Olay Launches AquAction Range

From my experience, drugstore brands nowadays provide skincare solutions which are on par with counter brands so whether you have anti-ageing, dry, oily or other skin concerns, there’s bound to be some product that will address those concerns in the drugstore.

For those with dehydrated skins, Olay offers a solution in the form of their new AquAction Range featuring the breakthrough HydraLock technology to deliver a new standard in hydration care. Without doing much at all, we can lose about two glasses of water a day by just normal breathing and evaporation from our skin. P&G scientists have discovered a second key cause of moisture loss – skin fatigue. Skin fatigue is the loss of skin energy, which leads to many unwanted changes in one’s skin, including a loss of skin’s ability to hold on to moisture, causing skin’s “leaky bucket” to become even more leaky as a result.

P&G has discovered an ingredient that is capable of outperforming hyaluronic acid, an ingredient known to fill and seal skin’s leaky bucket and seen as the current gold standard in hydration care. Known as WSK, this ingredient was extracted from the white jelly leaf, and is renowned throughout ancient Chinese history and modern times for its beauty-enhancing properties.

Inspired by the legendary beauty of Yang Guifei, a 8^th century royal consort whose beauty was so great that it is said it drove the emperor to distraction, Olay scientists discovered WSK by studying the white jelly leaf, which was said to feature prominently in her skincare regimen.

In their examination, scientists managed to isolate the fascinating WSK compound – which was found to outperform hyaluronic acid, weight-for-weight, when its ability to hold water was put to the test versus hyaluronic acid.  This is a significant finding, because until now it was thought that hyaluronic acid was the gold standard for hydrating ingredients.

Most products are happy to stop here but Olay research has found that just filling skin’s leaky bucket isn’t the whole picture – there is still the issue of skin fatigue which needs to be addressed. Now the phenomenon of skin fatigue – decreasing energy – dictates that if this isn’t addressed, skin will not only get drier, but it will become less responsive to hydrating ingredients. It is thus important to re-energize skin – which is where another active ingredient, Niacinamide comes in.

Niacinamide brings the skin energy level of aged cells back to more youthful levels, so that over time, it gives skin the energy to renew itself, and make components that enable skin to hold onto its own moisture more effectively.

New Olay AquAction brings the two powerhouse ingredients of WSK and Niacinamide together in its new breakthrough HydraLock technology.  Designed to effectively fight not just one, but both causes of skin dryness, new Olay AquAction delivers a new standard of hydration that is known fondly as “pump-pump’’ bouncy skin.

According to David Khoo, Olay Senior Scientist, “pump-pump bouncy skin is achieved when skin cells are well-hydrated and attain a full, rounded shape, giving skin a firm and elastic touch.”

Olay AquAction Range

I’d be most interested in trying out their Softening Sleeping Mask (sleeping masks always intrigue me!). Is there anything in this range that tickles your fancy and have you used any product from Olay that’s worked for your skin?