Girl, you are a tall glass of water, but maybe your skin doesn’t feel like it’s had one in a long time …especially mid-January. And the struggle can be REAL!
Have you ever noticed when you get a zit? Once it heals and possibly scars giving you a round ring of dryness where the concealer has caked away from the new, emerging skin. Or when your pores enlarge. Your makeup looks great in the morning but by the end of the day, its found its way into a million grand canyons on your face that were not there earlier. Or my personal favorite, morning wrinkles. here’s the scenario. Your alarm goes off at 6 am. In order to keep your sleepy eyes from shutting your raise your eyebrows high until you start to feel awake. When you look in the mirror 10 minutes later you t realize those wrinkles did not follow your eyes back down.
It’s all about hydration and moisturization.
And no, they are NOT the same thing.
Dehydrated skin that is moisturized, can still feel uncomfortably tight and appear incredibly dull because it is lacking WATER. In turn, dry skin that is hydrated but not moisturized will still have an unpleasant texture and flake because it lacks OIL.
And don’t get me started on “oil free” moisturizers. They are like sugar free sugars. Fake, and consistently bad!
So how do you fix the problem?
Keep the H2O coming. When you drink enough water, valuable minerals and vitamins in the body are able to flush to the surface to keep the skin hydrated internally. However, don’t overdo it. Too much water will flush away those minerals and vitamins before they even have a chance to reach the surface. Your skin is an organ, but it is the largest and farthest away from the rest.
A smarter way to enhance your hydration and moisturization factors is by controlling them topically. For moisture, think oil. And no, you will not breakout. Your body creates a natural level of oil already, and when that natural oil is stripped, it needs to be replaced or it will overproduce and cause clogging (or even MORE oil and ultimately breakouts, which is also bad). Actually, a tell tale sign of dry skin is STRONG oil production, so in turn, the cure for oily skin, is a better, topical oil. Catch-22. For Hydration, aim for ingredients with glycerin and hyaluronic acid (HA). Glycerin pulls hydration from your atmosphere and HA holds 1,000 times its weight in volume in water. Ta-Da!
Be careful not to over wash, exfoliate or over dry. As a rule of thumb, if you do not have acne, I strongly suggest avoiding foaming or sudsy face washes and soaps. They are prone to strip your lipid barrier of all natural oils. Which is terrible and counterproductive.
Talking to a dermatologist or someone in the skincare field is always a good idea as well. We generally know ingredients and which companies contain enough hyaluronic acid or oils to actually be effective. At the very least, we can guide you in the right direction.
Don’t be a raisin, be a grape.
Alexis Simmons is the CEO of Alexis Simmons-Rodan + Fields. Within the world of Clinical Dermatology; Rodan + Fields is the #1 brand across all price points, while also owning the #1 spots in both acne and anti-aging in premium skincare. No matter your age, gender, skin tone or ethnicity, Rodan + Fields® products can help you to achieve healthier, younger-looking skin. Alexis loves helping people live better in their skin and become more empowered in their lives.