Understanding Skin-Replenishing Ingredients
When it comes to getting and keeping healthier, younger-looking skin, the most commonly brought up tips always state the same thing — everyone needs to use products that contain three types of ingredients: antioxidants, skin-restoring ingredients, and skin-replenishing ingredients. Along with daily sun protection, each ingredient gives the skin what it needs to visibly improve in numerous ways— but what do we mean by “skin replenishing”?
What Are Skin-Replenishing Ingredients?
Skin-replenishing ingredients are skincare ingredients that help enrich the skin's surface, drenching it with revitalising hydration and storing it there. They’re sometimes referred to as “skin-identical ingredients” because the best ones are also found in abundance in the skin that’s young and not yet damaged by unprotected sun exposure.
How Do Skin-Replenishing Ingredients Work?
Think of skin-replenishing ingredients as the “mortar” to the “bricks” of the skin’s surface. Age, certain skin conditions, sensitive skin types, and environmental assault cause the mortar—the skin’s natural supply of replenishing and repairing ingredients—to progressively weaken and eventually deplete.
When the skin’s surface is weakened, it becomes much more vulnerable to external damage. This leads to skin issues such as dryness, dehydration, redness, increased sensitivity, and an inability to hold on to vital moisture. Because of this, the skin becomes dull, dry, flaky—older-looking.
Applying products rich in skin-replenishing ingredients helps keep skin looking and feeling soft, smooth, and supple—especially skin that's persistently dry, tight, and uncomfortable.
Daily application of skin-replenishing ingredients in products like your toner for the face, face moisturizer, face serum, eye cream, and sunscreen for the face keeps skin safeguarded from environmental factors that lead to moisture loss and dehydration. These ingredients help skin look younger, more vibrant, and, you guessed it, replenished!
Our Favourite Skin-Replenishing Ingredients
There are numerous skin-replenishing ingredients to consider, some of which are naturally present in the skin, including hyaluronic acid, ceramides, sodium PCA, glycerin, glycerol, cholesterol, and phospholipids. Others include omega fatty acids, sodium hyaluronate, amino acids, and phytosphingosine.
You’ll find these ingredients together with antioxidants and skin-restoring ingredients in Paula’s Choice toners, such as the RESIST Advanced Replenishing Toner. Face serums, such as the OMEGA+ Complex Serum, face moisturizers such as the RESIST Intensive Repair Cream with Retinol, and skin boosters such as the BOOST Hyaluronic Acid Booster also contain skin-replenishing ingredients. In short, we’re devoted to using skin-replenishing ingredients in as many leave-on products as possible because research is clear how vital they are for all skin types and all ages!
Shop Paula’s Choice skincare products today.
References for this information
International Journal of Molecular Medicine, July 2016, pages 16-22
Current Problems in Dermatology, Volume 49, 2016, pages 90-102
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, July 2014, pages 177-184
Dermatoendocrinology, July 2012, pages 253-258
Dermatologic Therapy, May-June 2012, pages 229-233 and Volume 17, Supplemental, 2004, pages 49-56
British Journal of Dermatology, September 2008, pages 567-577
Journal of Investigative Dermatology, August 2003, pages 231-241
