Researchers show that the water retention of hyaluronic acid is not applicable to all forms of this molecule. The University of California study found that there was not much difference in the changes that occurred in the 0.1% hyalURonic acid solution compared to pure water.

The larger the molecule, the easier it will be to form honeycomb-like networks of water molecules. This means that the results can only be true for products that contain molecules of, at most, a medium-sized size.