At some point in everyone’s life they will suffer from dry or dehydrated skin, or most likely both. A lot of the time we group these skin conditions together because they go hand in hand. If you have dry skin, you most likely will be dehydrated as well. Your skin needs to be hydrated to help get rid of / reduce dryness. Let's look at the main difference between these two conditions…
You will know if your skin is dry when it starts to feel rougher, and you will start to notice flaking. Your skin is underproducing oil and needs more intense moisturisation. You will often start to see signs of this around the nose and chin. When your skin is dehydrated it will feel tight and often look dull. Often it will start to emphasise any signs of aging such as fine lines and wrinkles. This means your skin is lacking water. The main reason these two skin conditions are talked about together is because when you put oils and moisturisers in your skin to help with dryness, your skin needs to be hydrated with enough water to help the products bind in your skin for a longer lasting effect. It also works the other way, if your skin does not have enough oil for the water to bind to it will just escape from your skin. For a soft, brighter and smoother complexion, products and water need to work together to beat the dryness and dehydration.
Our skin is essentially waterproof, we do not absorb water on its own through our skin, therefore, we have to drink it and a lot of it. About 6 - 8 glasses of water per day should be sufficient. For every cup of caffeine, alcohol, and sugary drink you have you need to add an extra glass of water because these drinks counteract your water intake and are very dehydrating. If you are thinking ‘I do drink a lot of water’ then we need to look at why you are so dehydrated.
The main reason people get dry and dehydrated is the sun.
If you are exposed to the sun, you need to be drinking extra amounts of water and using a very strong moisturizing SPF to help protect against those harsh dehydrating UVAs. Another major reason for this skin condition to happen is weather changes, this can take a big toll on our skin. Going from hot temperatures to cold and vice versa confuses our skin and often causing it to react badly. So, when you see those signs of seasons changing, it's time to up your water intake and get those extra intense oils and moisturising products out.
Lastly what can majorly cause dehydrating and dryness is diet. Putting a lot of processed sugary foods into your body can cause a major water imbalance in your skin. Your body needs to use a lot of water to help process sugar and flush it out. Having a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables is not just important for your health but for your skin's hydration levels as well. They are all naturally hydrating and full of antioxidants, it does not take much for your body to process these foods. Also, fat free foods deprive your skin of the essential fatty acids your body needs. Fatty acids help with your skin oil barrier, having a strong oil barrier means proper oil production is happening in your skin, essentially meaning no dry skin.
Fun fact: For extra hydration boosts throughout your day try replacing some of your glasses of water with coconut water. Coconut water is full of electrolytes, which are known to give your body not only a boost of energy, but it helps revitalise your entire body and great for hydration levels.
As mentioned earlier all this hydration needs the proper products to bind to, so it stays in your skin for longer and can help relieve the dryness. The most important ingredient any skin therapist will tell you to look for in a product is Hyaluronic Acid. This is the hero ingredient for helping to relieve dry skin. Why? Because Hyaluronic Acid is your body's natural form of hydration. It is a sugar naturally found in your skin that holds 1000x its own water weight. It not only holds in moisture to keep you hydrated and plump, but it prevents the moisture from evaporating giving your skin that soft look. Like everything else about our bodies, as we get older our hyaluronic acid levels decrease, therefore causing us the need to put more back in our skin. There are so many serums and creams out there now that have Hyaluronic Acid in them, but you have to be careful about picking the right ones. You see, as good as this ingredient is, it needs to be made into a small molecule to be able to penetrate deep into the skin to be able to take proper effect. If the molecule is too big it will just sit on top of your skin and not give you that long lasting hydrating effect, we are looking for to help cure dry skin.
Foods that hyaluronic acid can be found in are ones rich in vitamin c and amino acids such as oranges, red peppers, kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and strawberries.
In the Clinic | Dry Skin Heroes
- Image Hydrating Cleaner
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/collections/all/products/vital-c-facial-cleanser-177ml
A cleanser full of vitamins and antioxidants is the perfect way to cleanse your skin when it is dry. With a high potency of vitamin C, this cleanser helps rehydrate your skin as well as soothing any inflammation and redness.
- Bio-Therapeutic Toner
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/products/bio-therapeutics-tone-8oz-16oz
This is a hydration refreshing toner. It is full of citric acids to help calm and balance your dry skin. A few sprays of this will help awaken your skin after a cleanse or exfoliation.
- Intraceuticals Enzyme Exfoliant
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/products/intraceuticals-rejuvenate-enzyme-exfoliant-60ml
Bamboo beads are the base of this high performance exfoliant. This has 3 forms of exfoliation to make you feel like you just had a mini peel at home, it will help get rid of any flaking that might occur from dry skin without making your skin feel like it has been stripped.
- Croma Rejuvenating Face Mask with Hyaluronic Acid
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/collections/all/products/rejuvenating-face-mask-with-hyaluronic-acid
A mask to relieve viable signs of dryness and boost your hydration levels. Also improving your skin's elasticity and smoothing the appearance of fine lines, this mask will leave your skin looking and feeling plump and hydrated.
- Medik8 Hydro8 B5 Serum
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/collections/medik8/products/medik8-hydr8-b5-serum-hyaluronic-acid
This is a perfect serum to add into your morning routine when you see those signs of the seasons changing. Working with hyaluronic acid to help lock in all day moisture, this serum gives your skin the hydration and boosts your skin needs to battle against harsh temperatures and humidity.
- Heliocare Ultra Cream SPF 90
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/products/heliocare-ultra-cream-spf-90-50ml
A lightweight, strong protection from the sun and deeply hydrating is the perfect everyday spf moisturizer we should all be using. This SPF will not leave white residue or feel heavy and mask like a normal spf. It is full of antioxidants like green tea to help keep the skin protected and hydrated all day.
- Image Hydrating Intense Repair Cream
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/products/vital-c-repair-creme-56ml
A thick cream with a vitamin c and shea butter base really locks in moisture and helps to repair your skin's barrier function. The vitamin c in this cream is a pure oil soluble. Which means your skin can absorb this quickly and deeply. Along with hyaluronic acid and fruit extracts this cream is bursting with hydration to help beat your dry skin.
- Teoxane Deep Repair Balm
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/collections/teoxane-teosyal/products/teoxane-teosyal-deep-repair-balm
When you see balm in the name of a product, you want to think of it as almost a cling film for your skin. This blam is infused with a rich formula of hyaluronic acid for instant hydration, neutrazen for repairing and soothing the skin, and helichrysum for helping to restore the skin's moisture.
- Intraceuticals Rejuvenate Serum and Moisture Binding Cream
https://beautologyshop.co.uk/products/intraceuticals-rejuvenate-moisture-binding-cream-
These 2 products work best together. They are pumped full of hyaluronic acid and antioxidants for a deeply nourishing effect. They have a hyaluronic acid layering technology for your ultimate hydrating boost.
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