THE NUMBER ONE SKINCARE INGREDIENT YOU NEED TO BE USING IF YOU WANT HYDRATED SKIN

As we start to finally leave winter in the distance and look towards spring, we may be leaving winter looking and feeling a little disheveled (if you’re anything like me). Skin may be feeling a bit dry and flaky, and hair looking a little crisp. I always look forward to spring because it feels like everything starts to come back to life again. Grass starts to turn green again, flowers start blooming, it stays lighter out longer, and I slowly feel myself start to come out of the hibernation that is wearing sweatpants and watching Netflix on the couch. Spring is always a time that I get my fitness, beauty, and work out routines back in check. As for my beauty routine, I usually start to put away the heavy, thick moisturizers, wear less makeup, let my hair air dry more often, and in general, be less high-maintenance about my beauty routine.

Last year, I went to get a facial (ended up getting a chemical peel) because I was unhappy with how my skin had been looking, its texture, and I just felt like I needed a bit of a refresh. My esthetician was amazing and asked me a ton of questions about what I use, what I want to improve in my skin, what I eat, etc. Most of us know that what we eat and drink (or what we don’t eat and drink) has an effect on our skin. For the most part, I get in my daily ounces of water, but I do drink a lot of coffee every single day. It’s something I’m not really willing to sacrifice. Not only does it wake me up, but to me, it’s also an “experience” and something I look forward to every single day. Coffee lovers? Stand up, I know you get me. Bad news about coffee? It’s a diuretic and dehydrating. Diuretics make you urinate more frequently, which then dries out your body as well as you skin. Sometimes, no matter how much water you drink, your skin is just plain dehydrated. Even if you don’t have dry skin, you can have dehydrated skin. Think of dehydrated skin as more of a condition of the skin, rather than a skin type. My skin is more on the combination side, and I wouldn’t consider it dry most of the year. However, I swear that I have chronically dehydrated skin. Anyone else?! Not fun or cute. When your skin is dehydrated it may look like it’s missing that “bounce;” fine lines and imperfections become more noticeable, skin may be a little bit on the red side, and may look lackluster or tired.

Her number one suggestion? Hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic acid may sound scary with a word like acid, however, I promise you it’s extremely gentle and is beneficial for every skin type. Hyaluronic acid is present in everyone’s body and is found in highest concentrations in the eyes and joints. You can buy it in pill form (if you’re vegan or vegetarian, make sure you’re buying a brand that advertises itself as vegan or vegetarian), but it’s also in many skincare products. Hyaluronic acid is known among skincare professionals to provide amazing moisturizing benefits. Know that amazing bounce that a baby’s skin has? It’s partly because you’re born having high amounts of hyaluronic acid in your body, and as you age, it starts to diminish (particularly after 40).

Since hearing her tips last year, I’ve been much more conscious of the skincare products I’ve been buying. Basically, if the product doesn’t have at least something in it that’s beneficial, I won’t buy it. Peter Thomas Roth sent me these products to try, and since I’m a huge believer in using hyaluronic acid, I knew I had to share them with you guys.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTS:

This Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream is really interesting because it’s somewhat similar to a gel type moisturizer, but at the same time, holds moisture in the skin longer than any other gel moisturizer I’ve used (thanks to the ceramides and hyaluronic acid). Since it has such a light texture, I like using it as part of both my daily and nightly skincare regimen. In the morning, after showering, I take the tiniest bit and apply to my face. I then let it sit for a couple minutes before applying sunscreen and eventually my makeup.

The Water Drench Cloud Cream contains three molecular sizes of hyaluronic acid which helps to improve hydration by attracting and retaining up to 1,000 times its weight in water from moisture in the air, and ceramides which are naturally occurring lipids that help to moisturize the skin and lock in moisture (think of them as adding an extra barrier to your skin that protects it… amazing all year round, but especially when we have that wind-whipping freezing weather in the winter). The cream also contains pentavitin which is a potent hydrator that binds to the skin to provide continuous moisturizer for up to 72 hours, prohyal which is a bio-engineered ingredient from Mexican Blue Agave that helps to improve hydration, and elderberry extract that provides antioxidant benefits.

The serum is a super concentrated 75% hyaluronic acid formula that provides long lasting hydration and an extra dose of moisture. It also contains sodium PCA which helps to lightly and naturally hydrate the skin, silk proteins which are actually a derivative of pure silk that are in a water soluble formula (how cool is that), and a mineral complex with bio-fermented zinc, copper, manganese, iron, and silicon to help increase levels of moisture. At night, after cleansing, I start by using the Water Drench Hyaluronic Acid Serum, and then follow up with the Water Drench Cloud Cream.

If you couldn’t tell, these products contain amazing moisturizing ingredients that don’t just hydrate the skin temporarily, but also make your hydration last (a problem I’ve had with a lot of moisturizers). Neither product feels oily or greasy in the slightest (my pet peeve about some skincare products). They both feel very light on the skin. As far as the scent, it is very, very light, and to me, doesn’t smell like there’s much of a scent at all, which makes my sensitive skin very happy. The smell of the products is a little bit like cucumber, but very, very light.