Hydration vs Moisture - What they are, which you need and when you need them!
Hey self- care besties! Did you know that hydration and moisture are not the same thing 👀Let’s unpack that.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Rach Royalty Weekly. As usual, we’re providing useful content to keep our community more informed.
What is hydration?
Hydration is defined as causing something to absorb water. As such, dehydration occurs when something loses more water than it retains. Humectants (such as honey, propylene glycol, panthenol, sorbitol, hyaluronic acid) are often used in self-care products because they attract water from the environment (or from the deeper layers of your skin) into the top layer of your skin. For them to be effective they need to remain on the skin which is why it is recommended to pair hydrators with occlusives or to use a product that contains occlusives after using hydrators.
What is moisture?
Moisture as defined by the Cambridge dictionary is ‘a liquid such as water in a substance or on a surface’. Some moisturizers are occlusives, emollients and protein rejuvenators and some humectants are also moisturizing. Water evaporates from the skin rather quickly therefore, moisturizers are oil based and this causes water to be sealed into the skin and prevents the skin from drying out. Moisturizers seal in moisture and examples are shea butter, sweet almond oil, other plant oils and lanolin.
What does this mean?
While there is a quite a degree of overlap in the definition of these terms, they are used to help persons understand how to give their skin what it needs and how to effectively layer their products.
Hydration - pulls water
Moisture - refers to oil
Daily use of sunscreen also contributes to keeping the skin hydrated and helps prevent sun damage.
Choosing the right products for your skin requires you to have knowledge of what your skin needs and these important ingredients. For skin that dries out easily that may be an indicator that one needs a more occlusive agent. For example, using humectants by themselves could lead to dryness because without an occlusive to seal the water in, when the humectant pulls water from the deeper layers of your skin to the outer layer it will evaporate leading to drier skin. For this reason it is important to drink water to keep hydrated and to use moisturizers that contain occlusives to seal this moisture in.
Our Face Soufflé contains humectants and occlusives as they work best together. Our Face Soufflé contains glycerin which is one of the most effective humectants as it helps to maintain the strength of your skin’s barrier. Our Face Soufflé also contains aloe vera juice which is also a humectant.
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Royalty References
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/hydration-vs-moisture, accessed on August 23, 2022
- https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/hydration-moisture, accessed on August 23, 2022
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/moisture, accessed on August 23, 2022
- https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/what-is-a-humectant, accessed on August 23, 2022