Hyaluronic acid is the holy grail of beautiful skin. There are many reasons for this: Firstly, it’s naturally produced by your skin. Secondly, it hydrates your skin by holding up to 1000x times its weight in water, thereby giving it plumpness and a healthy glow. Unfortunately, it diminishes with age. Its breakdown can be accelerated by UV radiation, free radical damage and smoking.
Hyaluronic acid is present in the gel matrix that holds collagen and elastin fibres. The collagen provides strength while elastin provides stretch to the skin. The matrix holds water allowing the skin to have firmness with bounce-back ability. Levels of all three diminish with advancing age (see below).
Who needs hyaluronic acid?
Basically, anyone. The level starts to decline in your thirties. So there is no upper limit to when you have to stop using hyaluronic acid!
Is it suitable for all skin types?
Yes
How can you get it?
There are a number of ways to get hyaluronic acid into your skin. Firstly as a direct application on or within the skin. Secondly, encourage your own production of hyaluronic acid.
Hyaluronic acid serum
Many high-street beauty products claim to contain hyaluronic acid. However, the size of the molecule is vital. Hyaluronic acid in its original state is too large to penetrate the skin. If you apply these products, they will just sit on the surface without giving you any benefits. So make sure you are buying the right product!
Dr Tash Tip: Look for ‘low molecular weight hyaluronic acid’ which has small enough molecules to penetrate the skin barrier and get to where it is needed.
The benefits do cease on discontinuation.
Stimulate your own hyaluronic acid production
This can be done with vitamin C and vitamin A directly applied to the skin or with microneedling.
Many studies have demonstrated that topically applied medical-grade vitamin C and retinoids can increase the production of hyaluronic acid within the skin.
Dr Tash Tip:
Do not place any home-made vitamin C products directly on your skin as this is too harsh for your skin! Instead, invest in medical-grade Vitamin C serums and retinol or prescription-strength retinoids. There are a few brands I work with and can recommend products for you. Please be aware that this is a slow process requiring 6 months or more to see any significant effects of plumping your skin.
Microneedling
An effective method of stimulating collagen production is micro needling. The very act of making tiny punctures in the skin stimulates extra blood flow and starts the healing process where new collagen production is initiated.
Hyaluronic Acid as an injectable moisturiser
Currently, there are a number of injectable moisturisers on the market. They range from pure hyaluronic acid like Profhilo® which hydrates and plumps your skin. Skin boosters contain additional ingredients such as antioxidants and vitamins to optimise the benefits. Once injected they spread like ‘honey’ underneath the skin surface to plump up the skin.
They all require a course of treatment followed by a maintenance program.
Dr Tash Tip:
Combining these with at-home skincare gets you the best results.
Dermal filler Treatment
Hyaluronic acid in dermal fillers have a gel consistency. The molecules have been cross-linked: a process enabling them to resist early breakdown while improving their viscoelasticity.
These have to be injected at specific depths depending on the desired effect. For example, when used to define and contour the cheekbones, jaw and chin, a more ‘thicker’ gel will be used. When used to plump up the lips a softer more malleable filler will be injected. Facial fillers have a longer life remaining in the body from 6 up to 12 months or longer depending on where they are being placed. Areas with high usage such as the lips tend to diminish quicker than cheeks and jaws.
What Do Dermal Fillers Look Like?
Dermal Filler Consultation
When you attend a consultation, you will be offered a facial assessment to asses your face shape and proportion. This enables me to devise a bespoke treatment plan that is unique for you. Even if you were only concerned about a specific wrinkle, the full analysis ensures you leave with knowledge about what will work best for you to boost your confidence.
Dr Tash Tip:
Do check the credentials of your injector as currently in the UK, anyone can purchase dermal fillers over the internet, label themselves as advanced practitioners after a 1- or 2-day course and offer enticing deals. Although rare, complications do arise requiring the filler to be dissolved which is a prescription-only medication and is not accessible to non-medical practitioners.
There have been incidents where a complication had arisen, and the patient is left to seek help from medical practitioners or even worse Accident and Emergency departments where the staff are not necessarily equipped with the knowledge and skills in dealing with a dermal filler emergency. A qualified medical professional should always be available for you to contact to continue your care.
I hope this blog has given you an overview of why hyaluronic acid is so popular in the beauty industry and how you can use it to your advantage. If you would like a bespoke consultation, I would be more than happy to offer advice and guidance on what will work for you.
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