Hyaluron: Can It Really Cushion Wrinkles?

The beauty industry’s favourite active ingredient is called hyaluron, it is an all-rounder and is therefore no longer only used in skin care. But how should you use it to really benefit from its capabilities?

1. Hyaluron to Cream

What do Meghan Markle, actress and newly-wed of British Prince Harry, and hyaluronic acid have in common? Both made it to number one on the Google 2017 charts, Markle as the most wanted woman in the world, hyaluronic acid was ahead in terms of active ingredients. Dual sugars are a minor sensation: they are mainly found in the skin and in the joints, more precisely in the spaces between the cells. There it binds so much fluid that it acts like a shock absorber for the bones, makes the skin nice and firm, keeps tissue elastic and boosts wound healing.

Six Litres of Water can Store One Gram of Hyaluron

Unfortunately, we lose about six percent of our hyaluron every ten years from our mid-20s onwards due to natural enemies: enzymes that break it down. “This process cannot be reversed, but it can be slowed down by good care,” says Dr. Andreas Fitzner, Head of Research and Development at Eubos.

And what belongs in such a care, which comes as creams, in ampoules, as serum or in soaked sheet masks? Hyaluronic acid, which consists of long and short molecule chains, is best. Simplified you can imagine it like this:

• The long hyaluron chains are too large to penetrate the skin, but provide an immediate effect. “They lie down on the skin surface and store moisture there until they are washed off again,” says Dr. Fitzner. You look much smoother and fresher right away. In addition, the salts of hyaluronic acid strengthen the skin barrier, the “protective wall” that keeps germs and other troublemakers at bay and at the same time prevents loss of moisture.
• Medium-chain hyaluron, on the other hand, slowly penetrates the skin and moisturizes especially the upper layers.
• Short-chain (and much more expensive) is said to make it into the depths and even have an influence on cell metabolism there.

How to Obtain Hyaluron?

Until the end of the 90s, hyaluron was extracted from cockscombs, today it is obtained by fermentation from yeast or grain – this vegan variant is less likely to cause allergies. But back to creaming.

The only drawback is that the bolstering effect of hyaluronic acid is only short-lived.

One should therefore apply the double sugar daily and consistently and preferably in combination with vitamin B or C. We need the vitamins to produce collagen, the supporting structure of the skin. And only well-supported tissue can “hold” water and then look nice and plump.

2. Hyaluron to Drink

What ends up in the crucible for some, others prefer to slurp.

“I drink my hyaluron,” says Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, for example, “With a cream you can only reach isolated parts of the body. Drinks benefit the whole skin.

Especially long-chained hyaluron, which otherwise only remains on the skin surface, should also reach its depth. And could even have a positive effect on our health from there. Researchers have made an amazing discovery: naked mole rat – small, rat-like animals without fur – know neither cancer nor dementia. It is believed that long-chain hyaluronic acid keeps the tissue of the mullet, one of the most long-lived rodents, healthy. The human body, on the other hand, only produces short-chain forms on its own.

But Does Consumed Hyaluron even Reach The Skin?

Isn’t it digested and broken down before it gets into the blood? “Normally only ten percent of the molecules overcome the intestinal barrier,” says US nutritionist Dr. Frank Lipman. To protect hyaluron from its attackers, the enzymes, manufacturers therefore like to encapsulate it with hesperidine. The antioxidant from the white skin of citrus fruits is said to ensure that the active ingredient is not broken down so quickly. “So eat the white along with it, it protects your hyaluron depots,” advises Lipman.

And another thing: Drinking ampoules or capsules should be taken for at least four weeks, only then the skin has renewed and you can see differences (for example “Regulatpro Hyaluron” by Dr. Niedermaier; collagen drinking ampoules “Elasten” by Quiris Healthcare; exclusively available in pharmacies).

3. Inject Hyaluronic Acid

Injections, especially in the cheeks, but also in the area of the lips, are a classic area of application for hyaluronic acid. However, in order for the result to look as natural as possible instead of a padded pillow face, doctors such as Dr. Thomas Hartmann, specialist for plastic surgery at Goldbek Medical in Hamburg, rely on the “8-point lift”, available from 450 euros, in which small amounts of a very stable hyaluronic acid are specifically placed in the depth of the skin at eight points from the zygomatic bone to the chin region. “This relieves the nasolabial fold and it recedes.”

Not every Form of Hyaluron is Suitable for Facial Treatment

Manufacturers such as Teoxane have recently started to advertise hyaluronic acid, which has been specially developed for mobile areas of the face such as cheeks and mouth: Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA) such as “Teosyhal” is said to be even more elastic and thus adapt better to the movements of the muscles. Dr. Hartmann is rather sceptical about this. “It depends on the amount. I only use one millilitre per half of my face for the ‘8-point lift’, and a quantity like that will do the trick. More important is how strongly cross-linked, i.e. how stable the hyaluronic acid is.

Here quality really does outweigh quantity.

This is another reason why the lifting, which lasts about twelve to 18 months, should only be carried out by well-trained doctors. For dry, wrinkled skin, a so-called mesotherapy can help. In this procedure, micro-injuries are added to the epidermis, i.e. to the epidermis, with small needles to incorporate a cocktail of hyaluron, vitamins and minerals. “The most effective way to get the skin to produce more hyaluron and collagen,” says London dermatologist Dr. Frances Prenna Jones, who also treats model Kate Moss.

For those who don’t like needles, she recommends a “jetpeel”, in which a water-gas-salt mixture is shot at the skin at speeds of up to 720 kilometres per hour. The peeling, which is also offered by beauty salons, removes dead skin cells and is supposed to make the hyaluronic acid sink even deeper into the skin afterwards.

4. Make-up – Make-up Contains Hyaluron

Even make-up now contains hyaluron. Nivea, for example, has now launched a little sponge that is care, make-up and tool in one. The foundation covers more than a “BB cream”, but is intended to provide more intensive care. And it contains creatine, a substance that is naturally present in the skin and is said to stimulate the production of hyaluronic acid. Just like saponin: extracted from soybeans, it is said to tell the hyaluronic acid works in the skin, the so-called fibroblasts, to shift up a gear. Or perhaps even two gears. An in-vitro study by Eucerin has already shown that saponin can increase acid secretion by 256 percent (for example in Eucerin’s “Hyaluron Filler CC Cream SPF 15”).

5. Spraying – Hyaluron for The Hair

Also new are shampoos, conditioners and sprays with hyaluron, which are supposed to ensure smooth, silky hair and a fuller shock of hair.

“Uncrosslinked hyaluronic acid can diffuse into the horn material of the hair to a small extent and bind water molecules there, so that the hair becomes somewhat more supple. But it is certainly also a fad,” says Dr. Frank-Matthias Schaart, dermatologist and hair specialist from Hamburg.

Does the double sugar perhaps even bind too much water, which then weighs down the hair? “I doubt it,” says Schaart. “The hyaluronic acid on the hair is almost completely rinsed out when you wash it.” And maybe that’s the problem with anything that needs washing out. If the hyaluronic acid is to remain on the hair or even be absorbed into the horny layer in order to have a long-term effect there, products such as light leave-in sprays make particular sense.