You guys Sure Hear These words hydrate and moisturize or it's very moisturizing or very hydrating or it's a hydrator or a moisturizer and there's a big difference.
So, today we're gonna talk about that so I know this can be a confusing topic and it actually used to confuse me a lot too. The reason for that is because I feel like brands use the words interchangeably. There's sometimes saying it's hydrating it's moisturizing and the reason why they do that is that a lot of their products are formulated with both types of ingredients.
Which are Humectants and occlusives? So, it's something to kind of keep in mind is it can be confusing and sometimes you can have products that have both of those types of ingredients That are achieving hydration and moisturization. So that's why sometimes it can be so interchangeable.
But there really is a big difference. and I also think it gets confusing. Because they share a similar goal and that's to help your skin get enough water. so it's not dry tight or dehydrated. the way humectants which are hydrators do that is by pulling water into your skin and the way moisturizers do it is by locking it in.
First Of You Need To Know About The Difference between Dehydrated Skin and Dry Skin.
Dehydrated skin lacks the water to be hydrated and then needs hydrating products, whereas dry skin lacks oil and needs to be moisturized with moisturizing products. and if you want to have kind of like a visual in your head I think of hydrating ingredients more it's like watery liquidy ingredients, whereas moisturizing ingredients tend to be thicker creamier ingredients.
so, now that I've given you that visual in your head let's talk about the difference between hydrators and moisturizers.
What are Hydrators?
Hydrators that tend to be humectants can include things like alpha-hydroxy acids in there also.
we're gonna focus on the humectants today. keep in mind hydration is water content within your cells. So, think about your skin cells, it's what makes it plump, it makes it bouncy and it's what kind of reflects light too. because it's filled with water kind of like a water balloon.
if your skin cells don't have that water content than they look tripled and your skin looks a little bit lackluster. and you start to maybe even think that your skin is dry but it's really just dehydrated. So, when you use humectants on your skin they're supposed to really draw the water into your skin cells and give you back that plum and that bounciness and really help you get that glow again.
Not to mention because they leave your skin feeling damp. they help other products and nutrients actually absorb into your skin better. some of the commonly used humectants out there is hyaluronic acid you guys know that one for sure I feel like it's probably the most common of the humectants.
Types of Humectants:
- Hyaluronic Acid
- Glycerin
- Honey
- Fatty Acid
- Amino Acid
These humectants work kind of like magnets. because they're pulling water into your skin cells and usually it does it from the deeper layers of your skin. which is why you want to stay hydrated by actually drinking water eating, fruit, vegetables anything that's high in water content.
you want to make sure you're consuming it regularly. it can also pull water from the environment. which I think is a really good thing if you live in a really humid area can pull a lot of water, if you're in a really dry area you guys have heard me talk about this with airplanes, for instance, it can actually pull too much water from your skin. because it's not getting anything from the environment. So, keep that in mind it's a really important part.
Here are some examples of some hydrating products that contain humectants to hydrate your skin.
Belief Aqua Bomb Hydrating Toner
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| Via @Sephora |
This is the aqua balm hydrating toner. it's a Korean skincare brand and this contains sodium hyaluronic which is basically a form of hyaluronic acid and that is the main humectant in this. There are also really nice ingredients. there's honeysuckle to soothe your skin and then there's baobab to help lock in that hydration So, you don't lose any of it.
I know a lot of people like to use toners especially when they have oily skin to get that nice refreshing feeling and also to just get off any excess oil that they have on their skin So, this is a nice one. for that I'll point out because it's a Korean skincare brand, there is a little bit of alcohol in this you know about drying alcohols and stuff and if they can be bad for your skin but and what I found is alcohol can be fine in these types of products.
Because it really helps the ingredients absorb into your skin a lot quicker. it gives you that nice refreshing feeling and as long as you have a humectant to the product to help balance it out it ends up being totally fine. so I think that's why Asian skincare products keep it in there. it feels so nice on your skin especially if you have oily skin. like I said it really does leave you with a nice hydrating feeling to help you move into your next skincare step.
This is not Available Right Now But Take a look At This Very Similiar Toner. Check Here
Ren instant firming Beauty shot
This one it's Ren it's their instant firming Beauty shot. This is jam-packed with humectants and that's what makes it a little bit different. it's a little bit thicker but still liquidy and it's in serum form. one difference between using this versus a toner is that you can use a serum in several steps of your skincare routine.
