Use A Hydrating Face Mask
One way to hydrate your skin is through the use of face masks. They are specifically formulated to deliver a burst of moisture to dehydrated skin, without feeling heavy or greasy. They also come in different formulations, such as gel, cream, or sheet masks.
The most common ingredient in face masks is aloe vera. Aloe vera has been used for centuries because of its powerful medicinal benefits. Its used in face masks because it helps increase hydration, reduce inflammation, and balance oil production.
If youre not sure where to start when using a face mask, follow these 4 steps:
- Cleanse your face to get rid of any dirt or makeup that could be on your skin.
- Apply the mask on your face and wait 10-15 minutes.
- Gently remove the mask with warm water or a washcloth.
- Follow up with a serum and moisturizer.
Face masks come in all shapes, sizes, textures, and colors and you can use them as often as you want, from once a week to once a month.
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Add A Thermal Water Spray To Your Regimen
To get your dehydrated skin back on track, consider adding a thermal water spray to your repertoire. They have mineral-heavy concentrations that have been shown to hydrate, decrease irritation and redness to the skin, and support a healthy skin microbiome, says Melanie Palm, M.D., a San Diego-based board-certified dermatologist.
When To Wake Up
Waking up early can be a good thing. But if you want to jumpstart healing the skins moisture barrier, its essential you catch up on sleep, aka 8 to 9 hours of quality shut-eye.
Your sleeping hours are when your skin repairs itself and replenishes moisture and getting more sleep goes a long way in helping your skin repair its moisture barrier.
In a 2014 study , people who got high quality sleep had 30 percent greater moisture barrier recovery in 72 hours than poor sleepers.
Aim to get at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep to encourage the skins healing process.
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What Is Skin Hydration & How To Hydrate Skin
What Is Skin Hydration & How to Hydrate Skin?
Mirror mirror on the wall, whos the prettiest of them all? The answer can always be you as long as you dont forget about skin hydration. Hydrating products must be a part of your everyday skincare regimen.
But what is skin hydration? Keep reading to find out more about it and how it can improve your skin.
What is Skin Hydration?
Skin hydration involves treatment with moisturizing products to make your skin look soft and supple. Dehydrated skin is dull and tight. It may cause more wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes, and fine lines.
Dehydration can occur in all types of skin, including oily and combination skin types. Skin hydration creams and serums are often used to give your entire skin a radiant glow. However, the process of hydrating your skin goes beyond using certain skin hydration products. Keep scrolling to understand some tricks regarding how to hydrate skin.
How to Hydrate Skin
If you are struggling to figure out how to hydrate skin, we have some top solutions for you:
· Avoid Hot Water While Showering
Hot water seems to be beneficial to keep your skin hydrated. However, a hot shower as much as youd like the feeling can cause skin dehydration.
· Dont Over-Cleanse
Cleansing your skin is a crucial step in your skincare routine. However, anything that exceeds its limit has negative consequences. Overcleaning your skin makes you strip it out of moisturizing barrier agents and natural microbiomes.
Closing Note
Is It Possible To Tackle Dry Skin From Within We Ask The Experts
Angelika Pokovba is a lifestyle writer who lives part-time in a corner of the Mayan jungle. She speaks six languages, writes in four of them, and focuses on conscious living and travel. Follow her on Instagram for more barefoot exploring in Latin America and beyond.
Elizabeth Graves is the editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living. She is a magazine veteran with nearly three decades of experience. Highlights: * Associate editor at Allure * Beauty news editor at Self * Senior editor at Real Simple * Editorial director of beauty, health and fitness at Martha Stewart Living * Beauty and health director at Real Simple * Editor-in-chief at Martha Stewart Living
Highlights: * Has worked as a fact checker for Real Simple since 2022 * Worked as a staff writer for Mochi Magazine * Currently runs and operates the United States blog for Student Beans
Many people, including certain celebrities we will not name here, often claim that the secret to their poreless skin lies in drinking copious amounts of water. Don’t get us wrongthere are so many great reasons to drink H2O. It’s refreshing, helps your brain function, maintains energy levels, regulates body temperature, aids in digestion, and ultimately keeps your body healthy. But is maintaining hydrated skin one of them?
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How To Hydrate Your Skin Externally
Follow these tips to keep your skins natural moisture locked in.
Limit bathing
A hot bath may be a wonderful way to unwind, but soaking in the tub too often can leave skin feeling dry and flaky. The water may rob skin of moisturizing oils, especially if the water is scorching hot.
The same goes for washing your face. Lukewarm water is best.
If you want a bath with added benefits, consider an oatmeal bath. Oatmeal has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can soothe dry, irritated skin.
To make an oatmeal bath, blend a few handfuls of oatmeal into a fine powder using a food processor and stir into your bath water. Remember: not too hot!
