Your Guide To Managing Dry Skin In Winter

Most people suffer from dehydrated skin every now and again. However, most people don’t know that there’s a big difference between dry and dehydrated skin! What is the difference and how you can fight dehydrated skin this winter.

Dry Skin vs Dehydrated Skin

Dry skin is a skin type that you are born with, which means you’ll have smaller pores and lower sebum production. This skin type is low in both sebum (oil) and moisture and can feel rough or sandpapery on the surface.

If you have this skin type, you’ll need both healthy fats and hydration to help build up and protect the skin barrier, which is the film that protects the skin from external factors like wind, bacteria and other pollutants in the air. Dry skin also needs more oils and thicker, more protective textures as well as hydration. We love Aveda’s Tulasara Renew Morning Cream on dryer skin since it has a beautiful texture as well as active ingredients like ginger and Vitamin E to help restore and renew the skin during the day.

Everyone can suffer from dehydrated skin and most clients we meet experience this from time to time. Even oily skin and acne prone skin can become dehydrated. If the skin produces oil, it might still be feeling dry on the surface and lacking hydration. A common mistake people with this skin type make is that they use a cleanser or products that strip the essential barrier that helps to keep moisture and oils in the skin. Dehydrated skin can also occur from sun exposure, change in climate (wind, colder weather, air conditioning etc) or using strong products too frequently.

How do you know if your skin is dehydrated?

The first sign of dehydrated skin is that the surface feels dry and tight, especially after cleansing. Sometimes make up can feel like it has been “eaten” by the skin. The skin can get oily on the surface even if it’s dehydrated (especially after a few hours), since the natural reaction for the skin when it feels dry is to produce more oil.

Tips on how to help dehydrated skin

Exfoliate

• Remove the dry and dead skin cells from the surface of the skin so that the products you’re using as well as the moisture can penetrate

Make sure you’re using an exfoliator that is for your skin type so as not to dry the skin out even more. Use a milder exfoliating product more often rather than a strong one as it could potentially irritate and further dry out the skin. Our favourite is the exfoliant from Aveda, which is so mild you can use it every day, but it still works wonders to remove dull and dead skin while infusing the skin with new moisture.

Moisturise

• Layer the skin from underneath so that you build up moisture levels. Infuse as much moisture as possible starting with a hydrating water (like the hydrating treatment lotion that creates a good base of hydration and allows the following products to be absorbed deeper into the skin)

• Follow this with a serum, such as the Aveda concentrates that helps with brightening, soothing and calming or firming of the skin, depending on your needs. You can also layer these serums on top of each other to get maximum results

• Then create a protective barrier with the help of a moisturising cream that has bigger molecules than the serums to sit on top of the skin to protect. The level of oil production in your skin, will determine the type of moisturiser you need

• Use multiple serums underneath or sunscreen on top will also influence how rich your moisturiser should be. The Intense Hydrating Cream from Aveda comes in both a soft and a rich cream.

Bonus Tips

• A great trick against dehydrated skin is to sleep in a moisture mask, like the skin hydrating mask from Aveda. This oil free mask hydrates and soothes skin with rose water and gives a cooling gel feel on the skin

• The skin has its own daily cycle and during the night it recovers from the day. Around 2am to midday the skin’s oil production goes down even more, which is why it’s important to hydrate a little extra during the night. The skin also gets renewed and produces more new skin cells during the nighttime, which makes it the best time to work anything anti-ageing!

• Apart from looking after your skin with a good skincare routine, we always remind client to also consider lifestyle choices such as coffee, alcohol and salty food intake as this can really dry out the skin and can leave the skin feeling and looking dull and dry.

Phone 02 6680 8801 to speak with us about recommendations for the best skincare routine, products and facial treatment for your skin type.