Winter is in full swing and it’s high season for skying. But it’s also the season when many of us have flaky, dry, even scaly skin. And no one likes dry skin. It can cause discomfort. It can cause even greater evil because it can worsen conditions like eczema or even raise the risk of skin infections. The root cause of dry skin is often moisture loss and one way to prevent it is to pull more moisture using products with humectants.
What’s a humectant?
The word humectant has Latin roots and means to moisten. A humectant is a substance that pulls moisture from its surroundings and adds it to another substance to keep it moist. In other words, a humectant attracts water. A humectant is used in many products such as cosmetics, hair products, food, and medicine.
A humectant is not an ingredient per se but more a class of water loving (or if you like the scientific word “hydrophilic”) substances with the most famous ones like hyaluronic acid and glycerin. There are a few more noteworthy humectants or hydrators, but we’ll get to them later.
How does it work?
A humectant is like a water magnet. It draws moisture from the environment, from the air, or from the deeper layer of your skin (dermis) into to upper layer of your skin (epidermis). This process raises the moisture levels of the skin cells in the outer layer of the epidermis (stratum corneum). It makes them plump and hydrated.
Imagine your skin as a sponge (though of course, it’s not) to see how the class of humectants works. A dry sponge feels brittle, is not very pliable, and is rough. Run it under water and it plumps up and feels smooth. When you press it, it has a give and even the colour is brighter. Humectant draws moisture from their surroundings and pushes it into the skin cells plumping up your complexion and making it brighter.
Using humectants is all and well if you live in a humid region. Then they can draw moisture from the air. But this can backfire if you live in arid areas. Then the humectants pull moisture from the deeper layers of your skin into the stratum corneum. This can leave your skin drier.
Like everything, it’s not a clear case of black and white. Skin care ingredients work in synergy. Also, not all humectants work in the same way. Just look at things like the aloe plant: It pulls in moisture from the air. Others break down the dead skin cells building up on your skin’s surface. Your epidermis is made up of dry and dead skin cells. These dead skin cells slough off naturally in the cell turnover. But when the water levers in the stratum corner drop below 10%, they stay and make your skin appear dull and flaky. All humectants together work by reducing the appearance of dry skin.
Types of humectants
A humectant is one of the 3 pillars for moisturising your skin. The other two are emollient and occlusive and each work in its own way to keep your skin hydrated, soft, and smooth. Humectants in skin care products can be synthetically prepared or natural.
Synthetic humectants
Beauty products contain many types of humectants. Some can be natural and some synthetic. The synthetic humectants are often added into personal care products because they’re inexpensive to make and boast a long shelf life.
They can draw moisture to your skin but they don’t have any nutrients or noteworthy benefits for your skin. Typical synthetic humectants used in formulations are
- Butylene glycol
- Dicyanamide
- Sorbitol
- Sodium PCA
Just by reading the names of these substances, you can undoubtedly say they have very chemical-y sounding names. But don’t let it confuse you: some substances can be synthetic or natural. Just think of hyaluronic acid. It can be derived from natural sources while other products are formulated with the man-made version.
Natural humectants
One advantage that natural humectants have is that they not only draw moisture to the surface of your skin, they also enhance your skin’s own hydrating ability and some have other effects too. You can probably already guess that it naturally occurs in many things such as plants or algae.
Hyaluronic acid (HA)
This substance is probably the most famous and popular humectant and is used in many many skin care formulations. It’s a natural humectant because it can be found in our skin. But it can also be lab-made. Hyaluronic acid is popular because it can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water.
Glycerine
Glycerine is a clear liquid that can be found in every living cell, so it occurs naturally in animals and plants. It can easily penetrate into the skin and holds water very well. Glycerine also works as an emollient and makes your skin smooth. Its texture makes it a great skin care ingredient because it glides on smoothly and evenly.
Aloe vera
Aloe vera is a wonderful plant. Its leaves are full of water. Then it contains sugars, so called polysaccharides, that help retain moisture in the skin cells but they also encourage skin repair. Aloe also contains anti-inflammatory compounds.
Honey
What’s not to like about honey? It’s as natural as it gets, produced by honey bees. It contains compounds that your skin loves such as vitamins, polyphenols, and enzymes. This means in addition to pulling water to the surface of your skin, it helps ease inflammation, combat breakouts, and promotes healthy wound healing.
Lactic acid
Now you’re probably going to say: But that’s an exfoliating agent! And you’re absolutely right. In fact, all AHAs including glycolic acid, lactic acid, and citric acid, help your skin to draw in water and get rid of dead skin cells. AHAs are naturally derived ingredients.
Oat
Your morning cereal can moonlight as a humectant. It’s thanks to its polysaccharides. These long sugars bind water to your skin. Oat contains lipids and these are emollient. They go in between skin cells and fill in any micro-cracks, softening irritated skin.
Panthenol
Panthenol or pro-vitamin B5 is everywhere in nature. It’s fantastic for your skin, hair, and nails as it not only hydrates but improves softness and elasticity.
Why should you use humectants?
When you use humectants in conjunction with emollients and occlusives, they support moisturising and prevent dry and flaky skin.
They’re also crucial for your skin to keep a healthy moisture barrier and so prevent irritation and itchiness.
Some also work to exfoliate your skin and so allow other ingredients to seep into the deeper layers where they can do their jobs without any obstruction.
How to use them
Humectants are not humectants. This means you can’t just use only hyaluronic acid or replace glycerine with AHAs. They work, feel and behave very differently.
But what they all have in common is that you should apply them to damp and not dry skin. Humectants are water-loving, so, if you don’t give them enough moisture, they’ll just pull it out of the deeper layers of your skin leaving your skin drier than before. And that’s certainly not a look you’re going for.
In closing
Humectants are needed for a moisturiser to work effectively and so are beneficial for all skin types. But humectants alone won’t relieve dryness because water can seep out of your skin. You need an occlusive to lock it in.
Whether it’s a synthetic or a natural humectant, it works as a water magnet. Humectants make it easier for other ingredients to penetrate into your skin.
