10 of the Best Hydrating Hyaluronic Acids to Use at Any Step in Your Skin Care Routine

2. Don’t fully dry the skin
Towel dry the face, but leave it slightly damp. Since hyaluronic acid pulls moisture into the complexion, you want to be in the habit of leaving just a bit of water on your skin. I only say this in case you’re in a bone-dry environment wherein there is little moisture in the air (i.e. an air-conditioned space, or the height of winter.)

It always helps to give the serum a small boost. But again—only a little moisture. Too much water will only distill the serum and could prevent proper application. If it’s applied to dry skin and has no moisture to attract in the air around you, it may look for that moisture in the further depths of your skin, which could lead to even more drying out, which would be entirely counterintuitive.

3. Apply the product

Next, place one or two drops of serum onto your pointer and middle finger, then rub those fingers against the same ones on your opposite hand. Bring both pairs of fingers to your face, and apply the serum first across both cheeks, starting at the nose, then lift and bring the fingers to the middle of the forehead and apply the product outward towards the temples. Now that the serum is on the face, you can repeat this motion—first the nose to the temples, then the middle of the forehead to the temples—until it is thoroughly absorbed. Then, you can do a second pass with a couple of drops from the chin to the cheekbones, and can even hit the jowls or neck with any excess.

Be cautious around the eyes—you can test the skin around the eyes for their sensitivity to whichever product you’re using. Some hyaluronic acid products are specifically targeted at this area, too. Typically, hyaluronic acid is gentle on skin, though.

4. Layer up

Wait about 15-30 seconds for the serum to absorb, then apply a moisturizer over top.

The Best Ways to Get Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid has become such a common ingredient in skin care, that it has begun appearing in everything from moisturizers to cleansers to shampoos.

And while it’s hard to get too much of this good thing, just know that the best way to get the ingredient is through products that will remain on the face long enough to be absorbed into the skin. So, we will exclude any cleansing ingredients from the list below.

Serum

This is the most effective way to get hyaluronic acid, in that serum seeps into the lower layers of your skin, where the hyaluronic acid can keep things plump and promote long term resilience and fortification. And the best part is, you can opt into any price point you wish; some formulas might be hyper researched and with top-tier sourcing, while even some of the lower-cost picks will give your skin care regimen a serious moisture boost.

The Best Anytime Hyaluronic Acid Serum

The Best Low-Cost Hyaluronic Acid Serum

The Best Top-Shelf Hyaluronic Acid Serum

Moisturizers (Day and Night)

Moisturizers reinforce skin’s barrier functions by trapping hydration inside the skin and preventing bad stuff from getting inside. Hyaluronic acid fortifies these defenses when used in daytime moisturizers and overnight creams.

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Night Cream

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Day Cream

Moisture Masks

Whether deployed as a moisture cream or face-shaped sheet, moisturizing masks pump serum into the depths of the dermis to give skin a big one-time boost. They’re great for dull or tired skin that needs a jumpstart before a business meeting or date.

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Moisture Mask

Eye Creams

The skin around the eyes is the most delicate, and thus most susceptible to signs of aging like wrinkles, fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness. Daily hyaluronic acid can play a supporting role to peptides in order to keep the area plenty hydrated, as well as fortified against skin-aging toxins.

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream

Scalp Treatments

Scalps are skin, too! And by using a hyaluronic acid-packed scalp treatment or nourishing mask, you can fend off dryness and flakes, while maintaining a hospitable growth environment for your precious follicles.

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Scalp Treatment

Body Hydrators

We tend to forget that the skin all around our body can benefit from the same ingredients we apply to our face. And while you may want to invest your dollars from the neck up, don’t forget that there are plenty of HA-packed lotions and serums targeting everything else.

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Body Hydrator

Boosters

If you’ve got a favorite moisturizer that lacks hyaluronic acid, you can always get a booster and add a couple drops to the formula or with each application. Now, note that these products are carefully engineered and a booster won’t always work as well in practice as it does in theory. We’d sooner endorse adding a low-cost serum to the front end of your skin care regimen, but given HA’s near-universal tolerance on skin, there’s a good chance a booster product can only stand to help as opposed to detract.

The Best Hyaluronic Acid Booster