How To Hydrate Your Skin

Sometimes it can be really hard to find a balance with your skin and keep it feeling hydrated and healthy. Especially in the winter months when your skin is more prone to dryness and irritation due to the cold, dry air, and swift changes in temperature as you go from the blustery outdoors to central-heated homes and hot baths (heavenly, we know, but not so great for keeping your skin hydrated).

In today’s post, were going to be discussing the difference between dry skin, and dehydrated skin, and giving you our best tips on how to keep your skin healthily hydrated no matter the weather.

What’s the difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin?

Dry skin is caused by a lack of oil in your skin, whereas dehydrated skin is caused by a lack of water in your skin. It can be hard to tell if your skin is dry or dehydrated (or both!), but there are a few little telltale signs you can look out for.

Dry skin characteristics

• Roughness
• Flaking
• Cracked skin
• Scaling
• Loose skin

Dehydrated skin characteristics

• Less elasticity (your skin will take a while to ‘snap back’ if pinched)
• Fine lines
• Cracked lips
• Itchiness
  

If you do have dry skin, then it’s very likely that you could have dehydrated skin, too, as your skin will struggle to hold on to moisture. But there are measures you can take to help hydrate your skin and alleviate the bothersome symptoms.

Up Your Water Intake

Your skin is made up of 30% water, and although drinking plenty of water won’t hydrate your skin alone, it will help your body to stay hydrated and will also help to support your essential functions, too.

Limit Alcoholic Drinks

Alcohol is a diuretic, which means that it forces water out of your body and makes it harder to hydrate again afterwards. If you’ve experienced a heavy night of drinking, you’ll know that familiar dehydrated feeling the next morning, and you’ll have most likely seen the effects on your skin, too. So, whilst you might not want to cut alcohol out completely, it’s a great idea to limit your intake and ensure you drink water in between alcoholic drinks to help your body hold onto that hydration.

How To Hydrate Skin Fast By Sticking To A Proper Skincare Routine

Cementing a proper skincare routine that’s tailored just for your skin type will make a world of difference to how your skin both looks and feels. A proper skincare routine ensures that your skin gets the vital ingredients it needs, when it needs it. It also helps to support your skin with the ageing process – aiding cell renewal and repair to leave you with a radiant complexion.

Take Supplements To Hydrate Your Skin From Within

If you’re wondering how to hydrate skin from the inside, then supplements are another great option. With ingredients like hyaluronic acid and essential fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6, your skin is supported from within.

Our customers love:

Advanced Nutrition Programme Skin Accumax

Nourish your skin on all levels from the inside out with Advanced Nutrition Programme's Skin Accumax.

With a blend of vitamin A, vitamin C, Vitamin E, phytonutrients, and DIM, the specialist formula works to transform your skin. 

ANP's formulas are well-loved by celebrities and beauty editors alike for their ability to alleviate a whole host of skin conditions - from acne to rosacea. The award-winning formulas are carefully designed to help you maintain healthy, radiant skin, and with proven results, it's easy to see why they constantly feature in our bestselling list. 

How To Keep Skin Hydrated By Getting Your Beauty Sleep

You might not think that getting an early night has any impact on the moisture content of your skin, but actually, better quality sleep has been linked with increased moisture barrier recovery. And with a strong moisture barrier, your skin is able to retain moisture and hold onto hydration much more effectively. Not to mention, your skin cells renew and repair during the night, so the better and more consistent your sleep pattern, the better your skin will look and feel.

Best Way To Hydrate Skin With Weekly Exfoliation

Weekly exfoliation is really helpful in sloughing away dead skin cells and other impurities that have built up on your skin. It allows you to give your skin a deep cleanse which means that your skincare products can properly penetrate your skin and work at a deeper level. It also helps to promote skin regeneration which in turn improves the texture and tone of your skin. It’s important that your exfoliator isn’t harsh on your skin and that it doesn’t strip your skin of its natural oils. From chemical exfoliators that utilise ingredients like glycolic acid, to physical exfoliators that have texture from ingredients like microparticles, or even coffee, to help remove the debris, there are many options to choose from.

Our customers love:

Medik8 Pore Refining Scrub

With jojoba micro-exfoliators, and decongesting BHAs, and mild AHSs, this two-in-one face scrub helps to gently remove dead skin cells, whilst the acids work to decongest your pores, leaving you with softened and smoothed skin.

Assess Your Diet

What you put into your body really does show on the outside, too, so eating a healthy diet of nourishing foods really helps to improve your skin.

Healthy fats from sources like salmon, sardines, and tuna are full of essential fatty acids that help to boost your skin’s natural moisture. Other great options are seeds and nuts – especially almonds, flax, macadamia, pumpkin, and walnuts.

Don’t Forget Your SPF

Protecting your skin from harmful UV rays helps to keep your skin healthy and your natural skin barrier strong. The sun’s harmful rays damage your skin barrier, making it harder for your skin to retain moisture and hold hydration. It’s important to wear SPF daily, even on cloudy, rainy days, as UV rays are always present.

Our customers love:

Heliocare 360 Gel Oil-Free SPF 50

Defend your skin with this high broad-spectrum protection sunscreen.

With a unique oil-free dry touch texture, the formula is enriched with the brand's Fernblock^® FC and gives powerful antioxidant protection whilst shielding your skin from UVA, UVB, visible light and IR-A (infrared radiation - A).

Cut Down On Salty Foods

Salty foods may taste great, but they’re actually super dehydrating for your skin too. If you have a diet that’s too high in sodium, you’ll notice the changes in your skin such as irritation and itchiness.

Moisturize Skin Naturally With Naturally-Derived Formulas  

There are many different ingredients that help to replenish the hydration in your skin – great sources are avocado, shea butter, coconut, and even honey. With fatty acids and plenty of vitamins, these natural ingredients can help your skin to stay hydrated, leaving you with suppler, smoother, more radiant looking skin.

Our customers love: 

Weleda 24h Hydrating Facial Cream

This long-lasting moisturiser is enriched with shea butter, and safflower seed oil to deeply nourish your skin. The addition of prickly pear extract and aloe vera juice help to plump and hydrate your skin.  

This nourishing formula is suitable for vegans, and is a firm favourite of our FTF customers (and beauty professionals, too!)

Be Mindful Of Hot Baths And Showers

We know that hot baths and showers feel amazing – especially when you’ve been outside on a cold wintery day, but they’re actually a key culprit in stripping your skin of essential oils and moisture, leaving your skin barrier impaired and unable to retain moisture quite so well. Lukewarm baths and showers that don’t last very long are the best for your skin.

Need a little help or guidance on how to keep your skin looking and feeling its best? Our skincare experts are available on 0113 282 7744, or by email at shop@facethefuture.co.uk. You can also complete our online real-time skin test which will give you a complete skincare routine that’s specially suited to your skin type and concerns.