Our skin has natural moisturizing factors.

These are a mixture of water-soluble, powerful humectants that enable the skin to bind water from the environment. They consist primarily of amino acids, urea, lactic acid, and hyaluronic acid, which ensure that water is retained in the corneocytes, the horn cells of the outermost layer of the skin. Healthy cells in the epidermis contain around 20 to 30% NMF.

External influences, such as very dry ambient air or a lack of NMF components such as amino acids, whose levels decrease increasingly with age, disrupt the NMF.

Mature skin therefore has a lower storage capacity than young skin. However, an intact skin barrier is just as crucial as the NMF for maintaining a balanced moisture balance, as it prevents transepidermal water loss (TEWL) - the "evaporation" of water from the skin.

If the skin barrier is damaged, it can no longer fulfill its protective function. Moisturizers alone are therefore unable to retain water in the skin.

For an optimal moisture balance:

Supply moisture + retain moisture + prevent moisture loss

=

Moisturizers (e.g., aloe vera) + moisture reservoirs (e.g., hyaluronic acid / building up the NMF) + strong lipid barrier (lipids, e.g., in the form of squalane, argan oil, or other natural, cold-pressed oils)

Well-hydrated skin ages significantly more slowly. Intense hydration is therefore just as essential for effective anti-aging care as an intact skin barrier.