Back in the day (okay, like 10 to 15 years ago), most women were fine with buying a cleanser or moisturiser based on the words on the front of the bottle or tub – like anti-ageing, smoothing or hydrating.
Now women (and skincare-loving men) are seeking out information around individual ingredients. Skeptical about marketing jargon, they are keen to educate themselves on what’s actually in their products and what those ingredients do.
One such ingredient is hyaluronic acid.
What is hyaluronic acid?
“Hyaluronic acid is a big trending ingredient, everybody’s talking about it. In fact a lot of raw materials are having a resurgence,” Janet Pardo, Senior Vice President of Product Development at Clinique, told Mamamia.
“Looking at what people are Googling is really interesting. I am obsessed with those pieces of information because it’s a good way to know what people are talking about.”
Said people are wondering what exactly hyaluronic acid is, what it does, and if it’s a type of exfoliator because it has the word ‘acid’ in the name.
In actual fact, hyaluronic acid isn’t exfoliating in the way that alpha hydroxy acid or beta hydroxy acid. It pretty much does the opposite as it’s a super hydrator, with one gram of hyaluronic acid being able to hold up to six litres of water.
Heaps of hydration = plump skin.

How does hyaluronic acid work?
“Hyaluronic acid occurs naturally, our bodies produce it. When we are babies we have a tonne of it - it's basically what lubricates your joints, and it's what's in your epidermis and in your dermis,” Pardo said.
“You know when you touch a baby's cheek and you feel a springiness? That’s it. But as we age, and they say particularly after the age of 35, the level of hyaluronic acid that our bodies normally produce significantly drops. It’s a steep drop, quickly.”