What Does Glycerin Do for Your Skin?
Glycerin is the type of skincare ingredient that flies under the radar, often overlooked in favour of its more famous humectant counterpart – hyaluronic acid. However, glycerin skincare is just as effective at hydrating the skin and supporting the skin moisture barrier.
In our eyes, there is always room for more hydrating heroes in a skincare routine, so we’re using this opportunity to highlight the many glycerin benefits for skin.
In the below guide, we’ll explore how glycerin can support your skin through bouts of dehydration and stress, along with its impressive compatibility: both with a range of different skin types, as well as its fellow active skincare ingredients.
What is glycerin?
Glycerin is a colourless, odourless sugar molecule with a syrup-like consistency. It is naturally produced in the body but widely synthesised for cosmetic use in skincare and makeup. Glycerol is the chemical name, while glycerin is the commercial name used in skincare that people are most familiar with.
Glycerin belongs to a class of hydrating ingredients known as “humectants”, which attract and bind water to the stratum corneum (located in the outermost layer of the epidermis1).
1https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ap1/chapter/layers-of-the-skin/
What is glycerin used for?
As a humectant, glycerin works by drawing water from external sources like the surrounding air and the dermis (your skin’s middle layer) and fusing it to the skin’s surface.
This makes glycerin a highly effective moisturising agent, which is why it is commonly formulated in cleansers, serums, moisturisers – and even cosmetics – to support hydration at every step of the beauty routine.
6 glycerin benefits for skin
As ingredient with immense hydrating prowess, glycerin delivers a wealth of benefits to the skin. From plumping the skin surface to reinforcing the skin moisture barrier and combating signs of sensitivity, there are plenty of reasons to make glycerin a permanent fixture in your skincare routine.
Read on as we unpack six key glycerin benefits for skin below.
1. Provides intense hydration
As one of the most effective humectants in skincare, glycerin is able to boost skin hydration and improve your skin’s long-term water retention.
Regularly using glycerin skincare can help smooth, plump and soften skin, while enhancing bounce and elasticity. This makes glycerin not only beneficial for dry skin types (who are already prone to water loss) but any skin type experiencing sporadic periods of dehydration from external stressors – like in winter, for example.
2. Strengthens the skin moisture barrier
While glycerin is indeed a “moisture magnet”, such a label is selling its benefits short. By binding water to the stratum corneum, glycerin skincare helps reinforce the skin moisture barrier. In addition to keeping your skin supple and hydrated, strengthening the skin moisture barrier helps prevent transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and keep harmful pollutants from reaching deeper, more vulnerable layers of the skin matrix.
3. Comforts sensitive or compromised skin
A robust skin moisture barrier – aided by the moisture-locking properties of glycerin skincare – helps improve your skin’s overall integrity. Think of it like this: well-hydrated skin equals resilient skin. Resilient skin is more capable of defending itself from external stressors that cause discomfort in sensitive or compromised skin. This is why you’ll often find glycerin formulated in skincare for sensitive skin to minimise tightness, dryness, and facial redness.
4. Supports ageing skin
As we age, the skin loses some of its natural ability to hydrate itself, which can make you more susceptible to dry, flaky patches, sagging, dullness, and increased sensitivity.
You might not immediately think of glycerin as an anti-ageing ingredient, but hydrating ingredients help plump the skin surface and boost skin elasticity and volume, which can visibly diminish the depth of fine lines and wrinkles. Hydrated skin is also brighter and more even, so glycerin skincare can also bring you closer to achieving glowing skin.
5. Suitable for all skin types
Glycerin skincare is renowned for its ability to moisturise dry skin and comfort sensitive skin, but it’s actually compatible with all skin types. Regardless of skin type, hydration is essential to keep sebum levels in check and maintain the integrity of the skin moisture barrier.
Being a lightweight, non-comedogenic ingredient, glycerin is suitable for normal, oily and combination skin types, maintaining hydration without clogging pores.
6. Plays well with other skincare ingredients
As far as skincare ingredients go, glycerin is one of the most agreeable – which is why it shows up in so many different skincare and cosmetic formulas.
As a humectant, glycerin is a natural fit alongside emollients and occlusives to double down on hydration and skin moisture barrier support. However, glycerin skincare can also mitigate some of the harsher effects of powerful ingredients such as retinol and chemical exfoliants.
How to use glycerin on your face
Depending on your individual needs and concerns, glycerin skincare can be applied at three key stages of your routine: as a cleanser, serum, and moisturiser.
Below, we have curated a simplified three-step routine using three of Kiehl’s most beloved glycerin-infused skincare formulas.
1. Cleanse with the Ultra Facial Barrier-Hydrating Cleanser
Enriched with a blend of squalane and glycerin, this the Ultra Facial Barrier-Hydrating Cleanser gently lifts impurities while keeping the skin moisture barrier intact. This formula is ideal for dry or sensitive skin but can be used on any skin type in need of skin moisture barrier strengthening.
Start by lathering the cleanser in your hand with water to activate its creamy foam texture, then massage over your face in a circular motion. Rinse thoroughly.
2. Hydrate with the Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate
For lasting, targeted hydration, the Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate penetrates up to 10 surface layers deep* to visibly plump and smooth skin. The key to this ultra-hydrating formula is its blend of epidermal hydration filler and 15% glycerin, which gives the skin a “filling” effect to improve bounce, uneven skin texture, and the appearance of fine lines. This glycerin skincare is especially beneficial if you have mature or ageing skin.
To apply, dispense one pump of the serum onto your hand and disperse evenly over your face and neck. Make sure to apply onto slightly damp skin.
*Study based on instrumental test within surface layers.
3. Lock in moisture with the Ultra Facial Cream
A moisturiser is the pinnacle of glycerin skincare, so we recommend the glycerin- and squalane-rich Ultra Facial Cream to seal in hydration. Lightweight, non-greasy, and suitable for all skin types, tones, and textures, the Ultra Facial Cream helps keep skin supple, balanced and moisturised for up to 24 hours.
After your cleanser and serum, disperse a small amount (the equivalent of a five-cent coin) onto your face and neck.
Glycerin skincare is just one way you can hydrate your skin. Next, join us for an in-depth look at another star moisturising ingredient: squalane.