Carefully consider your skin care products
When it comes to protecting the skins moisture barrier, gentle is the keyword. That means its best to steer clear of harsh exfoliants and foaming cleansers that can leave skin feeling severely dry.
Instead, stock up on products that contain hydrating ingredients, like hyaluronic acid, glycerine, citric acid, and ceramides.
You may also find natural remedies helpful. According to , coconut oil is an effective moisturizer, though it should be avoided if you have an allergy to coconut.
Meanwhile, aloe vera is said to hydrate the skin and provide healing benefits.
Use a humidifier
The air around you can dry out your skin. A humidifier adds moisture back into the air, which can be beneficial to the skin.
Remember sunscreen
Use a moisturizing mask
Why Your Skin Gets Dry
Some people are just predisposed to dry skin. But there are also lots of factors that can dry you out, no matter what skin type you have. First of all, the weather can have a lot to do with the state of your skin. The cold, dry, windy weather of the winter can be especially drying. Likewise, basking in the sun can also dry your skin. Heres an unavoidable yet drying habit: washing your hands. Keeping your hands clean and germ-free is essential, but so much hand-washing strips your skin of its natural, oily protective barrier. Similarly, long, hot showers can contribute to dry skin all over your body. The thing to remember is that there are also medical conditions that can cause dry, flaky, itchy, or scaly skin.
The American Academy of Dermatology notes that dry and chapped skin is often the first sign of hand eczema. Other symptoms include scaly, itchy skin, and patches of red irritated skin.If you think you might be dealing with something more than run-of-the-mill dry skin, its important to talk to your doctor and use skincare products that are designed specifically for eczema-prone skin.All of that being said, lets get down to how to hydrate your skin from head to toe!
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Your Skin And Your Overall Health
You need to look at your skin as part of a wider picture of health, because its never as simple as just piling on the moisturiser.
Why? Because your skins health is affected by the food you eat, the air you breathe and the things you put on it, as well as your general levels of health and well-being.
So in order to hydrate your skin longer term, as well as in the short term, see what you can do to boost its resilience and keep yourself as healthy as possible.
Use A Moisturizing Hand Soap
Washing your hands as often as you should can do a number on your skin! Keep your hands clean by washing them frequently, but make sure to use a moisturizing soap like Babo Botanicals Lavender Dream Plant Based Hand Soap.This plant-based soap gently cleanses, moisturizes, and protects your whole familys hands. This rich, creamy lather has a delicate, dreamy Lavender Chamomile scent and contains antibacterial Manuka Essential Oil to leave your hands soft and smooth.
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How To Naturally Hydrate Your Skin
Researchers and nutritionists encourage people to introduce fruits and vegetables into their daily diets because they are packed with important vitamins and minerals that help the cell regeneration process. If such is the case, it seems they are beneficial for the body when used directly on the skin? We have listed some of the most efficient and straightforward ways to naturally hydrate the skin. Given that winter is approaching, you might want to give them a try.
Use Plain Yogurt And Milk
Yogurt contains beneficial bacteria that help the body on the inside when consumed as food. Another way to use plain yogurt is to integrate it in facial masks. It is equally effective when applied to the skin because it prevents irritation and dryness from occurring. Mix one cup of yogurt with one tablespoon of honey and two tablespoons of oatmeal, then apply on the skin. Chances are you will obtain enough mixture to use on your jawline and neck area also.
When used on the face, milk acts as a natural exfoliator. Less dead cells mean a more youthful aspect. Soak a washcloth in milk then place it on your face. Leave it for five minutes before washing off the remaining milk.
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How To Hydrate Skin Naturally
Having identified the type of skin you have, it is important to hydrate skin naturally. This is essential because skin hydration isnt just about beauty, but more importantly about health. As your skin is your first layer of protection against the outer world, both care and hydration should go hand in hand. Here are some ways in which you can hydrate your skin naturally:
L’oral Paris Revitalift Derm Intensives Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum $18
As far as hydrating drugstore serums go, this stuff is the best of the bestâit’s no wonder a bottle of it sells every minute in the United States. Your skin will slurp it right up, and it doesn’t leave any sort of sticky residue behind. Because hyaluronic acid is a moisture magnet, it binds to the water within skin to keep it there.
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Use The Right Products
There are four main types of topical products that people can use to hydrate their skin. These are lotions, creams, ointments, and gels.
Lotions are best for daytime moisturizers on the face and body. They work well when applied after shaving.
Specialty creams for the face differ from those for the body, but all creams are best used at night, when the heavier fats can better sink into the skin.
Ointments and gels are less common, but ointments, due to their greasy sheen, are beneficial for adding a protective layer in non-humid environments. Gels are most often used on the face because theyre quickly absorbed and noncomedogenic, meaning they wont clog pores and cause breakouts.
