I’ve always had oily/combination skin my entire life, but recently it has been dry and dehydrated, which made me change my entire skin regimen. For those of you who have dry and dehydrated skin, know how annoying the winter months are. One particular hydrating serum that I absolutely love and cannot live without is Skinceutical’s Hydrating b5 gel. This serum is enriched with vitamin B5 and hyaluronic acid. Before I get into how awesome this product is, a little background on the active ingredients:
What is Hyaluronic acid?
Hyaluronic acid is a gel-like water holding molecule that is the space filler and cushioning agent in all mammals. It cushions joints, nerves, hydrates skin and hair, and fills the eye. Almost half of body’s hyaluronic acid is located in the collagen of the skin, where it provides moisture, plumpness, firmness and suppleness to the skin.
Unfortunately, the amount of hyaluronic acid in skin diminishes with age, most significantly after age 40. Dermatologist and plastic surgeons use hyaluronic acid fillers to give mature skin a younger, supple look. It is injected directly into sunken or wrinkled skin to plump them up. Another way to help plump up the skin is to use a serum or moisturizer that contains hyaluronic acid.
When applied topically, it increases hydration, improves elasticity and also reverses free radical damage. All skin types, including oily can benefit from using it.
Vitamin b5…
Vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid, is a member of the powerful B-complex vitamin family. Its provitamin, panthenol (also known as provitamin B5), is the alcohol form of vitamin B5. When lotions, creams, ointments and formulations containing provitamin B5 are applied to and absorbed by the skin, this provitamin is transformed into vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), which has natural broad abilities to moisturize, soothe, heal and regenerate the skin. As a humectant, provitamin B5 stabilizes the skin barrier function, reducing the amount of water lost through the skin. By applying a provitamin B5 formulation to the skin, you will not only increase its hydration but improve its softness and elasticity, making provitamin B5 ideal for the treatment of dry, scaly or rough skin.
I’ve tried a few different hydrating serums before settling down with this one. I apply this serum on clean skin after my toner. It absorbs into the skin super quickly, leaving a matt finish. My skin, generally speaking is good, but adding this product to my routine made my skin plump up and glow from day one. The tightness/patches that I had been experiencing lately disappeared. Ofcourse, this is only a humectant serum, which means you have to complete your regimen with a moisturizer containing emollients and occlusives. I would recommend this product to anyone and everyone experiencing dry and dehydrated skin this winter. If you wanna read about the basics of a moisturizer, check out my post Moisturizer 101.
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