SPRING SKIN CARE: DO YOU HAVE DEHYDRATED SKIN?

 SPRING SKIN CARE: DO YOU HAVE DEHYDRATED SKIN?

The science behind dehydrated skin

When your skin is well hydrated, it looks vibrant, smooth, and fresh. But when your skin’s natural processes for maintaining hydration break down, it can start to look dull and have visible lines. No one wants that.

That’s why it’s so important to keep your skin hydrated by caring for it in a way that helps maintain cell health while sealing in moisture.

What causes dehydrated skin?

In a perfect world, your skin does a pretty good job of keeping itself hydrated, but our world is rarely perfect.

Your skin’s natural hydration process is easily disrupted by a lack of water and other risk factors that are part of everyday life, including harsh weather, extreme indoor environments, everyday stress or even daily cleansing.

Can oily skin be dehydrated?

And those of us with oily skin are not immune to dehydration. While oil provides a type of moisture, it doesn’t combat the dehydration that occurs due to a lack of water. So, all types of skin — even oily and combination — can become dehydrated.

Dry vs. dehydrated skin

Likewise, if your skin is dry, it may not necessarily be due to dehydration — but rather, a lack of oil at the surface. By watching for symptoms of true dehydration, you’ll be better prepared to treat it.

Signs of dehydrated skin

Common signs of dehydration include skin that feels tight or is dry, flaky, itchy, dull looking, rough or marked by fine lines and dark shadows. Any of these conditions is a sure sign your skin needs some extra TLC.

Some symptoms of dehydrated skin texture can appear as early as your teen years, but in general they become more noticeable as you grow older.

How your skin works to stay hydrated

Your skin has its own, complex method for keeping itself hydrated. The outer skin—the epidermis—is made up of several layers of cells are in a constant state of being sloughed off and renewed. In the deepest layer of the epidermis, membrane proteins called aquaporins work to transport water from cell to cell, helping to nourish your skin naturally. Above that layer, other cells adhere together to form tight junctions that seal in water and control which molecules pass between them.

The top layer of the epidermis then forms a barrier to the external environment using lipids, mostly ceramide, and natural moisturizing factors. Water and those natural moisturizing factors work together to hydrate the skin.

Skin barriers and dehydration

Another way to look at it is to think of your skin having five barriers that work together to try to keep it healthy:

• The defense barrier works to remove impurities.
• The microbiome barrier works to keep your skin’s organisms in a healthy balance to avoid harmful biofilms.
• The support barrier works to rebuild and keep your skin smooth and resilient.
• The moisture barrier works to keep the skin optimally moisturized.
• And the environmental barrier protects the skin from outside elements like UVA and UVB rays.

When it comes to hydration, you need to focus on your moisture barrier, which helps keep essential moisture inside the skin rather than evaporating away.

[RELATED: Why you need a regular skin care routine]

How to treat dehydrated skin

The first step to fighting dehydrated skin is to make sure you drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet heavy in fruits and vegetables. But you can also help by upping your skin care regimen to support your moisture barrier.

Make sure you follow a regular skin care routine that includes a moisturizer morning and night. Your skin cells are constantly growing and replacing themselves, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes skin cells 30 days or more to turn over and regenerate. That’s why consistency is key when it comes to a good skin care routine.

Choose a quality moisturizer with long-lasting hydration to saturate your skin and fortify the moisture barrier. Artistry Skin Nutrition™ moisturizers for the face and eye area deliver supercharged moisture levels and hydrate skin for 24 hours. By sustaining higher moisture levels and improving the barrier, you can help prevent water and nutrient loss.

They infuse your skin with the nutrients and emollients it needs to help keep the moisture barrier strong and secure. One of the ingredients is white chia seed, which has been shown to help replenish and fortify your skin’s moisture barrier.

[RELATED: Are chia seeds good for you? In more ways than one!]

What skin care products are right for you?

Artistry Skin Nutrition moisturizers come in a variety of sets focused on different skin concerns: Hydrating, Balancing, Firming or Renewing. So whether you have dry skin or combination skin or are concerned about aging or fine lines, you can find one that’s right for you.

Need some help Take a personalized skin care assessment on the Artistry™ Virtual Beauty app. (Download the app on your iOS® or Android® device.) To learn more about the Artistry Skin Nutrition products, click on the links below. And for more skin care tips and tricks, check out other blogs on Amway Connections.