How to recognize dehydrated skin

Dehydrated skin is often confused with dry skin because many of the characteristics are the same like:

• it feels tight after washing especially after shower
• there’s patches with flaky skin
• fine lines forms prematurely around the eyes and sometimes are visible on the forehead as well
• broken capillaries around the corners of the nose

Even though this characteristics can be seen in both cases, the reson why each condition happens is totally different.

Dehydrated skin is a result of lack of water in the layers of the skin while dry skin is lacking natural oils produced by sebaceous glands.

How can we make the diffrence between them?

Usually dry skin is felt not only on the face but all over the body as the sebaceous glands become underactive. So as said before, to improve this condition of the skin a routine rich in nourishing oils can be implemented as well as a balanced diet.

Dry skin on the face can be improved using:

• cleanser
• toner
• moisturizer that has more oil than water in it’s content.

This 3 steps should be done twice a day: morning and before going to sleep. For mature skin that is also dry, a serum used before moisturizer can hugely improve the skin’s appearance.

• exfoliate once a week: there’s no need to be very harsh with the exfoliator as this may dry your skin even more. Exfoliation is very important because will remove dead skin cells from the surface of the skin helping the moisturizer to be better absorbed and will force cell renewal.

On the body, moisturize daily using oil rich moisturizer and usually immediate after shower to lock the water in the layers of the skin. Exfoliate once a week. Even though on the body the skin is not as sensitive as it is on the face, exfoliation should be of medium intensity to avoid further dryness. Is very important that after each exfoliation to follow with a rich moisturizer.

Dehydrated skin, especially dehydrated for a while will present some white spots under eyes which are called millia and this is a visible sign that the body craves for water. As the body functions are so complex, there are times when even if we drink plenty of water our body won’t hydrate the skin because uses the water for mainly functions like keeping the kidneys to function properly, to dilute and eliminates the waste and toxins or to regulate body’s temperature, or your skin just won’t hold water as is should be. White skin, in particular is prone to dehydration.

Dehydrated skin needs moisturizers with a larger quantity of water than oil, and ingredients like Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid. This ingredients are really helpful for dehydrated skin because being humectants will attract moisture from environment into the skin.

Good skin care routine for this skin condition will be:

• cleanser
• toner
• moisturize twice a day using a moisturizer with ingredients like Rose Water, Neroli Water, Glycerine, Hyaluronic Acid
• exfoliate once a week as said before.

Acting from outside is a huge benefit for visible improvments but there is necessary to act from inside as well so is very important to drink plenty of water, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and especially for this 2 types of skin conditions is necessary to have a diet rich in Vitamin A, C and E.

A lack of Vitamin A can cause very dry skin and rich food in this vitamin will be cabbage, carrots or spinach.

A lack of Vitamin C will cause early collagen breakdown that will cause wrinkles that are not age related. Vitamin C can be found in green leafy vegetables, fruits especially citrus.

Vitamin E acts like a protector for skin against environmental factors being well known that this can cause dry or dehydrated skin. Wheatgerm, peanuts, sunflower seeds are rich in this vitamin and should be included in your diet.