Amino acids such as alanine, arginine, isoleucine, valine, proline, threonine, glycine, serine, histidine, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid, as well as their derivatives sodium PCA and PCA, help maintain the skin’s moisture balance in the outermost layer.(1) As natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) of the skin, they also help maintain the skin’s protective barrier.(2) The amino acids and their derivatives absorb moisture from the environment and store it in the skin’s lipid-protected corneocytes. In combination with lipids, which slow down water diffusion, amino acids help the corneocytes maintain their normal flattened, elongated shape, in which they can selectively bind and retain water.(3)