Hyaluronic acid is an all-star skin-care ingredient praised for its ability to lock moisture into skin and produce a dewy, healthy complexion. Previous research even suggests hyaluronic acid may, from the inside out, help correct premature skin aging that occurs from ultraviolet (UV) exposure.
Recently, some users on TikTok have begun gushing about hyaluronic acid for another reason: its purported ability to transform hair from dry and brittle to healthy and lustrous.
"Saw a TikTok that said hair oil doesn't moisturize your hair, only water can. So I tried Hyaluronic Acid!" wrote TikTok influencer Kaitlyn Boyer in an August 2021 video that has been viewed over 3.7 million times. Starting out with damaged-looking locks, she explains that she wet her hair and applied a hyaluronic acid product, The Ordinary's Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5, nightly. After one night, her hair looks noticeably healthier, and after two nights, she notes a "major difference." At the two-week mark, she claims her hair to be "way more manageable,” revealing that even her hairstylist asked what products she had been using.
Muneeb Shah, DO, a fourth-year resident physician at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, and social influencer who goes by “Derm Doctor” on TikTok, endorsed Boyer’s claims in a viral video that has more than 10 million views. “Hyaluronic acid is a powerful humectant, meaning it holds onto about 1,000 times its weight in water,” he said, calling it “an amazing moisturizer for hair and skin.”
Should you be using hyaluronic acid in your hair, too? Here’s what experts want you to know.
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New York City–based Daniel Belkin MD, a board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon at New York Dermatology Group, echoes Dr. Shah, saying that a hyaluronic acid molecule can bind up to 1,000 times its weight in water, “so it is a very powerful humectant — a molecule that draws in or retains hydration.”
Board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD, associate professor and director of cosmetic and clinical research department of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, says hyaluronic acid is a staple in skin care, but he’s seen it increasingly used in hair-care products lately.