Dryness:
Causes, Treatments, & Top Ingredients
GHS ONE-LINER: Not wet. Not moist. Perhaps crusty.
Dry skin sucks. Not only is dry skin uncomfortable, but it also contributes to early, premature aging... While hydrated skin is glowing, soft, full, and plump, dry skin is dull, tired, rough, flaky, tight, and/or irritated. Dry skin is caused by water literally evaporating off the surface of your skin. Dry, dehydrated skin is also more vulnerable and exposed to outside irritants. As we age, our natural defense against dry skin sadly weakens which directly correlates to the development of fine lines and wrinkles. The good news is there are many amazing products and ingredients that are clinically proven to hydrate and moisturize your skin. To be honest, hydrated skin the most critical part of any anti-aging skin care routine.
What Causes Dryness?
Low Sebum Production
Sebum is your skin’s natural oil and is your first defense against dehydrated skin. Sebum forms a natural oil layer over the skin that prevents water loss and locks in moisture. Lower sebum levels mean less protection against evaporation.
Common things that can lead to low sebum levels:
- Over-Washing: if you wash too much, you’ll wash all your sebum away. Avoid washing your face more than 2x a day.
- Bad Cleansers: cleansers with high-foaming detergents or alcohols will strip your natural oil leaving your skin exposed and less protected from evaporation.
- Over-Exfoliating: while exfoliating is a must in any skin care routine, too much exfoliation will leave your skin raw, deplete the outer sebum layer, and expose your skin’s second layer of defense, lipids.
Low Lipid Production
Lipids are your second defense against dry skin. If sebum is the natural oil that sits on top of your skin to prevent water from evaporating off your face, lipids are the juicy cushions that fill the gaps between your skin cells. By filling the gaps, lipids create a barrier that locks in moisture and prevents water loss. It’s also important to know that there are different types of lipids that make up this barrier. Some include ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol. If you have lower lipid levels, the gaps between the your skin cells can get bigger, and bigger gaps create larger pathways for moisture to escape from the deeper layers of skin.
Common things that can lead to low lipid levels:
- Extreme Climates: super hot temperatures, super cold temperatures, winds, and dry air can all negatively affect your barrier function.
- Sun Damage: sun damage and prolonged sun exposure negatively affect how your skin cells regenerate and renew. Lipids are created in the skin cell regeneration process, so when that process gets damaged, lipid production also suffers.
- Over-Exfoliating: while exfoliating is a must in any skin care routine, too much exfoliation will leave your skin raw by depleting the outer sebum layer, leaving the lipids exposed and left to deplete. Think dry up like a raisin.
Moisturizing and not Hydrating
Many don't realize the difference between moisturizing and hydrating, and this often leads to dry skin. If you have dry skin and just moisturize, your skin never receives new hydration and you'll still be dry. Even though both hydrating and moisturizing are essential to treating dry skin, there's a big difference between the two.
Let's start with hydrators. Hydrators give, restore, and replenish hydration to the skin. They are categorized as humectants meaning they naturally attract water molecules to themselves, so when applied, think of hydrators as delivering a fresh drink of water to thirsty skin.
In comparison, moisturizers lock in and trap hydration from leaving the skin's surface--they do not bring new hydration to the skin. They are categorized as occlusives and emollients meaning they seal in hydration. Think of moisturizers like shady trees on a hot day--shade alone in dry heat won't save you, but it definitely helps.
So, in order to effectively treat dry skin, you need both. First, hydrate (give water to you skin), and then moisturize (protect that water from leaving). Many products mix ingredients for hydration and moisturization together, but it's important to understand the difference. Additionally, certain types of products are better at moisturizing vs. hydrating. A good rule of thumb is thinner products are better hydrators and thicker products are better moisturizers, so when in doubt, apply in the order of thinnest to thickest.
Not sure if you have dry skin?
Here's how to tell...
✓ Your skin is flaking, scaling, or peeling
✓ Your skin may appear to have fine lines or cracks
✓ Your skin is red and irritated (itching, stinging, or burning)
✓ Your skin feels tight, especially after showering, or swimming
Are moisturizing and hydrating the same thing?
No, they're not.
✓
Step 1: Hydrate with Humectants
Humectants are the skin care ingredients that actually replenish hydration to the skin. Humectants restore hydration by attracting water molecules to themselves and sticking them to your skin cells. Humectants literally draw water molecules out of the air. Also known as hydrators, humectants are essential for treating dry, dehydrated skin, but humectants are also important for hydrating all skin types, including oily skin. Just remember humectants as serving a fresh glass of water to thirsty skin.
POPULAR HUMECTANTS:
hyaluronic acid, glycerin
SKIN TYPE:
all...everyone should use daily. seriously!