So you can add it either before you're gonna go into other actives or you can use it afterward too to lock everything in and then go into your moisturizer. you can even mix it with other ingredients. So, I feel like humectant serums are very versatile.
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What Are Moisturizers?
The main point of moisturizers is to prevent trans epidermal water loss. Which is also known as tule you guys have seen that acronym being thrown around a lot lately I feel like. Basically, you're preventing moisture from evaporating from your skin. you're also trying to reinforce your skin's barrier function. because you want it to stay strong so that's what a moisturizer does.
it's really helping to keep that water from vaporating because you want to make sure. it stays in and you want to make sure the barrier of your skin stays strong.
For Example, I like to think of moisturizers kind of like as like jail like they are the guards right so, your moisturizer traps and seals all the little water people like the humectants in there. they're floating around and they get trapped and sealed by the moisturizer. So, that they can't go anywhere they can't evaporate and they can't dehydrate your skin.
I also like to think of moisturizers as a way to soften that top layer of your skin. Oils are moisturizers and they are there to absorb into that top layer. So, whenever anybody's like oh this moisturizer absorbs really really well it's not absorbing very far, it's just going to that top layer of your skin and softening it.
Types of moisturizers
- Shea Butter
- Cocoa Butter
- Jojoba Oil
- Ceramides
You hear doctors, dermatologists talk about ceramides. all the time because they help to repair that barrier function of your skin. There's grapeseed oil and there's also de mythic ohm. which actually is a great occlusive moisturizer. and like I said most brands tend to combine humectants with moisturizers.
because, moisturizers on their own can be a little bit much like, you don't want to have just like straight shea butter sometimes I feel like it's too thick and too sticky.
same with jojoba oil whenever you add those humectants and other ingredients with them it makes it feel so much nicer and work better on your skin. do what it is that you're trying to achieve. so I decided to break down the examples of moisturizers according to skin type. so,
For oily or acne again this is one that would be really good -
Belief The True Cream Aqua Balm
There's oat husk in here which is that humectant that attracts the water and then as far as the moisturizers go which are the main ingredients in this besides water. water is always like the main ingredient in most beauty products. There's two mythic own in here which is a great occlusive moisturizer. especially I feel like for people with oily skin they tend to really like to mythic own. there's also plantain that helps to seal in that moisture.
Now when it comes to dry skin you want to get something that's a little bit heavier like this -
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Night Cream
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| Via @Sephora |
The Charlotte Tilbury what makes this great for dry skin. It contains a blend of oils which again they're moisturizing, they're occlusives. you'll find ingredients like castor oil squalene. those are all oils that are really nice and luxurious on your skin. it also does happen to have some humectants in it. there are peptides which again will help plump your skin.
They're amino acids so they are humectants and then there are some retinol molecules in here. which just means that there's like a form of retinoids. here I think it's not very strong in this one but it just helps give a little boost of anti-aging. So, that you know if you want to minimize those wrinkles you're plumping with the humectants the peptides. then you're sealing in to keep your skin strong and you're fighting that aging with some retinol,
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For a normal to combination skin, There's this hydrating face cream see again. the language can get a little bit confusing because it's hydrating but it's a cream. it's confusing but this is a really nice one I love this brand. I'm really starting to get into it it's called good science beauty and I've just started trying some of their products it's really cool. what makes this great for normal skin is that it has a really good combination of hydrating and moisturizing ingredients.
So, it feels a little bit lighter. this one is great to help protect that skin barrier function because it has an ingredient that's a marine omega-3 in it. which basically means it really good fatty acids for your skin that are really gonna help it feel nice and feel strong and protected. it also helps to boost lipid content in your skin.
So, again it's really there to protect and rebuild that skin barrier function again moisturizers are really good for that you want to make sure if you have tool, if you're losing that water then you really want to have something like this that's gonna help repair that skin barrier function and then obviously like really good face creams do. it helps lessen the look of wrinkles and fine lines on your skin. it really helps you get that plump bouncy look back to your skin.
So that's kind of like the in a nutshell way of explaining the difference between hydrators and moisturizers there's so much more we could talk about and if you guys have any questions you can always tell me in the comments below.
Fully Explained By Our Author- Julie Brownie
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