What Does Hyaluronic Acid Do? The Ingredients Behind Mavala Aqua Plus | Mavala UK

Mavala's Aqua Plus range is built around hyaluronic acid, and the clever part is in how it is used. Here is what is in the range and why it hydrates so effectively.

Not all hyaluronic acid behaves the same way, and this is where most products fall short. Aqua Plus is highly concentrated in pure hyaluronic acids of three different molecular weights, each working at a different depth:

• High molecular weight: too large to sink in, so it forms a protective, moisture-binding film on the surface. Its action is immediate and it helps prevent water loss.
• Medium and low molecular weights: small enough to penetrate further through the layers of the epidermis, replenishing skin with moisture deeper down.

Using all three means you get instant surface comfort and deeper, longer-lasting hydration from the same product, rather than just a quick fix on top.

Hydration works best when skin is calm. Aqua Plus pairs its hyaluronic acid with Swiss Mallow flower extract, steam-distilled and well known for soothing and comforting dehydrated skin. Dehydrated skin often feels tight and looks dull or sensitised, so this soothing element helps the skin feel comfortable while the hyaluronic acid restores its water content.

This is the distinction that changes how you shop. Dry skin lacks oil (lipids) and is a skin type. Dehydrated skin lacks water and is a temporary condition that any skin type can have, including oily skin. The signs of dehydration are tightness, dullness, and fine lines that appear or deepen when you are not drinking enough or the weather is harsh. Hyaluronic acid is the answer to dehydration specifically, because it restores water. If your skin lacks oil rather than water, a nourishing, lipid-rich product is what you need instead (see our Nutri-Elixir ingredients piece).

Each Aqua Plus product delivers the hyaluronic acid in a different format so you can hydrate at every step:

• Intensive Serum: the most concentrated dose of hyaluronic acid, a fine, melting texture applied to clean skin before moisturiser.
• Featherlight Cream: a bestselling daily moisturiser that hydrates without heaviness, ideal under make-up.
• Sleeping Mask: an overnight treatment that floods skin with moisture while you sleep, so you wake up plumped and comfortable.

Layer serum then cream for everyday hydration, and use the mask a couple of nights a week, or whenever skin feels parched.

Aqua Plus uses one ingredient at three sizes so it can work at three depths at once. Large, high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid is too big to sink in, so it forms a moisture-binding film on the surface that acts immediately and helps prevent water loss. Smaller, medium and low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid penetrates further into the epidermis to replenish moisture deeper down. A single molecular weight can only do one of these jobs, so combining all three is what hydrates the surface and the layers beneath at the same time, with the soothing Swiss Mallow keeping skin calm throughout.

Hyaluronic acid holds water in the skin. It is a substance the skin makes naturally that can bind many times its weight in moisture, so applied in skincare it draws in water and helps retain it, leaving skin plumper, smoother and more supple and softening dehydration lines. It suits all skin types. Mavala Aqua Plus uses pure hyaluronic acid in three molecular weights for both surface and deeper hydration.

Hyaluronic acid comes in different sizes. High molecular weight sits on the surface as a moisture-binding film that acts immediately and prevents water loss, while medium and low molecular weights are small enough to penetrate deeper into the epidermis to replenish moisture further down. Mavala Aqua Plus combines all three so skin is hydrated at multiple levels.

Dry skin lacks oil and is a skin type; dehydrated skin lacks water and is a temporary condition any skin type can experience, including oily skin. Dehydration shows up as tightness, dullness and fine lines. Hyaluronic acid, as in Mavala Aqua Plus, targets dehydration by restoring water; skin that lacks oil needs a nourishing, lipid-rich product instead.

Yes. Hyaluronic acid hydrates with water rather than oil, so it adds no greasiness and suits oily and combination skin well. A lightweight format is ideal, which is why the Aqua Plus Featherlight Cream and Intensive Serum work nicely for skin that wants hydration without heaviness.

Apply hyaluronic acid to clean skin, before your moisturiser, so the serum delivers water and the cream seals it in. With Aqua Plus, use the Intensive Serum first, then the Featherlight Cream, and add the Sleeping Mask at night a couple of times a week. Applying onto slightly damp skin can help it draw in even more moisture.

Yes, and a flight is one of the best times to use one. At cruising altitude, cabin air is kept very dry, typically 10 to 20 per cent humidity, well below the 40 to 60 per cent at which skin is comfortable, so it steadily draws water out of the skin and leaves it tight and dull by the time you land. The Aqua Plus Sleeping Mask suits travel because it does two things at once: its hyaluronic acid floods the skin with moisture, while the high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid forms a comforting film on the surface that helps hold that water in, rather than letting the dry cabin air pull it back out. Once you are settled in your seat, smooth on a generous layer in place of your usual moisturiser, leave it on, and refresh it before landing. Applying onto clean, slightly damp skin helps it draw in even more moisture.

Written and fact-checked using published dermatological research. Key reference on humectants such as hyaluronic acid and how moisture is best drawn in and retained: Moisturizers, StatPearls, National Library of Medicine (NCBI Bookshelf). On low cabin humidity and its effect on skin during flights: The Airliner Cabin Environment and the Health of Passengers and Crew, National Research Council (NCBI Bookshelf).

• Aqua Plus Intensive Serum concentrated hyaluronic acid for deep hydration, 30ml, £41.00
• Aqua Plus Featherlight Cream lightweight daily hydrating moisturiser (bestseller), 45ml, £30.00
• Aqua Plus Sleeping Mask overnight moisture treatment, 75ml, £37.30

Mavala is a Swiss family-owned skincare and beauty house, known for treatment-led formulas developed and made in Switzerland. Aqua Plus is part of Mavala's Swiss Skin Solution line and is dermatologically tested. We choose ingredients for what they do and concentrate them at levels meant to make a visible difference.