10 Step Skin Care Routine for Dry Skin Recommend by Estheticians

Are you constantly seeking to make your skin more moisturised?

But the longer your skin stays dry, the more products you end up using.

And does finding a suitable skincare routine seem like an exhaustive multi-step process?

A good routine isn’t about taking as many steps before bed.

The key, infact, is daily prevention and nurturing through layering.

And understand precisely how to cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturise your skin.

Join us as we explore the skin care routine for dry skin.

With our expert tips from the Gods of Hydration, your skin will soon be moisturised.

Skin Care Routine for Dry Skin

Step 1. Start with the eye cleanse

The first step is to cleanse your eyes with an oil-based eye makeup remover to melt off your mascara.

Be careful not to get overzealous. Overdoing the delicate tissue around your eyes could cause dryness and irritation.

Your eye cleanse is the initial calm before the storm, as you prepare for skincare justice to be served through cleansing.

Step 2: Use a non-foaming cleanser

An essential step in your dry-cleansing routine is to use a non-stripping cleanser.

Dry skin types love nourishing oil or cream cleanser. Unlike many foaming surfactant-based cleaners, these don’t disrupt the skin’s barrier function.

So, choose a cleanser that gently cleanses while leaving your delicate acid mantle and existing hydration intact.

Miracle Cleanse is a delight to use on dry skin and remains a cornerstone of many of our clients’ dry-skin care routines.

It’s chock-full of fatty acids, protective antioxidants, and phospholipids—intelligent ingredients that work as both an emulsifier and a thickener, helping to buffer the contact of cleansing agents against your skin.

Gently massage the cold-pressed oils and organic botanicals into your skin to break down those stubborn makeup bonds.

This also helps remove ageing free radicals that build up on your skin throughout the day. Then, gently rinse.

Step 3. Something to exfoliate with

We hear you. When your skin is dry, dull, and flaky, it is tempting to exfoliate it away.

You take off one layer of skin cells, and suddenly, you’re a shining, wrinkle-less star, but what happens when you take off another layer and then another? Nothing good will come of this approach.

It is essential to understand that harsh scrubs and chemical exfoliators can make your skin even drier and cause tiny microtears, undermining your skin’s protective barrier and leading to a range of skin conditions.

Instead, give your skin what it needs: hydration. If you must exfoliate, use a light and gentle powder-based exfoliant or one containing urea or lactic acid.

This is the final step of your exorcism phase. Yay! Now that your skin is fresh, let’s move to the first step of your product layering routine: toners.

Step 4. Something to Spritz with

No luxurious beauty and skincare products online would be complete without a toner or essence to be spritzed on the face.

A well-formulated toner loaded with humectants such as hyaluronic acid, sodium PCA, and urea will help you hydrate and remove residue from your cleanser.

Toners deliver intense moisture, restore your skin’s pH, balance your acid mantle, replenish the delicate microflora, and prep your skin for the next essential step: your serum.

Step 5. Super concentrated serums

You can add as many serums as your skin requires, like a Pandora charm bracelet.

Layering products is essential because they can be lacking in oil if your skin is dry. If it is dehydrated, it lacks water.

If your skin falls between the two, you will want to add a humectant-rich formula that works like a drink of water for your skin.

Humectants do this better than other ingredients because they lock in moisture against your skin and prevent it from escaping.

This study (1) on urea found that it helps increase skin hydration and improve skin barrier integrity.

Our H20 hyaluronic skin shot is like a hydrating holiday in a bottle.

Quench is a weightless gel cream that unlocks your skin’s aquaporins—the tiny microchannels that transport water deep into your skin layers—and even helps create new ones. This means your skin feels deeply hydrated fast.

However, if your skin feels tight and has tiny pores, it is scorched; this is where your cold-pressed botanical oils for dry skin will come in.

They are emollients that provide your skin with a much-needed moisture boost.

