Hydration vs Moisture
Hydrator. Moisturizer. Emollient. Humectant. These terms come up again and again whether you’re scrolling through skinstagram or reading product labels at Sephora. But the difference between hydration vs moisture is often unclear, especially when many skincare products have both hydrating and moisturizing ingredients.
It’s important to understand the difference between hydration vs moisture to properly care for your individual skin type and solving for your unique concerns. For example, oily skin is often dehydrated – sounds counterintuitive, right? Read on to learn the difference between hydration vs moisture and how to tell which ingredients your skin needs most.
Skin Hydration 101
Simply put, hydration refers to water and moisture refers to oil. Your skin should contain about 64% water to stay plump and healthy. Your skin’s natural oils – or sebum -- bind dead skin cells together to form your protective moisture barrier. Since oil and water don’t mix, these essential lipids lock in hydration to prevent it from evaporating into the atmosphere.
All skin types therefore need a balance of both hydration and moisture to stay healthy, calm, and glowing. Your body also makes less of its natural hydrators and moisturizers as you age, which is why mature skin is often dry and can also show signs of dehydration.
The Best Skin Hydrators
Hydrators bind water to the skin, keeping it plump + healthy. Some of the best skin hydrators include:
Hyaluronic acid – This buzzy ingredient binds with ambient water and pulls it into skin. You can find it in our Marine Algae Eye Cream, Omega Repair Cream and Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum. Ectoin – A super hydrator that not only pulls water into the skin, it also acts as a bodyguard for cells, protecting them from damage. You can find it in our Ectoin Overnight Rescue and Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum. Polyglutamic Acid – A peptide hydrator that firms and hydrates. You can find it in our Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum.
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Moisture
The role of moisture in skin is to lock in hydration and support the skin’s moisture barrier.
Your moisture barrier’s role is to regulate trans epidermal water loss (TEWL) to maintain optimal hydration while serving as a protective barrier against environmental aggressors such as harmful bacteria, viruses, and pollution.
Your barrier is made of a thin layer of dead skin cells bound together by ceramides and lipids. These oils also repel water, locking it into the skin while also acting as mortar to bind the moisture barrier together. The right moisturizing ingredients can therefore help support the skin barrier and improve its ability to maintain optimal hydration.
Squalane: The Ultimate Moisturizer
Sugarcane squalane is your body’s best moisturizer. Period. Not only is it bioidentical to the moisture naturally found in your skin making it ideal for every skin type, Squalane is also proven to:
- Increase cell turnover
- Support a healthy skin barrier
- Instantly hydrate
- Deliver 40x more active ingredients
Biossance is also the only skincare brand that uses squalane in every single one of its formulas to create the most efficacious yet gentle skincare products for all skin types.
3 Clinically-Proven Moisturizing Ingredients
Our moisturizing formulas are further optimized with powerfully efficacious moisturizing ingredients, including:
Omega Fatty Acids – Restorative lipids that mimic your skin’s natural moisturizing oils. You can find them in our Omega Repair Cream. Ceramides – Natural moisturizers that plump fine lines and wrinkles, support the moisture barrier, and lock in moisture. You can find them in our Omega Repair Cream and Ectoin Overnight Rescue
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Not sure if your skin needs hydration or moisture? Learn more about dry vs dehydrated skin.
As a lifestyle writer and journalist, I love sharing my passion for ocean conservation and obsession with clean beauty. I’ve tried almost every trend and ingredient, and Biossance’s science-backed formulas are the only ones that consistently calm my reactive skin and make it smoother, clearer, and healthier. I’m so excited to be on this journey of skincare innovation with Biossance, and to share it with you!
