Get hydrated, supple skin with these quick and easy tips
Having skin that’s smooth and supple feels incredible, but it also helps to keep skin conditions under control. When your skin is kept moisturized, you diminish the odds of blemishes and inflammation, lessen skin problems like uneven skin tone and fine lines, and lengthen the duration of glowing skin. Nonetheless, numerous causes may hinder you from achieving healthy, vibrant skin.
What Causes Dry Skin?
Dry skin occurs regularly; a few indications that you have dry skin are as follows: small, shallow creases—especially around the eyes and mouth—cracks in the skin, ashiness, itching, or feelings of tightness. Your epidermis (the top layer of skin) mirrors the moisture in the air around you, so anything from climate to hot showers can affect your skin’s level of moisture.
The greatest offender of dry skin is the climate, particularly in the winter months. At the point when temperatures begin to drop, the moisture level in the air drops along with it. Low moisture levels in the air basically suck out the hydration from your skin, leaving it dry, scaly, or cracked.
The same way that constant exposure to the cold air can cause damage to your skin, it works just the same when you have constant exposure to the heat. Heat decreases moistness, consequently drying out your skin.
Much of what people are exposed to on a day-to-day basis creates heat, which dries out the skin. From central heating, space heating, and fireplaces to hot showers and hot baths, you should be aware of these potential causes as factors to drying out skin.
Not only do temperature variations affect your skin, but so can the products that you’re applying. Soaps, sanitizers, and shampoos are intended to strip away oil, which leads to a high impact of drying out your skin.
Some people have ongoing skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis which chronically dries out their skin. To manage these issues, many choose to seek consultation from a doctor. Doctors may prescribe specific salves that are medicated to aid in managing the severe symptoms of these conditions, while also adding moisture back into the skin.
Because dry skin usually doesn’t have a single source where the issues are stemming from, another factor to the drying of skin can be if working in an environment that is constantly exposed to water. Pools containing chlorine tend to dry out the skin as well. Dry skin can influence anybody, regardless of age. Something to be aware of is that skin is more prone to drying with age—about half of adults experience more dry skin than in their younger years.
What Helps Dry Skin?
It’s no lie that dry skin is annoying. Fortunately, there are simple and speedy ways to increase the moisture in your skin again and reduce the annoyance of the effects.
1. Maintaining Hydration
Preventing dry skin can be done easily by making slight changes to your routine. Spending less time in the shower or bath as well as minimizing the amount of soap used are a couple of ways to achieve this because it reduces the amount of moisture being stripped from your skin.
To keep your skin hydrated, spend no more than 10 minutes in the shower or bath—making sure to use lukewarm water. Exceeding 10 minutes in the water may begin to withdraw the oils from your pores, which lessens the level of hydration in your skin. The high temperature of shower water lessens the skin’s oil and increases dryness.
The use of moisturizing soaps may help in reducing dryness. Soaps and sanitizers that contain alcohol or fragrances increase the dryness of your skin. When stepping out of the shower or bath, do not scrub your skin dry. Gently use your towel by dabbing it on each portion of your body. Apply a quality lotion immediately after drying off.
2. A Humidifier Helps
Ideally, the humidity level should be between 30 and 50 percent to help keep moisture in the environment around you, but most homes do not meet this level. A humidifier adds water droplets into the air of your room or home. During the colder months when the heat is on, a house or office may have as little as 10 percent humidity in the air.
Run the humidifier in your home until you can accomplish the ideal degree of moisture. It is common for people to benefit from the use of humidifiers while sleeping for a plethora of reasons, one being the effect it has on combating dry skin. Many choose to have a single room humidifier, but some choose to go with a whole house humidifier, which adds moisture into the air through the vents.
Maintaining a steady humidity level not only aids in repairing dry skin, but also helps to control the effects of conditions such as asthma and allergies. Steady humidity levels also help reduce congestion, the spread of germs, and reduces the risk of coming down with a cold.
Essential oils are good to use in humidifiers because of their wellness properties. Lavender has a calming effect, peppermint can be used for alertness, and lemon may help increase energy. The use of essential oils in a humidifier may help shift your mood while emitting a delightful scent and adding moisture to the room.
The use of a hygrometer will test if the level of humidity in your home is sufficient. Many humidifiers already contain this device. It’s easy to find humidifiers that will complement your room’s aesthetic because many are built with beautiful design elements. You can find cost-effective humidifiers for as low as 15 dollars. Because of this, you can battle dry skin at a reasonable cost.
3. Use Quality Skincare
In addition to utilizing a humidifier and reconstructing your shower routine to limit dryness, also utilizing quality skincare items may help you keep your skin hydrated. Using quality products like lotions, balms, creams, and salves with quality ingredients are incredible methods of treating your skin well while also lessening dryness.
Select items that include ingredients like aloe vera, shea butter, coconut oil, and cucumber extract. Using products with all-natural ingredients like hemp and shea butter helps your skin to lock in moisture that is lost throughout the day.
Body Lotions such as this one from A88CBD.com contains these natural ingredients and is a powerful tool in helping add moisture back into the skin, which your lips can sometimes be forgotten because you hardly ever see them, but you use them more often than you realize. Treat your lips well by utilizing a lip balm that the skin can easily absorb and keep hydrated for extended periods—helping to prevent chapped lips.
If you are searching for serious skin hydration, attempt a salve or a cream rather than a simple moisturizer, as they can be much more effective in combating dry skin. Next time you’re looking at the ingredient list of your salves and creams, keep an eye out for any of these ingredients for they are some of the most effective ingredients for extreme dryness; jojoba oil, dimethicone, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, lanolin, or petrolatum.
There is no one size fits all answer to dry skin, so find what works for you. Some other, more natural options for hydrating your skin is to utilize coconut oil, olive oil, papaya, honey, or almond oil by applying it directly onto your dry skin. Allowing it to sit for two or three minutes, and afterward washing it away.
You may be surprised to find out how often skincare products contain ingredients that are actually perpetuating your dry skin. Get rid of skincare items that contain any of these ingredients; alcohol, alpha-hydroxy, fragrance, or retinoids. By avoiding these items, your skin will be able to heal and naturally regulate its oil production. Your skin needs oils, so when they are in proper balance by using complementary ingredients, your skin will thrive by also being able to maintain consistent levels of hydration.
Moisturizing your skin is important, but also consider at which time you’re moisturizing. It is ideal to add a little extra hydration back into your skin after bathing, shaving, or exfoliating. After coming in contact with water, moisturize right away. Doing this will help your skin lock in the hydration that the lotion is providing.
Smooth Skin at Your Fingertips
Make sure to utilize each of these three methods to see the greatest results. The best thing that you can do is to focus on hydrating your skin and treating it with care. By doing this, it will do the same for you. Check out your local drug store, purchase a humidifier and a quality moisturizer to accelerate the healing of your skin and keep it hydrated throughout the year!