4. HYDRATION - Experimenting with Hydrators: Layering & *Skins*

How to find *Skins* that work for you.

Now that you’ve got a greater understanding of the kinds of products that introduce hydration into your routine it’s time to learn how to use them. This subject is more about technique, rather than directing you on specific products. You will have to discover what works for you. It’s time to become comfortable with the process of EXPERIMENTATION.

EXPERIMENTATION is a crucial part of the Trial and Error approach to Skincare. This is how you play around with the variables and observe how your skin reacts.

There’s a reason why we look at Experimentation at the hydration stage of analysing your routine: it’s hard to mess up with hydration! Because everyone’s skin needs water it’s not so much a matter IF you need to hydrate as it is HOW best to hydrate. Most people need additional hydration as your body will prioritise the water your drink for internal function. Some people have skin that hold onto enough water but it’s rare to find someone who holds too much water (bloating can occur, but it’s more likely associated with non-skincare issues: over-consumption of salt, health issues, etc.)

Previous hydration posts looked into the many terms and various products commonly associated with getting moisture into the skin. Not only the water or water-based products but the products that assist and support the hydration process. Now you need to figure out what will work for you.

Before you begin to play around and the best way to add hydration into your routine you’ve hopefully been able to experience the hydrated feeling you are aiming for. The Hydrating Mask Challenge is a great way to get this feeling and you may want to review the post on dry vs. dehydrated skin in order to see some of the qualities of hydrated skin. A plump feeling. Bounce-back when you poke the skin. Hydrated skin draws products into the skin. Hydrated skin absorbs products better (picture water running straight through to the dish holding a bone-dry plant, as opposed to slightly damp soil holding water within the soil in the way a sponge would hold water).

Hopefully the Hydrating Mask Challenge will have helped you to identify the feeling of well hydrated skin. The next step is to find a way to achieve that same feeling within your daily routine.

The most popular way of doing this is the Seven Skins method. Many other bloggers and experts have explained this method much better than I would so if you’re not entirely sure about it then you might want to do a bit of research on your own (if you find anything good feel free to add the links in the comments for the rest of the group). But basically 7 Skins involves adding layers of hydration into your routine. This method comes from