miniHA

INCI:  Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate

Supplier:  Bloomage Biotechnology (China)     ·    

Evidence:  ●●○  Supplier-substantiated

In our formulas:  The Catalyst — 0.5%

What it is

Conventional cosmetic hyaluronic acid has a molecular weight of roughly 0.5 to 2 million daltons. It is a superb humectant, but a molecule that large stays on the surface. miniHA is an oligo-hyaluronate produced by patented enzymatic degradation — Bloomage was the first to run that process at industrial scale — with a molecular weight below 10,000 daltons. Two orders of magnitude smaller.

Why it matters for changing skin

Skin’s own hyaluronic acid content falls with age and with declining oestrogen, and it falls in the dermis, not just at the surface. A humectant that cannot travel past the stratum corneum addresses the symptom and not the site. Low molecular weight HA is intended to reach further, and the supplier’s data also credits it with antioxidant activity exceeding that of high-molecular-weight grades.

Worth saying plainly: ultra-low molecular weight HA is a debated ingredient among formulators, and the research is still developing. We use it at a modest 0.5% alongside other hydration and barrier mechanisms rather than relying on it alone.

What it does

On the label you may also see it as

Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate · Oligo Hyaluronic Acid · Low Molecular Weight HA · Sodium Hyaluronate (a related but larger molecule)