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Writer's pictureSkincare Heidi

SH DECIEM CHAT: Dry vs. dehydrated

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DRY VS DEHYDRATED

I've seen lots of questions lately regarding this question. Here's my take on how to tell the difference 🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫🐋🐫

Dry: skin lacking oil Dehydrated: skin lacking water

Your skin is dull, tight, itchy. It just doesn't feel right. Now it's red, now it's not. What the heck is going on? The season is changing, it's that time of the month, you drank an extra glass of wine last night... Is that it? Or is it something you're doing?

All great questions. To answer them you'll need to know that your skin can be: 🐫 dry 🐋 dehydrated or both or neither. It can even be dry in some spots and dehydrated in others. Or both, or neither.

🐫🐫DRYNESS 🐫🐫

If your skin is dry it's lacking the oil to remain supple and conditioned. If it's oily there's a good chance it's because not enough oil is present to keep the skin protected - your skin will produce more oil if oil is being stripped. So your efforts to solve the oil issue might actually be causing it. Dry skin can be both tough (from extra layers of cells building up) and easily damaged (because its likely to crack).

Edit: in the comments it was mentioned that dryness is a genetic condition. So if you're dry then that's your skintype. This is important to note. If you're dry you can treat it but maybe not *cure* it.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SKIN IS DRY: Examine your skin when you get out of the bath or shower - If your skin is had a grey tone, cracks easily, or is angry when you get out of the shower or bath (ie, it's at it's worst right afterwards) or, right after cleansing, these might be signs of dryness. Actual dryness (to the touch) and flaking are also signs. So is oilyness.

🐳🐳 DEHYDRATION 🐳🐳 Hydrated skin is plump, even-toned and easily absorbs product. Dehydrated skin is prone to fine lines and redness (especially if it comes and goes).

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SKIN IS DEHYDRATED: Examine your skin right after a bath or shower (or cleansing). If this is when your skin is happiest but that feeling quickly goes away it's a sign of dehydration. It means your skin craves the hydration it gets from bathing but is losing the moisture afterwards. Hydration needs to be locked it.

⚖️⚖️BALANCE⚖️⚖️

Lock in your hydration with oils or emulsions (some creams, but not all of them) and you'll find yourself moving into a state of balance. The oils prevent the water from evaporating out of the skin. Hydration can come from shower or tap water (if the water isn't too hard where you're at), hydrating spritzes, Rosewater or other hydrators. Glycerine and hyaluronic acid help to hold water within the face but can in fact contribute to water loss if you live in very dry conditions.

Occlusive: a cream or product that stops other products from passing through. Literally, it blocks. This type of product could be an oil, a cream, a balm or an emulsion. Water-based creams will not fulfill this purpose and many moisturisers are water-based

How do you diagnose your own dryness and dehydration? Please share your tips and hints on what works for you 💙

Find this post helpful? Please comment so that others can see!

Have a great day!

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