Spoiler alert: it’s both!
Your skin needs both hydration and moisturisation for your skin’s health - because we all want healthy skin, and we’re all about health and wellbeing here at Tailor.
What is the difference?
Because there is one, and it’s big. Let’s get all our juicy knowledge out for you, shall we?
Hydrating ingredients in skincare products are called Humectants and they work by attracting water into itself (AKA to the outermost layer of the skin where it is sitting). "Humectants are ingredients that attract and bind water. In skin care, they draw water from the deeper layers of the skin to the outermost layer...In personal care products, they help hydrate the skin..." Whereas moisturising ingredients, which are your emollients and occlusives, they create a physical barrier on top of the skin to prevent water from escaping. “Emollients are mostly made up of lipids and their components, which...enhance skin hydration, smoothness, softness, flexibility. Occlusives are other type of moisturizer which is mostly oil based and serve the function of maintaining skin water content by creating a hydrophobic barrier over the skin and blocking trans-epidermal water loss.”
How we’ve incorporated these two ingredient functions to be tailored ingredients:
Hydration / humectants
We have three favourite natural humectants that we’ve incorporated into our award-winning formulations to serve this function. Hyaluronic Acid, this actively draws in up to 1000x its weight in water to plump and minimise fine lines. “The properties of HA include the ability…to bind up to one thousand times its own weight of water. HA forms a three-dimensional macromolecular mesh in water that may also act to separate inactivating substances from surfactant by acting as a size-discriminating filter.” This is found in Tailor Hydrate and Tailor Awaken. Learn more about Hyaluronic Acid in our blog here. Glycerin, this prevents water loss in your skin to keep it hydrated and moisturised for longer and is sourced from organic coconut oil. “Glycerin…induced a long-lasting (up to 24 hours) hydrating and moisturizing effect, improving at the same time the skin barrier function in healthy women.” This is found in Tailor Renew, Tailor Polish, Tailor Moisture, Tailor Awaken, Tailor Restore and Tailor Gel Cleanse. Polysaccharides, this draws water in to hydrate and reduce fine lines with continued use. “Enhanced Hydrate Inhibition by Plant-Based Polysaccharides…”, the title of a journal article.” This is found in Tailor Moisture, Tailor Renew, Tailor Polish, Tailor Awaken and Tailor Restore. All three humectants are multi-purpose and used across our range.
Moisturisation / emollients & occlusives
We have many favourite natural emollients and occlusives that we’ve also incorporated into our tailored formulations to provide this function. Nourishing plant oils include Olive Squalane, Hemp Seed Oil, Sunflower Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil. These deeply nourish and moisturise the skin, e.g., “Jojoba oil, is commonly used on skin, was added to be a skin nourishing agent.”
Nourishing waxes like Shea Butter, “…shea butter can directly act by nourishing…” As well as, a natural alternative to silicone, Milk thistle Esther AKA silybum marianum ethyl ester, which has active ingredient silymarin in it, and “cosmetic products containing silymarin to treat rosacea and to maintain the skin moist…” Learn more about Milk thistle Esther in our blog here.
How do I know if my skin needs hydration or moisture?
Dehydrated skin / If you have dehydrated skin, this means your skin lacks water. Your skin will look dull and feel tight. You need humectants.
Dry skin / If you have dry skin, this means your skin lacks oils. Your skin will look flaky, patchy and sometimes red. You need occlusives & emollients.
Now you know what the difference is, our tailored ingredients for hydration and moisturisation, and what your skin needs - we can put this need to know info into gear and create an individual routine for each.
Hydration AKA Dehydrated Skin / Tailored routine
Cleanser: Tailor Gel Cleanse
/ Contains Glycerin
Serum: Tailor Hydrate
/ Contains 2% Hyaluronic Acid
Moisturiser: Tailor Moisture
/ Contains 2% Polysaccharides
Moisturisation AKA Dry Skin / Tailored routine
Cleanser: Tailor Oil Cleanse
/ Contains 100% cold pressed oils
Serum: Tailor Illume
/ Contains Tailor Milk thistle Ester
/ Contains plant oils such as hemp seed & squalane
Moisturiser: Tailor Restore
/ Contains Red Seaweed
/ Contains plant oils + butters like shea butter, squalane, grape seed oil
Tailored summary: hydration and moisturisation cheat sheet
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Hydration Hydrating ingredients in skincare products are called Humectants and they work by attracting water into itself (AKA to the outermost layer of the skin where it is sitting). |
Moisturisation Moisturising ingredients, your emollients and occlusives create a physical barrier on top of the skin to prevent water from escaping. |
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Tailored ingredients Our fave natural humectants: |
Tailored ingredients Our fave natural emollients + occlusives: |
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Skin types Dehydrated Skin: |
Skin types Dry Skin: |
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Product recommendations Cleanser: Gel Cleanse Serum: Hydrate Moisturiser: Moisture |
Product recommendations Cleanser: Oil Cleanse Serum: Illume Moisturiser: Restore |
References:
West, M. (2022, March 31). What are humectants, and what do they do? Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/humectant
Purnamawati S, Indrastuti N, Danarti R, Saefudin T. The Role of Moisturizers in Addressing Various Kinds of Dermatitis: A Review. Clin Med Res. 2017 Dec;15(3-4):75-87. doi: 10.3121/cmr.2017.1363. Epub 2017 Dec 11. PMID: 29229630; PMCID: PMC5849435.
Lu, K., Goerke, J., Clements, J. et al. Hyaluronan Decreases Surfactant Inactivation In Vitro. Pediatr Res 57, 237–241 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1203/01.PDR.0000150726.75308.22
Massimo Milani & Adele Sparavigna (2017) The 24-hour skin hydration and barrier function effects of a hyaluronic 1%, glycerin 5%, and Centella asiatica stem cells extract moisturizing fluid: an intra-subject, randomized, assessor-blinded study, Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 10:, 311-315, DOI: 10.2147/CCID.S144180
Energy Fuels 2022, 36, 13, 6974–6988
Publication Date:June 16, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c01062
Thisavakom, Charus; Kajsongkarm, Tanwarat; Tipapongpagapun, Yutthana; and Banchonglikitkul, Chuleratana (2012) "PREPARATION OF ANTI-HYPERTROPHIC CREAM FROM LICORICE EXTRACT," The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences: Vol. 36: Iss. 0, Article 40. Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/tjps/vol36/iss0/40
Elias, M., & Saussey, M. (2013). ‘The Gift that Keeps on Giving’: Unveiling the Paradoxes of Fair Trade Shea Butter. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12007
Milića , N., Milošević , N., Suvajdžića , L., Žarkovb , M., & Abenavolic, L. (2013). New Therapeutic Potentials of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum). Natural Product Communications. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1934578X1300801236