Cosmetic Hyaluronic Acid Causes Skin Dryness, So We Took it Out of Our Formulas

My background is in biology, and more specifically my education and research experience has focused on extracellular matrix biology. And that is very important when it comes to understanding skin, anti-aging, and the proper formulation of skin care.

An extracellular matrix is an outer scaffolding that the cell secretes to provide structural integrity and biochemical support. Extracellular matrix proteins include collagen and elastin. Collagen provides skin with that plump, youthful look, and elastin provides that elastic quality that keeps skin firm, protected from mechanical stress, and prevents sagging. Another extracellular matrix molecule is hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic Acid is an Natural Anti-aging Molecule

Hyaluronic acid plays many roles in health, and among its primary functions is to prevent tissue damage from compression. Hyaluronic acid is able to protect tissue, such as skin, from damage because it is capable of holding several times its weight in water. When hyaluronic acid comes in contact with water, it forms a gel, and acts like a pillow to prevent tissue damage from compression.

Also by holding onto water, hyaluronic acid is the critical component in keeping skin plump and moisturized. As we age, our body naturally loses it's ability to make extracellular matrix components such as collagen (loss of firmness), elastin (sagging skin), and hyaluronic acid (skin damage and dryness).

Hyaluronic Acid in Skin Care

Naturally cosmetic companies took to putting hyaluronic acid into their formulas in hopes to plump the skin and to act as a moisturizing agent. I also put hyaluronic acid in my Serum Bioluminelle and Crème pour les yeux. Then I took it out because I noticed something while I was formulating.

With hyaluronic acid, the most you can put in any formula is 2%. And that is only possible if the remaining 98% of your formula is water. Putting a minuscule amount of hyaluronic acid (which comes in powder form when used in cosmetics) results in a huge glob of gel. While I was formulating, I would put 1 gram of hyaluronic acid powder in a beaker containing 99mL of water (for about a 1% concentration) , mix it up and the water plumped to the consistency of thin hair gel. And that was just with a 1% concentration. I couldn't even work up to 2% hyaluronic acid because the resulting product was gooey, sticky, and impossible to work with. Let alone put in a skin care product.

Hyaluronic acid formed a gel because it pulled water from its environment. That means when hyaluronic acid is put on the skin topically, it is going to pull water from its environment. And the environment in this case is your skin. When hyaluronic acid is in its natural environment, in the extracellular matrix, it is not going to pull any additional water. It is already saturated, or can take only a minimal amount of extra water from it's environment, and does so in a controlled, and tightly regulated manner. However, when you add more hyaluronic acid to your skin, in unbound form such as in skin care, then that hyaluronic acid is going to do exactly what I saw in my beaker: pull water.

When water is pulled from the skin, the result is dryness. When skin is dry, it becomes weak, susceptible to damage, which translates to wrinkling and other signs of age.

So I took the hyaluronic acid out, because we already made something better. OUMERE's No. 9 Daily Chemical Exfoliant makes new skin cells by stimulating stem cells. When those new skin cells are created, they naturally secrete an extracellular matrix. And that extracellular matrix contains collagen, elastin, and yes, hyaluronic acid. The result is plump, firm, and hydrated skin.

I also did something else. I added more horse chestnut extract to the Serum Bioluminelle formula because research has found that it has the interesting effect of preserving the body's own store of hyaluronic acid from degradation.

At OUMERE we are always innovating, always researching, and never settling. We are not an anti-aging skin care line, we are a skin care research company that makes age-reversing skin care. Skin care research means we are always evolving our formulas based on discoveries in the latest scientific research. Making age-reversing skin care means taking out a drying agent, and creating No. 9, which up-regulates your body's own ability to make hyaluronic acid, and preserving it with Serum Bioluminelle.

**Note**

All OUMERE products purchased after January 1st, 2018 are hyaluronic acid-free