How To Pick The Right Hydrator Or Moisturizer
Drinking plenty of water is still the easiest way to hydrate your skin, but those with dehydrated skin may want to supplement with a topical hydrator that binds and draws water into the cells, suggests Dr. Guanche. Natural humectants allow the skin to improve its ability to hydrate itself over time, so look out for products that contain hyaluronic acid, aloe, honey, alpha hydroxy acids and marine extracts. Synthetic humectants, glycerin, urea and propylene glycol are some of the ingredients you want to keep an eye out for.
Hydrating ingredients are generally appropriate for all skin types. They are water-soluble, wont clog pores and should be devoid of alcohols so they dont actively dry out or irritate the skin surface, adds Dr. Shainhouse.
As for moisturizers, there is a wide variety of options in terms of formula and ingredients. Moisturizers can be lighter or heavier and formulated for different seasons and different skin types, says Dr. Shainhouse. Warm, sweaty spring and summer months may call for a lightweight gel or light lotion, while dry, cold and windy fall/winter weather may require heavier products with ceramides, oils , butters or dimethicone, she notes. These ingredients are known not only for their moisturizing and nourishing effects but also for their ability to counter the signs of aging and free radical damage.
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Optimize Your Shower Routine
Nazanin Saedi, MD, the director of the Jefferson Laser Surgery and Cosmetic Dermatology Center in Philadelphia, suggests avoiding hot showers or washing your face with hot water, as the heat absorbs the moisture from your skin. Lukewarm water is ideal for skin.
Finally, when you apply your products can impact skin hydration levels. Moisturize right after coming out of the shower, Dr. Saedi suggests. After getting out, lightly pat skin dry with your towel and apply a thick layer to increase absorption, she advises.
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Switch Up Your Shower Routine
Raise your hand if you love taking long, hot showers and baths. If this is you, you may be inadvertently dehydrating your skin. Showering with hot water can strip your skin of its natural, protective oils. When these oils are washed away, your skins protective barrier is weakened and water can escape.
Instead, try taking a shorter ten minute shower with lukewarm water. When you hop out of the shower, pat dont rub the skin partially dry, and then apply your regular moisturizer.23
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Seek Out Hydrating Skincare Ingredients
There are three types of hydrating ingredients that should be incorporated into your skincare routine: humectants, emollients, and occlusives. Its important to look for products that contain all three because they work together to moisturize the skin and each plays a critical role, says Dr. King.
- Humectants are substances that bind water into the outer layer of the skin, and need to be used along with the other components in order to retain the water content they provide.
- Emollients help with skin barrier function, leading to an overall improvement in skin texture and appearance.
- Occlusives are oils and waxes that form an inert layer on the skin and physically block transepidermal water loss .
Skip The Long Hot Showers
A steamy shower feels incredible, especially when its freezing outside. But long, hot showers can actually strip your skin of moisture, leaving you feeling dry. Instead, rinse off in lukewarm water and apply moisturizer when your skin is still wet post-shower. That will help lock moisture in and keep dryness at bay.
Editors tip: If you cant help but turn the temperatures up, be sure to keep your showers brief. The less time you spend submerging yourself in super-hot water, the better youll be able to play defense against dry skin.
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Consume Foods That Are High In Water
There are many beneficial foods aside from avocadoes. In general, when you consume foods that are high in water, you can help to add hydration to your skin. Fruits and vegetables often contain substantial amounts of water that can increase the level of moisture in your skin. Watermelons, in particular, have a significant amount of water and can be a great addition to your diet.
A Sunscreen Is A Must
Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen to prevent UVA and UVB skin damage every time you step out in the day. Sun exposure can dehydrate your skin, causing it to lose moisture and break down its collagen and elastin, which are responsible for its strength and elasticity. This can cause premature signs of aging.
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Use Hydrating Skincare Products
Water-based creams are recommended if you have dehydrated skin. Products that penetrate through your skin and deliver water are vital if you have dehydrated skin.
According to Dr. Harish, Products containing hydrating agents like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, urea and ammonium lactate can preserve skin hydration.
Look for the following hydrating ingredients:
A. Hyaluronic Acid
Plays an important role in hydrating your skin and maintaining its elasticity . Hyaluronic acids water-binding properties help replenish your skin and also prevents early signs of ageing .
B. Glycerin
A popular ingredient of the beauty industry, glycerin has hydrating properties that can relieve your skin from feeling dry and itchy. This is because glycerin is a humectant. So it works by attracting moisture from the environment onto the surface of your skin .
C. Urea
Another widely used ingredient in the dermatological world, urea loosens and breaks down hardened protein, relieving your skin of roughness and itchiness .
D. Ceramides
These are skin replenishing ingredients, like the cement that supports the bricks of a building. They make up and repair your skins barrier, which prevents water loss and retains moisture .
E. Panthenol
Panthenol is an ingredient that penetrates through the skin and imparts moisture to the cells. It also prevents trans-epidermal water loss. This means that it improves skin barrier functions by stimulating cells that boost the same.