Is your skin dry or dehydrated? Yes, there’s a difference!
Sure, both may leave your skin FEELING dry, but dryness and dehydration are both caused by different factors.
How Do I Know If My Skin is DRY or DEHYDRATED?
Since dryness and dehydration tend to feel similar, try a “pinch test” to determine which you have. Just pinch your cheeks for a few seconds, then let go. If your skin bounces back immediately but still feels flaky, you have dry skin. If it takes a few seconds and leaves a few fine lines behind, your skin is probably dehydrated.
What is Dry Skin?
Dryness is a skin type, like “Normal” or “Oily.” Typically coming from genetics, those with dry skin usually don’t produce enough oil to keep their skin naturally moist and soft throughout the day. This can lead to skin looking and feeling reed, flaky, and itchy. This can occur all over the body, too, but mostly on the scalp, elbows, and hands.
What Comes With Dry Skin?
With dry skin, the lack of oil production can result in small to medium-sized pores and minimal breakouts… But with that comes the dryness, rough and flaky texture, and more pronounced fine lines and wrinkles. Plus, with dry skin, your skin’s essential moisture barrier that protects your skin from dehydration and prevents irritants from entering your pores.
What Causes Dry Skin?
Dry skin can be caused by many different factors, including:
Genes - Since dry skin is a skin type, this is something that comes from genetics and most with dry skin are born with it.
Age - As we get older, our skin has a more difficult time retaining moisture.
Lifestyle - Things like traveling on a plane, drinking alcohol, and taking antihistamines are all factors that can lead to dryness.
Environment - Dry and cold climates can contribute to dry skin, as can sun, heat, and even indoor heating and cooling.
Skincare Products - If the skincare products you’re using are not meant for dry skin, they can worsen dryness… Try to avoid certain products that are overly drying, like bar soap or foaming cleansers.
Hormones - Certain hormones that help retain moisture tend to diminish with age, like estrogen.
How Do I Treat Dry Skin?
Though you can’t entirely change the skin you were born with, you can make sure you’re using active and effective products to keep it from feeling and looking dry.
Choosing a skincare routine (take our skincare quiz to find products that are suitable for your skin type) will help keep skin youthful and moisturized with products like our luxurious NOURISHING OIL, with phytonutrient filled marula, rosehip oils, and omega-rich, L-collagen building oils like olive oil, jojoba, and grape seed oils.
For an overnight, supercharged hydrating treatment, layer the oil with our customer-obsessed fave, THE CREAM! It’s free from synthetics, dyes, perfumes, PEGs, dimethicones, and petroleum-based ingredients. You get all the good with none of the bad for the deepest, most radiant and hydrated skin you’ve ever felt.
Frequent exfoliation (two to three times a week) is also very important for dryness - without exfoliating, you’re leaving layers and layers of dead cells on the surface of your skin, adding an unnecessary barrier in the way of your other skincare products. Plus, it’ll leave your skin dull and flaky.
Our BAMBOO REFINING POLISH is a 100% natural exfoliating treatment that uses fine, nutrient-filled bamboo and walnut powders to gently buff away dead skin cells. Formulated with salicylic acid to unclog pores and reduce redness for resurfaced and rejuvenated skin, it’s perfect for use two to three times a week and suitable for all skin types.
What is Dehydrated Skin?
Where dry skin is a skin type, dehydrated skin is a condition. That’s good news - this means it's temporary and can be treated! Dehydrated skin is a just sign that your skin isn’t holding enough water. And, though drinking plenty of water does help with your overall health and detoxifying cells, it isn’t the secret to hydrating your skin.
This might dispel the myth of “thirsty skin,” but if you have dry or dehydrated skin, your barrier is weak and you are losing hydration. Cells tend to lose water throughout the day, leaving skin dry, flaky, and prone to a crepey texture and fine lines.
This also means there isn’t enough oil or lipids to hold onto the water your skin already has. At that point, no amount of water you drink will rehydrate your skin - it’s time for topical products that will help balance your oil levels while providing extra moisture for your skin, like creams and serums.
What Comes With Dehydrated Skin?
With dehydrated skin, you may find that your skin feels tighter, though this can change from day to day. You may also notice small triangular lines on your skin’s texture, and it may look shiny or tight, even without visible oil.
What Causes Dehydrated Skin?
Several factors can strip the H2O from your skin, leading to dullness and roughness:
- Weather changes
- Indoor heating and cooling
- Washing with hard water or water that is too hot
- Using hard products that strip your skin
- Not drinking enough water
How Do I Treat It?
Thankfully, since dehydrated skin is a condition, not a skin type, it’s much simpler to treat. Premature aging is also associated with some of the more major signs of dehydrated skin. These include skin that is less elastic and cannot retain its shape after a repeated movement, i.e. squinting or frowning. Rich, anti-aging moisturizers can help minimize the appearance of these fine lines and wrinkles for a more youthful appearance.
The best way to do this is with a skincare routine that’s specific to your skin type, including gentle but effective cleansing, regular exfoliation (two to three times a week), and daily moisturizing, to name a few. When it comes to cleansing and moisturizing, you’ll want to find natural products free of harsh surfactants and sulfates to keep your skin's natural lipid (oil) barrier protected and hydrated.
Our MOISTURIZING WASH is lightweight and pH balanced to protect your skin barrier, with seaweed, green tea, and chlorophyll to leave skin bright, healthy, and refreshed.
Dehydrated skin craves hyaluronic acid, which attracts water to the surface. Following up with our hyaluronic acid-rich Vitamin C PLUMPING SERUM quenches and protects your skin immediately. Follow it up with our MARINE PEARL CREAM, also with hyaluronic acid along with collagen-building sea algae and omega-rich squalane to leave skin feeling smooth and hydrated without appearing greasy or shiny.
There’s also our BAKUCHIOL WONDER SERUM, another source of hyaluronic acid to pull moisture into the skin while also being a source of ceramides, lipids that help to balance and protect your skin’s natural oil barrier to protect against damage and pollution while retaining moisture.
But with so many wonderful hydrators and potent ingredients to choose from to help transform your dry and dehydrated skin to a healthy glow, you can click here to take our quick Skin Quiz!
You can also call us at (727) 286-7684 or Contact Us with any questions or concerns you may have, we’d love to hear from you!
XOXO,
Denice
