If you suffer, like one-third of women in the UK, of dry skin (not to be confused with dehydrated skin), you must know how it feels like to experience a kind of tightness, a rough sensation when you touch your skin, rednesses,  fine lines or cracks… a sensation that can only be appeased by applying your moisturiser or shea butter for example. It is common to feel these symptoms after a shower or bath because you just removed all the sebum from your epidermis, which is a natural protection to keep it supple.

A normal skin type is naturally protected by the hydrolipidic film, which is a combination of sebum and water. It is impermeable and protects the skin against external aggressions. When the epidermis is not well-balanced, the protection role isn’t completed and you may feel a certain discomfort. But it is not a fatality and you can change this and appease your dry skin.

In this article, we’ll give you some tips for better hydration of your skin.

  • Use a gentle cleanser

A cleanser’s role is to remove all impurities from your skin, but be careful not to remove too much including what’s actually good for you! Find a gentle cleanser specifically made for dry skin. Avoid ingredients such as Sodium Lauryl (or Laureth) Sulfate (which are foaming agents), soap (which destroys the hydrolipidic film as well) or alcohol, which will evaporate while dissolving your natural protective film. A good tip for you: the more foam, the less good it is for your dry skin. Look for a milk cleanser or a cleanser with a low pH (around 5.5 is ideal as it corresponds to your skin’s pH). You can also add a step and capture impurities with vegetable oil, such as coconut, jojoba or sweet almond oil. It will nourish your skin while it traps impurities, and it works well with makeup too!

  • Avoid long exposure to water and warm water

Warm baths or showers are great to relieve the stress of the day but too much of it will generate too much stress on your skin. Those of you who like really warm showers might have an even more dry sensation as warm water (38-40 degrees celsius) is more aggressive on the natural hydrolipidic film. We didn’t invent it, it was proved by Dr Heather Woolery-Lloyd, a certified dermatologist. A medium temperature, short shower (10 mn max) will not solve the issue, but it won’t contribute to worsening it either.

  • Avoid rubbing your skin, gently tap instead

This might seem obvious but too many of us just have the reflex of rubbing ourselves to dry faster. This mechanical action affects our natural protection and encourages dry skin. Tapping will not damage your hydrolipidic film and prevent skin dryness.

  • Drink enough (especially for dehydrated skins)

Dry and dehydrated skin are not the same, dehydrated skin is temporary (due to the season, the conditions you live in…). The symptoms are similar to dry skin, but dehydrated skin only lacks water, while dry skin lacks lipids (sebum) and water. In both cases, you need to check your hydration levels. To function properly, our body needs between 2 and 2.5 litres of water per day, it will find a big part of it in our food, but we also need to drink! Drinking between 1 and 1.5 litres of water per day is essential to make sure your body will cover its needs. As you can imagine, a lack of water means your body favours certain functions compared to others, in the long term it could result to dry skin.

  • Hydrate and moisturise twice a day

A good hydrating/moisturising cream, rich and soft to be applied in the morning will help you balance your dry skin. there are plenty of effective day creams out there to be used. Avoid those with a water base, and favour aloe vera instead, it has so many benefits for your skin (you can read more about aloe vera here) that water just doesn’t.

Our Day Cream, Ray of Light, has been formulated with aloe vera, fagus sylvatica, hyaluronic acid, shea butter and other greats ingredients to help you hydrate, moisturise, and protect your skin against external aggressions. Ray of Light is particularly adapted for dry skin sufferers.

  • Eat more essential fatty acids, fibres, vitamins

Do you eat enough food rich in Omega 3 and 6? It can be oleaginous such as nuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, vegetable oils, but also fish like salmon, mackerel. If you don’t like fish you can now find some great Omega 3 through algae-derived products rich in EPA and DHA. All of these will help your skin keep its water and stay hydrated.

Vitamin C that you can find in kiwi or acerola, for example, will help your body to produce collagen in your derm, for firm skin. You can read more about fruits and skin here.

Fibres will contribute to the good functioning of the guts, and healthy guts mean that more nutrients will be absorbed from what you eat.

Zinc and selenium are also playing a big role in your skin’s health, a lack of zinc can increase dryness, and selenium is a powerful antioxidant. In order to get enough of these two, you’ll need to eat seafood and meat, if you are vegan, you can find some great vegan food supplements as well.

If you have dry skin and haven’t tried the list above yet, it is probably worth giving them a try. By changing some small parts of your routine, you can greatly improve your skin’s condition, and bring back the glowing look you are willing to reach. You will also feel a lot better within your skin, and enjoy your daily life to the fullest.

We hope this article was helpful and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us via email or the chat available! Take care.