea. Anyway, just in case you are, don't. So yeah, we're going to keep up hydration internally and externally. So now you know a little bit more about hyaluronic acid, and why you need it in your routine and how to get the best out of it. I'm guessing you might want some product recommendations. So I have created this other video with some of my current favourite hyaluronic serums, and I think I've managed to find something for all budgets. You might also be interested in some of my other videos that I've created around skincare ingredients, like this one on collagen, and there's lots more to come. So thank you so much for watching. I look forward to seeing you in the next video.