An Acid I’d Actually Put On My Face: Hyaluronic Acid Benefits

Hyaluronic Acid Benefits: plump and hydrated skin. Who doesn’t want that?!

Alright it’s time to talk acid. Nope not the psychedelic drug that makes you see tigers in the street. Oh and not the type that makes bodies disappear. I’m talking about a type of acid that acts as a moisturizer. Yup, you got that right.

Introducing hyaluronic acid. I’ve heard of this beauty ingredient before, but never put much thought into it. That’s until I met and chatted with Dr. Murad a couple years ago while he was in Chicago. Hyaluronic acid is naturally found in our body, primarily in our eye juice and joints. Yes I meant for eye juice to sound semi gross. Reason? Don’t have one. 

Now it’s typically made for supplemental purposes in a lab, usually from bacteria (sorry guys this is one ingredient that isn’t plant based). But I still found it interesting enough to  look into on a bit deeper level. 

So, some months after meeting with Dr. Murad, I utilized my handy dandy blogging partner in crime, Google, I found that hyaluronic acid benefits may be similar to fillers. Actually, hyaluronic acid is actually an ingredient in fillers and botox. Meaning it must have some sort of anti aging effect. Since I’m not quite ready to stick needles in my face, I put that research to a halt and continued on with my life.

Fast forward a year later and I find myself in Massage Envy in South Loop. I was getting not only a massage (which ended up with me waking myself up with a piglet snore – it was gooood), but also receiving a facial from a cool chick named Abbie. I was just overcoming a bad case of breakouts from a reaction to makeup at a recent photoshoot (Lord help me, don’t even get me started on that).  Abbie assessed my skin and we agreed that I needed a healing and gentle remedy.  I found that they used Dr. Murad products exclusively, so hyaluronic acid was once again back in my life. 

Abbie decided to use a blend of Vitamin C products to help repair, tighten and brighten my skin, and then top it off with a healing hyaluronic mask and serum. The best part of the facial was the face massage – my god to be  honest she seriously gave me the best face massage I’ve ever had. I felt like one of those baby memes going around where the parents just squish up their face, and they look joyous…let me find one..

Back to hyaluronic acid benefits. After the facial I noticed that my skin was indeed looking soft and supple. So it was once again time to look into this ingredient. After some more digging, I found this information about this beauty acid:

Hyaluronic Acid Benefits:

• Hyaluronic acid may hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water (which may reduce the appearanc of fine lines and wrinkles)
• May provide antioxidant defense 
• Could potentially mimic the appearance of fillers (cue me slathering it all over my forehead)
• It is not an exfoliate or a substance that will remove dead skin

So in a nutshell hyaluronic acid is a killer hydration agent. There must be a way I can make my own DIY hyaluronic serum, and it turns out there is! You can find bulk hyaluronic acid powder here. You can also head on over to a local Massage Envy and ask for a facial with products containing this special ingredient too. 

DIY Hyaluronic Acid Serum

Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp hyaluronic acid powder
• 1/4 cup distilled water
• 3 drops of orange essential oil (because it smells fantastic and has beauty benefits when applied topically)
• 1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin 

You will also need a dark bottle for storage

Directions:

1. In a blender, blend together the distilled water, hyaluronic acid powder, vegetable glycerin and essential oil. Blend on a low setting. I do this because stirring by hand leaves clumps.
2. Funnel the mixture into your serum bottle.
3. Store in the fridge overnight – the mixture will thicken.
4. Use the next day morning and night before your moisturizer and feeeeeel the hydration!

If you make this remedy, share your concoction with us on Instagram or Twitter by using the hashtag #balancedbabe. 

Disclaimer: I was invited to experience a service at Massage Envy for review. All content ideas, writings, and opinions in this article are my own.