✓
Step 2: Seal with Moisturizers
After humectants restore hydration to the skin, the next step is to prevent the newly added moisture from escaping. Moisturizers do just that--they create a layer that prevents hydration from immediately evaporating off the skin's surface. If there's one thing you take away, remember that moisturizers do not add any new hydration to the skin; they only seal in existing hydration. There are two types of mosturizers: occlusives and emollients. Both form a protective ceiling on your skin's surface that prevents hydration from evaporating, but emollients also soften the skin. Most skin care products contain more emollients than occlusives.
POPULAR MOISTURIZERS:
argan oil, rosehip oil, shea butter
SKIN TYPE:
all, but go non-comodogenic if you have oily skin
TL;DR: You need both and order matters
To effectively treat dry skin, you need both hydrators and moisturizers. Always hydrate with humectants first (give water to you skin), and moisturize second (protect that water from leaving). Many products mix ingredients for hydration and moisturization together, but it's important to understand the difference. Additionally, certain types of products are better at moisturizing vs. hydrating. A good rule of thumb is thinner products like serums are better hydrators while thicker products like creams are better moisturizers. If ever in doubt, apply in the order of thinnest to thickest (except plant oils always go last, but more on that later 😉).
How to Treat Dryness & Hydrate Your Skin
Use an Oil-Based Makeup Remover
Many make-up removers contain varying forms of alcohol which strip your natural oil and dry out your skin. Do yourself a favor and go for an oil-based makeup remover (yes, even if you have oily, acne prone skin).
Invest in a Quality Face Wash
Similar to makeup removers, many cleansers and face washes contain different forms of alcohol which strip your skin of its natural oil, dry out your face, and at worst, cause premature fine lines and wrinkles. Spend the extra dollars to get a high quality face wash that cleanses your skin without compromising your hydration goals.
Exfoliate Weekly
Exfoliation accelerates skin cell renewal, and skin cell renewal accelerates lipid production. Fresh, new lipids boost hydration levels by better trapping moisture from leaving the skin. At a minimum, we recommend exfoliating at least once a week. You can exfoliate with either a scrub or a chemical exfoliant (an AHA like glycolic acid or lactic acid), but DO NOT exfoliate with both at the same time. If you use an AHA to exfoliate, you'll also treat yourself to many anti-aging benefits.
Apply an Essence Daily
HYDRATOR
Think of an essence as if toners and serums had a baby - a tad thicker than a toner, a pinch thinner than a serum, and a combined benefit from each. Like a good toner, an essence will prep the skin to better receive all of the ingredients and products that you apply after. Like a good serum, an essence will deliver concentrated levels of hydrating ingredients. An essence is often your skin's first drink of moisture after cleansing, so this is a product/step you don't want to skimp on. Set the bar high, and the rest of your products to follow perform better (similar to primer before makeup). Apply in the order of toner, essence, followed by serum.
Go for Serums
HYDRATOR
Serums contain the highest concentrations of hydrating ingredients and may be the most critical step to restoring and reviving moisture in dry skin. Because dry skin is a leading cause of fine lines and wrinkles (along with sun damage and other types of free radical damage), any serum that restores hydration is also good for anti-aging. If you're getting started, look for serums with humectants like hyaluronic acid or glyercin (both great for all skin types). If you're ready to kick it up a notch, add a second serum with AHAs like lactic acid or glycolic acid. Just make sure you do your homework before venturing into AHAs (you don't want to irritate your skin).
Get Into Emulsions, Lotions, & Creams
COMBINED HYDRATORS & MOISTURIZERS
Emulsions, lotions, and creams are products that reinforce the hydrating benefits of your essence and serum(s). Because these products normally combine hydrating and moisturizing ingredients, they both restore new hydration to the skin as well as lock in the moisture just applied by the essence and serum. Even though their primary functions are the same, emulsions, lotions, and creams have different textures: emulsions are thinner, lighter, and runnier (closer to serums and tend to have a higher concentration of hydrating ingredients) while creams are heavier and thicker (usually with more moisturizing ingredients). Lotions fall somewhere in between. Depending on the level of dryness, apply one or multiple morning and night. If you're applying more than one, just remember to apply in the order of more hydrating to more moisturizing, so emulsions first, lotions next, and creams last.
Added Bonus: Many emulsions, lotions, and creams come with additional anti-aging ingredients mixed in (vitamin c, vitamin e, peptides, retinol, and resveratrol to name a few).
Try a Plant Oil
MOISTURIZER
Plant oils like rosehip oil and argan oil are natural moisturizers and emollients. Plant oils lock in and retain moisture by forming a thin oil barrier on the surface of your skin that prevents moisture from leaving. Because they're emollients, plant oils also soften the skin by filling in any gaps or cracks between your skin cells. It's very important to note that plant oils like argan oil and rosehip oil have zero hydrating properties meaning they do not add new hydration to the skin. To properly hydrate, you need to both restore hydration as well as guard it. For this reason, apply an oil as the final step in your moisturizing routine after you've applied hydrating ingredients (if you apply a plant oil before a hydrator, the plant oil will block the hydrator from delivering water molecules to your skin).
