Your skin deserves the good stuff—and we’re here to deliver it. Welcome to the SkinSpirit ingredient index: a deep dive into the hero skincare ingredients found in our treatments and skincare products. Whether you’re a newbie or skincare is your love language, this guide is your go-to for learning exactly what these ingredients are, and how they can benefit your skin. Think of it as your backstage pass to what makes medical-grade skincare so effective, plus how powerful ingredients contribute to overall skin health.
HYALURONIC ACID
What is it?
Want supple, glassy skin? Hyaluronic acid is it. Found naturally in your body, hyaluronic acid acts as a moisture magnet; helping skin stay plump, hydrated, and smooth. This gel-like molecule can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water. In skincare, it’s often used in serums and moisturizers to boost skin elasticity and reduce the appearance of fine lines. You’re probably familiar with dermal fillers for hydration, but there are so many other treatments that benefit from HA.
Why your skin will love it
What is hyaluronic acid used for in skincare? Glad you asked. Hyaluronic acid deeply hydrates, plumps the skin, and smooths fine lines. It helps strengthen the skin barrier, boosts elasticity, and delivers a dewy, fresh glow. Read on for more hyaluronic acid benefits (including the best hyaluronic acid serum out there).
Try it in
Treatments: Dermal filler, SKINVIVE, Microneedling + Biostimulator + Hyaluronic Acid (Catalyst) Serum, DiamondGlow® + hyaluronic acid serum
Products: Senté Hydrate+ Serum, SkinBetter Trio Luxe Moisture Treatment™
VITAMIN C/ANTIOXIDANTS
What is it?
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that plays a big role in keeping both your body and skin healthy. It’s also one of the best antioxidants for skin health. Vitamin C helps protect your skin from damage caused by free radicals—the unstable molecules that speed up aging and contribute to skin dullness, wrinkles, and sun damage. What’s more, it brightens your complexion, fades dark spots, and supports collagen production. Total glow-up material.
Why your skin will love it
It’s a true multitasker. Some Vitamin C serum benefits: it helps brightens skin, fades dark spots, and evens out tone for a radiant glow. It boosts collagen production, helping to firm skin and reduce fine lines. As an antioxidant, it protects against environmental damage and premature aging. It’s also known to support wound healing and overall skin health. Check out our fave Vitamin C serums for glowing skin below.
Try it in
Treatment: DiamondGlow + Vitamin C serum
Products: SkinBetter Alto Defense + Repair Serum, SkinBetter Hydrating Defense, SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic®, SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF
EXOSOMES
What are they?
The latest breakthrough in regenerative skincare is here—and it’s changing the game. Exosomes are powerful cellular messengers that activate your body’s natural healing processes to deliver visible, long-lasting results. When used in skincare and treatments, they stimulate collagen production for firmer, smoother skin; reduce inflammation for a calmer complexion; and boost skin regeneration for a healthy, youthful glow.
Why your skin will love them
How do exosomes work in skincare? Like magic, aka, by accelerating your skin’s natural healing process. Exosomes in skincare support collagen production, reduce inflammation, and accelerate skin repair for a firmer, smoother, and more radiant complexion. They enhance cellular communication, helping rejuvenate and renew skin from within. Check out our fave exosome treatment and some exosome-based skincare products we love.
Try them in
Treatment: Microneedling + Exosomes+ (Catalyst) Serum
Products: (plated)™ Intense Serum, (plated)™ Daily Serum
GROWTH FACTORS
What are they?
Growth factors are naturally occurring proteins that play a key role in cell signaling, helping to regulate essential biological processes like cell growth, healing, and tissue repair. Growth factors in skincare help repair damaged skin, stimulate collagen and elastin production, and support overall skin regeneration.
Why your skin will love them
What do growth factors do for your skin? As we age, our skin produces fewer growth factors, leading to thinner, less resilient skin. Reintroducing growth factors via treatments and products helps boost cellular activity—encouraging fibroblast function (the cells responsible for producing collagen) and improving skin thickness, elasticity, and hydration. Microneedling with growth factors, and growth factors paired with our DiamondGlow facial, are both highly effective treatments.
Try them in
Treatments: Microneedling + Growth Factors, DiamondGlow + growth factor serum
Products: SkinMedica® TNS® Advanced+ Serum, SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex
COLLAGEN
What is it?
While collagen isn’t technically a skincare "ingredient," it is the key to firm, luminous, healthy skin. Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, acting like the glue that holds everything together—skin, joints, bones, and muscles. It keeps your skin firm, your hair strong, and your joints smooth. As we age, collagen production begins to decline in your 20s and we loose about 1% of collagen a year in our 30s—which is why collagen-boosting treatments, ingested collagen supplements, and even skincare products containing collagen which primarily acts as a humectant have become so popular.
Why your skin will love it
Collagen helps your skin look plumper, smoother, and more hydrated by supporting skin structure from within. It can reduce fine lines, improve elasticity, and give your skin that firm, youthful bounce. As your body produces less collagen with age, adding collagen back in can restore a healthy glow and smooth texture. Read on for some of our favorite collagen skincare treatments and collagen-boosting skicnare products (Sculptra for collagen production is our everything, btw).
Try it in
Treatments: Microneedling, Morpheus8, Sculptra®
Product: SkinMedica HA5® Hydra Collagen Replenish + Restore Hydrator
RETINOIDS
What are they?
Meet the true workhorse of skincare, a versatile ingredient that tackles not just fine lines and wrinkles, but a whole spectrum of skin concerns—our MVP retinoids! Retinoids is an umbrella term for vitamin A molecules used in many different skincare types and concentrations—retinol, retinaldehyde (also called retinol), retinoic acid (also known as tretinoin), and more. These fine-line-fighting, skin-smoothing retinoids work at a deep cellular level to accelerate skin cell turnover, stimulate collagen production, and inhibit collagen breakdown.
Why your skin will love them
Retinoids deserve the hype. They have anti-aging benefits—helping reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and improve skin tone and texture. They’re also a reliable way to address acne, helping reduce inflammation, unclog pores, and clear breakouts. Retinoids can even be used to treat dark spots and melasma.
Try them in
Product: SkinBetter Intensive AlphaRet Overnight Cream
Radiant skin starts with great ingredients, plain and simple. Now that you have a full glossary of our fave ingredients, services, and products, you can create a routine that supports your skin health and goals. Glow, you.
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