This study demonstrated (2) that emollients consist primarily of lipids, significantly increasing skin softness, hydration, smoothness and flexibility.

Xcell skin shot is the perfect example; think of liquid-gold vitamins for your face as you massage it into your skin.

Plant-derived oils, such as squalane, sea buckthorn, and rosehip, have been proven to reduce inflammation, promoting wound healing and skin barrier repair.

Next, step up your moisture game further with your protective moisturiser.

Step 6. Pack an extra punch of moisture

On the moisturiser front, Fortify barrier repair cream is a lush, buttery cream that indulges your skin with a protective, healing film of barrier-repairing ingredients.

A quadruple complex of conditioning ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids that protects your face from irritation and reinforces the lipid barrier.

These ingredients are incredibly nourishing and healing. They soften rough cells and form a protective seal over your skin’s surface to energise, replenish, and comfort skin lacking in lipids.

This article does a great job of breaking down what to look for in a dry skin cream.

Step 7. Don’t overlook your eye cream

We can’t forget the eye cream for a skin care routine for dry skin.

This is a self-explanatory product, but take note of the technique.

Gently tap around your eye area to help with absorption and prevent tugging and pulling on the delicate skin around your eyes.

Revital eye cream has the moisture levels of a thick cream but with a weightless, cloud-like texture that removes any rough patches or flakiness.

Containing both Vitamin A and Q10, it helps to minimise the appearance of dark circles and fine lines.

Next up in your skin care routine for dry skin is your luscious treatment balm, and now nothing will be able to stop you.

Step 8. Balms are a dry skin cream

Barrier repair balm is responsibly sourced, organic where possible, and packed with every exotic oil imaginable.

Ceramides, essential fatty acids, and a mesotherapy inspired complex of exotic oils synergistically combine in a melting balm based on botanical oils and lipids.

The consistency of Barrier Repair balm is emollient straight out of the jar; once you rub it between your fingers, it melts into a lightweight oil with a noticeable slip, and it doesn’t sit heavy on your skin.

Calming blue essential oils soothe your mind and settle your soul.

Alternatively, you could use a fluffy, skin-softening concoction like Nectar balm to help replenish your precious lipids.

The texture feels like fancy Vaseline and has manuka honey to kill bacteria. A double bonus: it smells like pineapple upside-down cake.

Next, let’s move on to your night cream. We hear you say, Are you suggesting that I apply another layer?

We are, indeed. You should have noticed by now that a skin care routine for dry skin is all about layering.

Step 9. All hail the night cream

By this point, your face feels slightly mummified with a dewy, moist glow. Your once-dry skin is surely sinking into oblivion.

Your skin needs to reset, and giving it an intense occlusive moisture treatment, as this study demonstrated (3), while you recharge overnight, is the perfect antidote.

Step 10. Sun protection!!

The sun will always be your nemesis, especially when your skin is compromised.

UV rays can cause further damage at this time, leading to dark spots and inflammation. So put on the sunscreen!

To conclude. The naked truth

Intimidated? Well, whilst it might appear so at first glance, as I tell all our clients, this routine only takes 5 minutes out of your day.

Dry skin requires extra TLC, as it is far more complex than you might first think.

This is simply because your skin can be affected by numerous conditions, such as flakiness, dehydration, dullness, sensitivity, and tightness.

Dry skin requires extra protection and added nourishment to heal and regain its balance. Please treat it with care to return it to its youthful, dewy glow.

Hence, we recommend introducing humectants, balancing oils, moisture-locking butters and conditioning ceramides into your dry skin care routine to help regenerate your skin.

And with all those nourishing ingredients, it’s a real therapeutic treat to pamper your skin.

References

1. Urea in Dermatology: Its Emollient, Moisturising, Keratolytic, Skin Barrier-Enhancing Properties.

2. The Role of Moisturisers in Addressing Various Kinds of Dermatitis: A Review.

3. A Review of Moisturisers: History, Preparation, Characterisation and Applications.