Skin Conditions | Dry Skin
5 Tips on Dry Skin and How to Treat it
Beautiful, dewy skin is the holy grail of the skincare world.
One with an outward glow that we perceive as a radiant, youthful complexion.
If you are a dry skin sufferer, you know all too well how hard it is to achieve.
So why not join us as we help you decode your dry skin?
5 Tips to Understand Your Dry Skin
1. Why is my skin so dry?
We must get technical to answer this, so please bear with us.
A growing body of research (1) has found that the key to skin health is in the stratum corneum – the outermost layer – which acts as a barrier between your skin and the outside world, consisting of skin cells packed closely together.
Plump, healthy cells originate in the lower layers of the skin – the dermis – and migrate towards the surface, where they form an essential barrier that helps keep moisture locked in and irritants out.
Occasionally, this barrier fails, allowing bacteria and viruses to penetrate and water to evaporate much faster. In return, your skin can quickly become dry and sensitive.
When your skin’s barrier is disrupted, it is no longer protected from environmental stressors and pollution and loses its ability to protect and defend itself.
2. Can my Dry Skin be Dehydrated?
Dry skin lacks oil; if it lacks water, it is dehydrated.
Manufacturers often overlook this common skincare mistake, but it is worth considering.
- If your skin is oil-dry, you need a good oil-based product containing occlusives and emollients.
- If your skin is water-dry, then you will require humectant-based formulas.
When a client asks why their skin is so dry, it can be because they are dehydrated. This is a broad subject which we wrote about in the Clear Skin Difference.
3. How Can I Treat My Dry Skin?
We recommend using a two-pronged approach:
First, treat it from the “outside-in”. The “outside” is the stratum corneum, and the “in” is the therapeutic effects that start in the stratum corneum and work their way into the deeper layers.
Secondly, use products that contain ingredients that resemble the membrane structure of your natural skin barrier.
This makes sense when you consider how your skin contains compromised and depleted ingredients with age.
- squalane
- ceramides
- phospholipids
- triglycerides
- fatty acids
- cholesterol
All of these components combine to form your skin’s protective barrier; this study (2) examines the role of ceramides in skin health.
4. What Ingredients Will Help?
The Naked Chemist range contains many active products encapsulated in liposomes, which take the active ingredients past the stratum corneum into the deeper layers of your skin.
Due to their ability to mimic the skin’s core components, these liposomes permeate the skin’s barrier, enabling the penetration of active ingredients.
The liposomes also protect the active agents from any possible breakdown before they enter your skin cells.
Both Fortify Barrier Repair Cream and Xcell Barrier Repair Oil are liposomal-rich. They contain skin-identical ingredients that help restore the integrity of your protective barrier and promote skin health.
If you feel that your skin is water-dry or both, you require a combination of lipid and humectant-based products, as discussed above.
H₂O Hydrating skin shot and Quench Gel act like tiny moisture magnets, fully replenishing a dehydrated, depleted skin type.
5. What Ingredients Should I Avoid?
Harsh products, such as soaps and cleansing agents, can wash away the natural fatty substances and acids from your skin, creating gaps in the structure of the barrier layers.
The following are drying ingredients that you should steer clear of:
- alcohols and astringents
- Fragrances can cause dryness and irritation.
- Silicones appear to create a smooth, superficial feeling on your skin, but can become dry.g
- Mineral oils affect your skin’s natural activity, preventing it from producing its protective substances.
We like to use ingredients in our formulas that work with your skin, not against it.
Ingredients that allow beneficial ingredients to penetrate fully support natural hydration and barrier repair, giving your skin what it needs to be healthy.
To conclude. The naked chemist
Dry skin is complex to treat. We recommend treating your skin with products that contain ingredients that resemble the membrane structure of your skin’s natural barrier.
These include ceramides, fatty acids, cholesterol, phospholipids, triglycerides, and squalane.
These ingredients are fully recognised by your skin as its own, forming your protective barrier, eliminating inflammation, and warding off premature ageing.
Skin-identical ingredients that will keep your skin happy, healthy, and balanced for now and for many years.
References
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The Clinical Relevance of Maintaining the Functional Integrity of the Stratum Corneum in both Healthy and Disease-affected Skin
- Ceramides and the barrier function in healthy skin
