The truth about dryness
From debunking common myths to understanding causes and effective skincare ingredients.
What is skin dryness and dehydration?
Dry skin can cause discomfort and inconvenience by adding to your skincare needs. It may feel tight, especially after cleansing and flaky or rough on the forehead, cheeks and nose. Since dry skin lacks plumpness, lines and wrinkles show up more and increased sensitivity can add redness to the mix.
What causes dryness and skin dehydration?
‘‘Dry skin means dehydrated skin’’
Dry skin is a skin type
Dehydrated skin is skin that needs a drink, thanks to hot weather, hot water or that old enemy, the sun. Dry skin is a skin type, like having oily or combination skin. People with a dry skin type should be careful about dehydration and anything that strips the skin barrier.
‘‘Don’t exfoliate dry skin’’
Exfoliation helps hydration
Dry skin needs extra hydration and that means sloughing off dead cells so treatments can penetrate the layers and work their magic. Use a nourishing exfoliator and start out at once a week, increasing slowly as skin adapts.
‘‘Just drink more water’’
Skin needs a drink too
Hydration is essential for health and beauty, but you need to be thirsty for skin knowledge too. Let’s get topical – by adding humectant ingredients to your skincare regimen. Start with hyaluronic acid, a water bomb that holds up to 1,000 times its weight in H2O.
‘‘Dry skin is a winter problem’’
Take care, all year
If you have dry skin, it probably follows you around all year. Cold air outside and dry air inside make winter and autumn difficult. In summer, staying hydrated and out of the sun will help.
The ingredients you need for dry skin
Glycerine
An essential for people with dry skin types, glycerine is a humectant that’s found naturally in the body. It can also be found in plants like palms. Glycerine works well when combined with oil and other emollient ingredients.
The ingredients you need for dry skin
Hyaluronic acid
You don’t need a heavy moisturiser to beat dryness. Look for humectant hyaluronic acid in moisturisers or serums. It pulls water into skin without blocking pores. Use hyaluronic acid before retinol for best results.
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