Does Hyaluronic Acid Dry Out Your Skin in Dry Air? 5 Hyaluronic Acid Myths, Checked Against the Research
NARINFLA Journal · Ingredient Myths · Published 2026-10-05 · Last updated 2026-10-05 Short answer Hyaluronic acid draws water into your skin; it does not lock it in. Left on its own in dry, heated air, it can leave skin feeling tight. Apply it thinly to damp skin and seal it with a moisturizer right away, and that problem mostly goes away. Picture the first evening the heating comes on. You smooth on a little more hyaluronic acid serum than usual and go to bed. It feels dewy at first, and half an hour later your cheeks feel tight. The serum was not the problem. The step after it was missing. That gap is what this article is about. In Korea this happens every winter. Most homes are heated from the floor up with ondol underfloor heating, and in midwinter the air in heated apartments often feels very dry. So the question "does hyaluronic acid dry out skin?" comes up every year. We went through 12 Korean-language YouTube videos by dermatologists and cosmetic-ind...