Added Bonus: Plant oils also provide additional benefits like plumping fine lines and wrinkles, fighting free radical damage (sun and pollution damage), reducing redness, and leaving the skin silky, soft.
Drink Lots of Water Daily. Like Chug.
You are what you eat (and drink). Your skin is reflection of your overall health, and if you're not hydrating your body, then you're definitely not hydrating your skin. It's important to remember that true skin care is both topical as well as internal. You'll live your best skin life if you follow a consistent skin care routine with products created for your skin type in addition to healthy nutrition and hydration. All in all, if your skin feels like a dried up raisin or a flaky biscuit, fill up that hydroflask and drink an extra glass of water.
Check out the GHS 10 Best Hydrating Products for treating dryness.
Our curated list is paraben-free, sulfate-free, and phthalate-free.
Top 6 Ingredients for Treating Dryness
✓Hyaluronic Acid
- Replenishes hydration in surface layers of skin
- Attracts 1,000x its weight in H20
- Pair with emollients or occlusives
Category: humectant (hydrator)
✓ Glycerin
- Replenishes hydration in deeper layers of skin
- Plumps skin
- Pair with emollients or occlusives
Category: humectant (hydrator)
✓ Rosehip Oil
- Seals in moisture & strengthens skin’s protective barrier
- Smooths & softens skin
- Pair with humectants
Category: emollient (sealer + softener)
✓ Argan Oil
- Seals in moisture & strengthens skin’s protective barrier
- Smooths & softens skin
- Pair with humectants
Category: emollient (sealer + softener)
✓ Ceramides
- Strengthens lipid barrier
- Stimulates production of lipids
- Softens skin and increases strength of other moisturizers
Category: lipids (moisturizer)
✓ Lactic Acid
- Exfoliates & promotes lipid regeneration
- Causes deeper penetration of ingredients
Category: humectant (hydrator), AHA (most hydrating)
FAQs about Dryness
Q. What causes dryness?
- Low sebum (oil) production
- Low lipid production
- Moisturizing and not hydrating
Q. How do you treat dryness?
- Use an oil-based makeup remover
- Invest in a quality face wash that cleanses your skin without compromising your hydration goals
- Exfoliate weekly
- Apply an essence daily
- Use serums with humectants for hydration
- Following your serums, use emulsions, lotions, creams, or oils to moisturize and seal in hydration
- Don't forget to drink lots of water daily
Q. Why does skin get drier as we age?
Skin gets drier with age for two main reasons:
- Your skin cells renew at a slower rate - A critical part of skin cell regeneration is lipids get created. Lipids are a natural defense barrier that prevent moisture from leaving the skin. With age, skin cells renew at a slower rate meaning lipids also do not replenish as quickly. Slower lipid production means less protection from water escaping deeper layers of skin and evaporating off your face. With age and less lipids, it’s easier to get dry skin from the inside out.
- Your skin produces less sebum - Less sebum (less of your skin’s natural oil) means your skin’s surface is not as protected from both water loss and stripping agents in soaps and face washes. Less natural oil makes your skin more vulnerable to dryness from your outside environment.
Q. Why does skin get drier in the winter?
During the winter, there’s lower humidity. In low humidity, the water in your skin chemically wants to evaporate into the air faster than it normally does (think back to fifth grade when you learned about osmosis). Additionally, when you’re inside during the winter with the heater on, the heater creates warm but dry air which can further dry out your skin. These conditions can make your skin feel dry and tight, leading to flaking and itching without proper care and hydration.
Q. Why does flying dry out my skin?
Planes use recycled air that is very dry and low in humidity. Like really low humidity--around 20% which is less than half of what our skin is used to. The lower humidity causes the hydration in your skin to get pulled out into the air way faster than normal. Furthermore, since there’s less hydration molecules in the dry, recycled, plane air, normal moisturizers high in humectants don’t work as well.
Q. How do I keep my skin from drying out on a flight?
Drink lots and lots of water! In addition, before your flight, apply a serum with hyaluronic acid followed up by a moisturizer that contains emollients or occlusives - this will help prevent chronic water loss and seal the moisture in your skin for up to 26 hours. When you’re in the air, you can also try a rosehip or argan oil on top of your favorite moisturizer for an extra boost.
Q. Why does my skin feel dry after a shower?
The water on the surface of your skin evaporates quickly when you’re coming out of a hot shower. It’s critical to moisturize right after a shower while your skin is still slightly damp.
Q. Why is dry skin itchy?
Dry skin has holes in the lipid barrier between your skin cells. These gaps expose the nerve endings that are more easily irritated. When you scratch, you remove the top skin cells which can further expose the nerve endings, leading to inflammation and redness.
