"My skin is so dry."

How many times have you thought you had extremely dry skin, especially in the Winter? I'm going to let everyone in on a secret - I used to think I had terrible combination skin. My skin felt oily and dry at the same time. How does that even happen? My sole purpose today is basically educate my readers on the difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin.

 

 

With dry skin, Gaga put it best, you were born this way. You lack the ability to produce enough oil, causing the undesirable tightness and flakiness. You skin may be left rough and inflamed. Dry skin makes it hard to absorb moisturizers or lotions. This can all be a result from medical issues, hormone imbalances or you can thank your genetics for that one.

 

What you should try for dry skin: Knock out the moisturizers and lotions and pick up some heavier rich creams or essential oils. These aren't going to immediately soak up and leave you layering on another round of product, but instead gradually work the oil into your skin. I'd also recommend ditching any product that strips away said oil - lay low on the harsh exfoliates and try a gentle exfoliate to easy the flakiness off and pair with a sensitive or gentle milk/lotion cleanser to keep the skin from becoming more inflamed.

 

 

Moving on to dehydrated skin, this is simply a lack of water. Most people with acne prone skin or oily skin have dehydrated skin. It usually appears as patchy, tight and irritated. Most factors that cause dehydrated skin are environmental, certain makeup products used, weather, diet, etc. A main cause of dehydrated skin is a lack of water intake. The water we drink, the food we eat.. all of it counts. And because our water intake takes the longest to get to our skin, you should be constantly drinking it. (This applies to every kind of skin, really.)

 

What you should try from dehydrated skin: Lukewarm showers so you're not absorbing all moisture with boiling hot showers and a water-rich diet that includes: cucumber, celery and watermelon. As far as products go, you're going to look for water-based products as opposed to the dry skin people. Check out any kind of sulfate-free and oil free cleansers.

 

 

"It’s like this. Leather is dry and because of it, a leather chair needs to be conditioned with oil to prevent it from drying out. If you apply water to a leather chair, it only gets drier."

Source

Just a little thing to keep in mind, it all works the same and knowing the difference will help prevent any future flakiness. Hope I gave you a little insight and made you reevaluate your skin choices!

 

XO, Jade