Water Works: How the World’s Oldest Skin Care Ingredient Is Making a Comeback

Of all the It ingredients we’ve reported on over the years, none has seemed so curiously pedestrian as this: Water. Yet, despite its lack of flash, good old-fashioned H20 is as essential for great skin as it is for life on Earth. Without enough of it, “skin not only looks dry and haggard, it can’t adequately perform everyday functions, like exfoliation, making collagen, and self-repair,” explains New York City dermatologist Amy Wechsler. But while water has excellent moisturizing properties when applied topically in cream or serum, says the cosmetic chemist Ni’Kita Wilson, its effects are usually fleeting—it hydrates cells on the surface, then quickly evaporates.

Now, the top beauty companies are racing to find new ways to make it perform more effectively—launching a new wave of innovative face serums, elixirs, and masks that’s taking its hydrating potential to the next level. Some are encapsulating water inside tiny spheres that can slip through the skin’s tough keratin-rich barrier, or infusing it with smart nutrients and minerals; others are devising ways to capture water with supercharged humectants that deliver intense, all-day moisture yet feel lightweight and fresh to the touch.

Here, eight supercharged formulas guaranteed to make a splash in your arsenal this season.