The Different Types of Moisturizers
THE ALPHA AND OMEGA
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FIRST UP: HUMECTANTS
Humectants are your water magnets. They work by pulling water to the surface of your skin or from the air around you, and from your own deeper layers.
Glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and urea are the most common humectants you'll find in skincare. They work best on slightly damp skin, where there's water available to grab and hold at the surface. Apply them to bone-dry skin on a dry winter day and they'll pull that moisture up from your deeper layers instead. With nothing sealing the surface, it evaporates right off (but more on that later). This is the plumping, well-rested effect you get from a moisturizer like AMPM, and it's also why humectants don't work alone on all skin types.
EMOILLIENTS: THE MORTAR
Emoillients are the lipids: fatty acids, squalane and plant oils that work by filling in the gaps between your skin cells.
Think of these as fillers, and no, not the injectable kind... To rely on an overused metaphor, imagine your skin is a brick wall. When the mortar in a brick wall dries out and ages, cracks start to form around the edges of the bricks. Your skin does the same thing: as the bonds between skin cells weaken, the edges lift and the surface starts to feel dry and rough. Emollients slot into those gaps and smooth everything back down. This is what people mean when they say their skin "feels smooth and soft," and it's why a moisturizer like SUEDE L'ÉCLAT feels richer than AMPM. Lipids slow water loss a little too, but for a proper seal you need the last category...
OCCLUSIVES: THE LID
And finally occlusives, the thickest type of the three. They sit on top of your skin and stop water from leaving it.
