New moisturizers and new routines for glowing skin this summer

Moisturize your skin. But it is obvious. It’s the alpha and omega of beauty, the ultimate anti-aging, the patent for glow, and the roadmap for any self-respecting cosmetics. Well-hydrated skin can be seen and felt. It’s smoother, softer, brighter, plumper, and better able to withstand various attacks and the passage of time. The subject may seem a bit boring in the age of neuroscience, epigenetics, stem cells and aesthetic medicine. Maybe not when we see young TikTokers slathering on Vaseline to boost their glow and 12-year-old girls skipping the basics to buy anti-aging retinol serums.

Back to basics

Water is life. All biological processes need it. The human body contains 75% at birth and 50% at the end of life. “While we lose about three liters a day, or 3 to 4% of our weight, just by breathing or sweating. Especially when it’s hot, when it’s cold, when we live under air conditioning, when we do sports, when our skin is crawling,” recalls Madi Fanguin, Pierre Fabre’s project manager. So we should start each day by filling this precious water with (non-alcoholic) drinks, fruits and vegetables. Reaching the dermis, it rises to the surface, where it gradually evaporates. This is called inconspicuous water loss. Cleverly, the skin doesn’t let it slide without doing anything. He makes many natural microsponges that hold it in the stratum corneum.

It is the famous NMF or natural moisturizing factors, mainly composed of hyaluronic acid, amino acids, urea, lactic acid, mineral salts, which are able to attract moisture from their environment and regulate the water level of the skin. Another key to hydration is the surface hydrolipid film, a natural emulsion of water, lipids (sweat, sebum) and bacteria (the so-called microbiome). This skin barrier isolates the skin from external aggressions and slows down water evaporation. If it’s damaged, unbalanced, mistreated, hello fine lines, discomfort, even blemishes. “The current trend involves maintaining a healthy barrier, caring for your skin’s flora (microbiome) and, at the same time, helping the skin to produce its own natural moisturizing factors,” emphasizes Marie Helen Lair, director. innovation at Clarins.

So we start by drinking enough, we clean our skin with gentle products that respect the facial ecosystem and we don’t skip daily care. It should contain both humectants, which attract water, and emollients, which nourish and form an invisible second skin on the surface. The most used moisturizers are hyaluronic acid, sorbitol, glycerin (glycerin), panthenol (provitamin B5), but each brand has its own ingredient: its own peptide, algae, flower or watering plant. On the emollient side, we rely on various fatty substances (squalane, shea butter, ceramides, vegetable oils, etc.). We adapt the texture to the nature of our skin and the season.

The colder, the more dry, the more sensitive or pathological it is, the more fat is needed, but not necessarily rich and sticky tissues. New formulas combine efficiency and lightness. The perfect combo? A serum that soaks in followed by a cream or oil. In the morning to protect, at night to nourish and/or restart self-warming mechanisms. A sure sign: pillow wrinkles when you wake up. The more it prints, the more thirsty the skin is. After all, we do not forget the body, especially in summer, when it is… naked.

New molecular sponges

In the category of moisturizing active ingredients, hyaluronic acid always wins the gold medal in the field of cosmetics and aesthetic medicine. It is found in almost all current treatments. “It’s the body’s shock-absorbing cushion that protects organs, muscles, fascia and joints from shock and keeps the skin supple,” asserts Maddie Fanguin. However, 50% of our hyaluronic acid is found in the dermis. This hydrophilic sugar is capable of holding a thousand times its weight in water, but over the years, starting at age 25, hyaluronic acid production declines by approximately 6% every ten years, leading to sagging, sagging skin. wrinkles, decline in cellular activity. From the age of 50, it has already been proven that our reserves have been reduced by half.

