Let's talk about your dry skin and how we can get it under control with lasting moisture that holds throughout the day.
These three quick and easy fixes will help your skin feel better hydrated with less flaking,less redness, and less irritation.Once you get your dry skin better hydrated and more healthy,you will be able to successfully introduce and tolerate treatment products to target certain skin conditions,or issues, like aging, dark marks, scars, fine lines, dull skin, or introducing antioxidants, if you choose,and that is the goal!
Let's fix your dry skin with these three steps!
Step 1:
Let's fix the way you are cleansing your dry skin.There is a check list, you need to make sure that you can check off each of these points to ensure you are helping your skin with the cleansing process and not damaging it.
✔Choose a cleanser with the right pH.You need a cleanser that closely matches your skin's pH to keep everything balanced.The pH of the skin is slightly acidic so you do not want any alkaline cleansers,or those with a pH that is too high,which are usually in the form of bar soaps.Choose a cleanser that is formulated for dry skin.You will see these labeled as creamy or hydrating cleansers.Do not choose one that says foaming cleanser.In general, foaming cleansers act more like a detergent to remove excess oil from the skin.This is not your problem if you have dry skin.This could potentially be too stripping for your skin and leave you feeling even more dry after cleansing.
✔Choose a cleanser with ingredients to strengthen your skin barrier and soothe irritation as you cleanse! This is important because a strong and healthy skin barrier will work much better to really hold on to water than one that is damaged with leaky channels between skin cells.
✔The ingredients you will be looking for in your cleanser are niacinamide, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid,which you will often see listed as sodium hyaluoronate on the ingredients label.
✔Avoid a cleanser with harsh sulfates.SLS or SLES can be harsh for dry skin.So you have your cleanser that meets your requirements.Now you need to use it correctly.
✔Cleanse once to twice daily.Not everyone needs to cleanse the skin morning and night.Now, many people do far better when they skip the morning cleanse and just cleanse at night to remove makeup, sunscreen, or just the environmental toxins that build up on our skin throughout the day.Use lukewarm water, not too cold, not too hot.This will help keep your skin barrier healthy.
✔Cleanse after you shower, not in the shower so you can better control the water temperature and remove any shampoo or conditioner residue on the face. If you have makeup or heavy sunscreen on,remove it with an oil-based cleansing balm,not makeup remover or makeup wipes.This is key.This is called a double cleanse.You apply an oil-based cleansing balm gently to face which melts the makeup right off.Then you will follow it with your water-based cleanser.This is the healthiest option for your skin barrier and so, so important.
✔The last thing on your checklist is to pat your face dry after you are done cleansing with a soft cloth.Never rub dry and do not use a harsh washcloth or a towel.For this you can use cotton facial cloth.This is for single use, 100% biodegradable. This just ensures that you are getting the softest,most gentle treatment of your skin.When we use hand towels, not only are they rough,but they harbor so much bacteria on them even when they are fresh out of the laundry.This wreaks havoc on our face especially for acne prone skin.Making this single switch will really be a game changer for your skin.No bacteria buildup, clean and fresh every single time.
So that is how to uplevel your cleansing game for dry skin.It is very, very simple.
Step 2:
For fixing your dry skin is all about choosing the correct moisturizer and applying it properly.Here's what you need to know.
✔You do not need to spend hundreds of dollars on a moisturizer to achieve hydrated skin.That is ridiculous.You can certainly achieve this for far,less.There are many fabulous options right at the drugstore or only a click away that will not break the bank.
✔Choose a moisturizer with the right consistency or thickness. Moisturizers are an emulsion, a mixture of oil and water.The ratio of oil to water differs from a lotion, to a cream, to an ointment.It's like a spectrum from thin to thick.So,lotion thin, then cream, then you have a thick ointment.If you have dry skin, you do not want a lotion,you want a cream.This is important,and this goes for your body moisturizer as well.Lotions are primarily water based,with just a small amount of oil mixed in, and they can actually dry the skin out ironically for some skin types.That's a huge mistake, people making all the time.Cream formulas have more oil mixed in compared to lotions.So, that means that creams will be thicker, more occlusive,and more hydrating.You can even use a separate thicker almost balm-like texture,moisturizer at night,and then a lighter weight cream in the morning,if you are going to be applying makeup and other skincare products over it.
✔Choose a moisturizer again with some ingredients mixed in like: ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide.
✔It is highly recommended to choose a fragrance free moisturizer as it has less chemicals, less irritation.
✔ Apply moisturizer to damp skin.Damp skin will absorb product so much more effectively than dry skin.So directly after you cleanse, pat dry, your face will still be a little damp and apply your moisturizer immediately and you will get way better hydration and results this way.
✔This is the best hack and a super effective dry skin fix,if your moisturizer alone is just not doing the trick.Do this, supercharge your moisturizer first with a hyaluronic acid serum or product.You can choose a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid in it and that's great.But if you need an even bigger boost, add a separate product in with a higher concentration of hyaluronic acid.Hyaluronic acid draws water into the deeper layers of the skin, so essentially, it just makes the products that you put on your skin even stronger.So after you cleanse, apply the hyaluronic acid serum and then directly apply your moisturizer over it.Make sure you apply the moisturizer over it.You want to ensure that the hyaluronic acid is getting moisture from the product to pull into your skin and not getting the water from your skin to push out into the environment.
When you are doing your skincare routine before bed, here are the two things you need to do.
1: Give yourself a buffer period for your skincare products to absorb and dry before going to bed, at least an hour if possible.
2.Use a quality silk pillowcase for sleeping because this will not absorb product off your face like regular cotton material.It also harbors less bacteria.Sleeping on silk material is so important for long-term skin health. It's even better for anti-aging.So switch your pillow cases to silk.It's so much more luxurious,and so much better for your skin health.
Step 3:
The last tip for you to fix your dry skin is stop damaging your skin barrier.You might be doing this without even realizing it.It could be causing your dryness altogether.Here are some things to stop doing.
✔Stop using too many products.If you have dry skin that is uncontrolled,stop everything, and restart a very, simple,minimalistic skincare routine.A cleanser, moisturizer,a hyaluronic acid product if needed are enough.
✔Stop using a toner.You do not need this and many of these can dry the skin out.
✔Stop using products with denatured alcohol,which can dry the skin.Not all alcohols in skincare products are bad.But certain types such as the denatured alcohol can be found in many skincare products including cleansers,toners, serums, moisturizers, and even sunscreens.
✔Stop using fragrance.
✔Stop using a retinoid until your skin is better hydrated and healthy,then re-introduce it in a very carefully stepwise in strategic manner.
With these three fixes, cleanse correctly,choose the right moisturizer,and supercharge it with hyaluronic acid,and protect your skin barrier, your skin should be far more hydrated.
Things to remember :
But what are you going to do now if this still doesn't fix your issues? You are going to need to delve a little bit deeper on the health of your skin barrier.What is going on there? Is the skin just dry or dehydrated, or is there an underlying problem that is driving the dryness and irritation? Not all flaking of the skin is just dry skin that can be fixed with skincare products.There's chronic irritation, eczema, rosacea,seborrheic dermatitis, and all these other rashes that can present with dryness as one of the findings,you need to make sure you do not have an underlying issue going on that is preventing you from having healthy and hydrated skin.Many of these conditions need treatment beyond just moisturizers and skincare products.In some cases, they will need prescriptions to restore the health of your skin barrier.
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