Q. Why can dry skin sting?
Similar to why dry skin can be itchy, stinging can result from a more severe irritation of the exposed nerve endings in your skin that are from the holes in the lipid barrier between your skin cells due to your dry skin.
Q. Why can dry skin cause redness?
Your skin has two forms of defense--the outer protective oil layer, sebum, and the inner protective layer, lipids between the skin cells. With dry skin, the sebum and/or the lipid barrier become depleted, and your skin is no longer safe from outside irritants. As a result, your skin is left vulnerable to outside irritants that can penetrate your skin, causing your skin to become inflamed. Redness is a side effect of the inflammation caused by dry skin.
Q. Can I wear moisturizers and oils under makeup? Will it make my foundation look bad?
Absolutely apply moisturizers and oils under makeup! GHS highly recommends moisturizing before applying foundation because hydrating products applied before foundation will give you a dewy glow and will help keep your skin moist throughout the day. If your skin starts feeling dry during the day, spray a mist on top of the makeup for a quick, hydrating pick me up.
Q. Should I still apply moisturizer even when my skin doesn't feel dry?
Yes! Yes! Yes! It is very important that you moisturize your face twice a day despite your skin not feeling dry. Keeping your skin hydrated will not only keep the dryness away, but it will protect your skin’s barrier, preventing damage that can lead to fine lines and wrinkles with age.
Q. What types of alcoholic ingredients should I avoid if I have dry skin?
Stay away from isopropyl and SD alcohols. These are not fatty alcohols and will strip your dry skin of natural sebum.
Q. Are facials good for dry skin?
Yes, but you must still need to be consistent with your at-home morning and night routines. If you think you can go get 1 facial and cure your dry skin, forget it sister. Just like all other aspects of skin care, consistency and diligence is crucial. If you have the time and money, by all means get a facial every week, but if you're ballin' on a budget, you can get great results at home.
Q. Is massage good or bad for dry skin?
A massage alone cannot treat dry skin, but there are some benefits. Massages can be good for dry skin since it stimulates blood flow and can activate sebum production. Massages can also help deeper penetration and absorption of hydrating products.
Q. What's the difference between an occlusive and an emollient?
Both occlusives and emollients fall under the same category as moisturizers meaning they form a protective layer on your skin's surface that seals in hydration. Because they're both moisturizers (and not hydrators), neither deliver new hydration to the skin--they both only protect existing hydration that's already present in the skin. Even though both occlusives and emollients are categorized as moisturizers, they have distinct differences. Occlusives form a much thicker and stronger barrier when it comes to preventing hydration from evaporating, and occlusives sit on top of the outer surface of the skin. Pure occlusives, however, are very heavy, waxy, and icky on the skin, so they're normally combined with emollients in skin care products. Common occlusives include silicone based ingredients (anything ending in "cone"), waxes, and zinc. Similar to occlusives, emollients provide a protective layer that prevents hydration from escaping (albeit not as strong as a pure occlusive), but emollients also soften the skin by filling in any cracks between the skin cells. Your skin's natural filler between skin cells are lipids, but your lipids can get damaged which leaves the skin feeling rough. Emollients help protect and reinforce your lipids resulting in softer skin. Common emollients include argan oil, jojoba oil, rosehip oil, shea butter, and fatty acids.
It's a little confusing because all emollients have occlusive propterties (the protective layer), but not all occlusives are emollients--emollients soften the skin by sinking between the skin cells while pure occlusives remain on the outer surface. The key is to remember to only apply these moisturizers after applying a hydrator like hyaluronic acid or glycerin.
Q. What's the difference between emulsions, lotions, and creams?
Emulsions, lotions, and creams are all products that usually contain both hyrdating and moisturizing ingredients, and they're all products that should be applied after essences and serums. The difference between emulsions, lotions, and creams lies in their textures. Emulsions are lighter, thinner, and more runny while creams are heavier, thicker, and more gelatinous. Lotions fall in the middle of the spectrum. The lightness or heaviness of a product is determined by its water to oil ratio. Thinner emulsions have a higher water to oil ratio making them more hydrating while thicker creams have less water and more oil making them more moisturizing. All you need to know is all three have a place in your skin care routine if you have dry or dehydrated skin. After serum(s), apply an emulsion and/or lotion. Next, apply a cream to deliver a final layer of restored hydration on top of the emulision and/or lotion and to make sure none of the moisture you just added from the emulsion and/or lotion escapes. Always apply in the order of more hydrating to more moisturizing (so emulsions first, lotions second, and creams third). A good rule of thumb is to apply your products from thinnest to thickest (except for plant oils; always apply those dead last). It's all about protecting the last layer you applied with a thicker, more moisturizing layer on top since your skin's hydration is constantly trying to evaporate off your face.
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