Hence the interest in cosmetics, which compensates for the deficiency, arose. Naturally, hyaluronic acid is a large molecule that remains on the surface with an immediate smoothing and tightening effect. Not bad, but insufficient. To penetrate it, it is broken down and hydrolyzed. This medium to low molecular weight hyaluronic acid penetrates deep layers to attract water and activate natural hyaluronic acid production. “There is a very promising new form, acetylated hyaluronic acid, that absorbs three times more water than regular hyaluronic acid and fights the signs of aging.” The ideal? A moisturizer that combines several hyaluronic acids of different molecular weights: high, medium, low, acetylated. Who says it better?

We also talk a lot about ectoin, an amino acid derivative that binds to the skin’s water molecules and strengthens the skin’s barrier function (found in Dr. Barbara Sturmet at Sephora under the brands Byoma, Dr.Jart+, Dr. Dennis Gross…). We also see it appearing in some sunscreens. Still current, niacinamide, a molecule used for everything, also claims moisturizing effects. Product development and innovation consultant Lionel Laffont gravitates toward polyglutamic acid (PGA), a molecule derived from the biofermentation of soybeans that can hold up to 5,000 times its weight in water (that’s five times more than hyaluronic acid) and blocks enzyme synthesis. , which are responsible for its decay.

“Personally, I find the combination of polyglutamic acid and low molecular weight hyaluronic acid to be the best moisturizing duo, ultra-effective, ultra-pure, and ultra-filling,” she notes. The team has already been identified in the treatment of Nooance. I also find butterfly lavender extract or pheohydran G very interesting, which increase intracellular water concentration…” To be continued.

champions of the season

Moisturizers today are few and far between… just moisturizers. Most people have antioxidants doing at least two things at once, if not three or four. Sixteen treatments that have a little something extra.

●: The ones that mattify, tighten pores and travel everywhere; Matte Veil, myBlend and HydraPlay Eight by Elizabeth Arden.

●: The one who reprograms the cells. Hyaluron Activ B3, Avène. The brand’s flagship anti-aging product is now available in an aqua-gel version for combination skin.

●: He who constantly waters. Anti-Thirst Bi-Serum from Clarins. A duo of hyaluronic acids (classic + acetylated) combined with official organic kalanchoe extract for continuous, multi-level hydration and increased staying power.

●: He who fulfills you. Hyalushot Capture Totale from Dior and its needle-thin applicator tube for filling hollows.

●: He who repairs. Cicaplast B5 Serum, La Roche-Posay. Liquid and opalescent, this daily rejuvenator, enriched with, among other things, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, La Roche-Posay thermal water, helps skin heal with record levels of vitamin B5.

●: He who renews. VinoHydra moisturizing gel, Caudalie. Hyaluronic acid, grape water and aloe vera to combat heat.

●: One who is against pollution and blue light. 24 Hour Repair Cream, Dr. Pierre Rico.

●: Those who reform and teach the skin to drink on its own Hyalu+ serum, Hydrabio, Bioderma. Booster serum with hyaluronic acid, Novexpert.

●: The flower leather maker. Renewal Serum No. 1, Chanel Red Gamel, Card of Young Skin Vitality.

●: Those who instantly smooth out wrinkles thanks to their botox effect; Pro-Hyaluronic Plumping Mask, Patyka, three pure and natural hyaluronic acids, polyglutamic acid and Malagasy plant. Spilanthes and Hyaluronic Acid Serum, Aroma-Zone. Global anti-wrinkle for mature and dry skin. It contains the same phyto-tensor that inhibits facial muscle contractions for less than €10 (available at the end of June).

●: He who looks good. Glow Screen SPF 30, Supergoop! A hydrating sun foundation that comes in four shades (Sephora).

●: He who soothes. Dermina ultra-light moisturizer for very sensitive combination skin that is afraid of perfume.

●: He who cleans. Ionized water, Officine Universelle Buly. A dose of hyaluronic acid powder is poured in, shaken to mix well, and this water, enriched with ionized trace elements such as gold or silver, cleanses and brightens the complexion.