---
title: WTF are AHA and BHA?
description: The skincare sensitive community is getting specific. People are educating themselves on topics, including the differences between AHA and BHA -- alpha hydroxy acid and beta hydroxy acid. If you’re wo
image: https://www.nlopchantamang.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Skincareaddiction-1024x638.png
---

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# WTF are AHA and BHA?

###### Aja Frost @ajavuu

###### Share

<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=I+found+this+interesting+blog+post&url=https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha> <http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha> <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha> [mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha&media=https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/3430677/Imported_Blog_Media/Skincareaddiction-1024x638.png](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.nlopchantamang.com/trends/signals/signal/wtf-are-aha-and-bha&media=https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/3430677/Imported_Blog_Media/Skincareaddiction-1024x638.png)

![](https://www.nlopchantamang.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Skincareaddiction-1024x638.png?height=420&name=Skincareaddiction-1024x638.png)

*(Source: *[*Google Trends*](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A268)* and *[*Keywords Everywhere*](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A260)*)*

**The Signal:** The **skincare sensitive community** is getting specific. People are educating themselves on topics, including the differences between **AHA and BHA** -- alpha hydroxy acid and beta hydroxy acid. If you’re wondering… [they’re similar,](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A267) but AHA is water soluble and works on the skin’s surface, while BHA is oil-based and penetrates deep into pores.

The searches don’t stop there: other chemicals like hyaluronic acid, retinol, l-cartinine, coq10, niacinamide, benzoyl peroxide, and tretinoin are getting **hundreds of thousands** of monthly searches, whereas vague terms like "acne cream" only get 40k.

**The opportunity:** People are becoming increasingly interested in what exactly they’re putting on their mug, with the subreddit[ r/skincareaddiction](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A269) growing to over 1m followers and[ topping its beauty list](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A270). The community has been around for years, but saw a sharp increase in growth in 2018 when it began to grow at **1.2k subscribers/day**, versus 416 in 2017 and 1-200 in prior years.

![](https://www.nlopchantamang.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Skincareaddiction-1024x638.png)

*(Source: *[*Subredditstats*](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A271)*)*

**There’s more: **Beauty brands that use marketing to educate and capitalize on this trend will get ahead. For example, specific brands like [The Ordinary](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A272) (whose slogan is "clinical formulations with integrity") and [Drunk Elephant](https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&i=36A73A2A273) have gotten consumer attention, with 6.6k searching for "the ordinary hyaluronic acid" and 9.9k for "drunk elephant retinol" each month.

### Leave a Comment

#### Aja Frost @ajavuu

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