Discovering a Hyaluronic Acid skincare routine, plus other ingredients that must be a part of your routine too.

Oily skin is often a sign of dehydration.

While great skin is typically a gift from a person’s genetic makeup, their daily habits and skincare routines also play a large role in ensuring skin health. The first step to great skin, like any dermatologist will tell you, is hydration. This is true for every skin type; yes, oily skin definitely needs hydration too. Otherwise, it won’t ever stop producing sebum to compensate for its internal dryness. Believe it or not, excess oil secretion can be a sign of skin dehydration!

Skin of higher phototypes, with higher melanin content and thicker layers, need more hydration. One easy way to ensure this is to develop a skincare routine that includes the skincare ingredients listed below. These are especially helpful during the winter when melanin-rich skin, which can have exaggerated responses to dry cold climates, can be prone to higher water loss than lower phototypes, leading to dry, lifeless, and dull skin.

A skincare routine that looks beyond Shea Butter.

While a lot of brands and skincare tips will have you believe that Shea Butter and oils are God’s gifts to maintaining skin moisture, that's only half the truth. Of course, it is important to moisturise, but an effective skincare regime will focus on hydrating and then sealing that hydration in. It’s just like how a lot of us oil our hair, wash it, and then use a leave-in conditioner so that there's little to no loss of moisture.

Well-hydrated skin naturally rids itself of skin conditions like acne, hyperpigmentation, flaking, and dullness. Dehydration, truly, is the mother of most skin problems. So make sure your skin care products use these ingredients.

• Hyaluronic Acid: this is produced by our bodies naturally, and its main function is to prevent the loss of bodily moisture to ensure that our tissues remain well-lubricated. Ageing, skin fatigue, and pollution often result in a dip in our skin’s Hyaluronic Acid content. Which is why it's essential to supplement that loss by having a Hyaluronic Acid skincare routine through masks and serums. Yes, you apply it on your face, but don’t forget the neck area!

• Bioactive moisturising complexes comprising Urea, Saccharide, Hydrolysate, Magnesium Aspartate, Glycine, Alanine, Creatine: this combination of actives is very similar to the Natural Moisturising Factor (NMF). It helps restore your skin’s moisture-retaining capacity.

• Saccharide Isomerate: this skincare ingredient acts as a moisturising agent, offering instant and deep hydration for 72-hours.

• Allantoin: this is a natural molecule that was first discovered in the Comfrey plant. In addition to its moisturising properties, Allantoin is an effective anti-irritant.

• Royal Jelly Extract: this skincare ingredient was used by ancient Egyptian Queens to keep their skin looking radiant. Royal Jelly Extract hydrates and protects our skin. It also promotes cell and tissue repair, while simultaneously enhancing collagen production.

• Hydroglycerin plant extracts: to preserve the biological viability and synergy of a botanical’s extracted constituents, the mixture of water and Glycerin is perfect to have all the therapeutic quality of aromatic-based compounds, proteins, certain vitamins, enzymes, and other ‘co-factor’ constituents.

• Squalane: this is a newer, trendier skincare ingredient that feels light on the skin and acts like an emollient, absorbing easily into your skin.

• Ceramides: one of the most important parts of the stratum corneum; the skin’s natural protective barrier. They help to seal the skin's barrier shut, which keeps both hydration in and potential irritants out.

• Vitalised Water: like Hyaluronic Acid, Vitalised Water hydrates your skin and makes up for increased water loss. But it also does a whole lot more! It helps carry nutrients to cells and detoxifies your skin. Needless to say, this is a boon for thicker, melanin-rich skin. It also refurbishes your skin and strengthens it to protect itself against external aggression.

• Moisturise from the inside: even if there's a lack of research actually proving water consumption impacts skin hydration, drinking a lot of water hydrates cells once the water has been filtered by the kidneys and absorbed into the bloodstream. At the cellular level, drinking water is great as it flushes the system of impurities and hydrates our bodies.

When building a skincare routine, an easy rule of thumb to follow is to apply your products from thinnest to thickest in consistency. Build a routine that you can realistically stick to, and then follow it up with a healthy diet and an active lifestyle.

Ready to start properly caring for your skin? Find your perfect skincare formula now by heading here to customise your products!