The Three Types of Moisturizers

One of the most important products of a skincare routine is a moisturizer. They typically are applied after your cleansing agent, or a face wash. Did you know there are three types of moisturizers? Do you even need one?

A moisturizer is meant to keep your face hydrated, and to act as a protective layer for your skin. It acts as a dam to keep the moisture of your skin sealed. Without this layer, your skin becomes more prone to dryness and inflammation.

There are three types of moisturizers: oil-based, known as emollients, water-based, known as humectants and occlusive moisturizers.

• Emollients – These come in gels, lotions and ointments. Emollients are oil-based moisturizers designed to rebuild the lost lipids in your skin. They hydrate. protect and smooth out your dry and rough skin. Besides these properties, they also act as a balancing agent for your skin’s microbiome to lower any inflammatory tendencies.
• Humectants – If you’re using skincare products that predominantly contain alcohol or soaps that dry up your skin, then you should look into humectant moisturizers. What this type does is it extracts moisture (water) from the environment and seal it inside your epidermis. Humectants contain amino acids, glycerol, lactic acids and hyaluronic acids.
• Occlusives – These moisturizers actually act as a physical barrier for your skin while preventing water loss. These are either wax, silicone or oil-based. The consistency of these moisturizers is very thick,  and are highly recommended for very dry skin, like those suffering from certain conditions that cause severe dryness like eczema.