How Dry Skin Can Accentuate Fine Lines + What To Do

Have you ever noticed your fine lines looking more pronounced than usual? Sure, it could be the lighting or the makeup you're wearing, but it could also be the current state of your skin. 

While fine lines are a sign of skin aging, they also provide some context to how your skin is functioning at the moment—namely, how nourished it feels from the inside out.

Want to know a secret? Your fine lines are probably at their peak when your skin is dry or dehydrated. When you think about it, this makes sense: When your skin is dry, it might look deflated, less elastic, and begin to sag. 

Moisturized skin, on the other hand, will appear plump and radiant. And if you use strategic topicals and skin supplements, you may even see the fine lines disappear altogether. 

"This is where ingredients like hyaluronic acid are useful," board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D., previously told mbg, since the beloved humectant pulls moisture from the air into the upper layer of your skin, which keeps skin cells hydrated and your complexion supple and bouncy.

HA is found in plenty of hydrating serums and moisturizers, but it's also a popular ingredient in skin supplements. Ingesting it this way is particularly important, as your internal hyaluronic acid bank begins to dwindle with age.

In fact, one study found that people who took 120 milligrams of hyaluronic acid a day for eight to 12 weeks experienced better skin aging1 (fewer wrinkles and more supple skin) compared with those who took a placebo.

As a final tip: Look for hyaluronic acid and hydrolyzed collagen peptides in your skin supplements, as collagen is also what keeps your skin looking taut and bouncy. One double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial even found that participants' moisture levels in the skin were seven times higher2 than those who did not take collagen supplements.

There are plenty of reasons fine lines can appear, one of which being a lack of hydration in the skin. To plump it up, use hyaluronic acid serums and ingest collagen supplements that also contain oral hyaluronic acid for an extra boost.