Hydration, a tight feeling situation

Hydrate your Skin!

Dehydrated skin is one of the most common skin complaints that I see and treat in the salon. This should not be confused with dry skin types, as this is a condition and not a skin type. 

Every skin type can have dehydration as a condition and can be aggravated by environmental factors, lifestyle choices (alcohol use, smoking, lack of sleep, insufficient fluid intake) as well as beauty products.

Dehydrated skin lacks water, usually within the body as well as on the outside. It feels tight and uncomfortable and soaks up any moisturiser in huge quantities and may still feel dry afterwards. It sometimes looks dull and lacklustre, feels itchy and often has dry, red patches. Loss of elasticity can also be a sign of dehydration.  Dehydration can cause the skin to look older, as fine lines will appear especially around the eyes, lips and on the forehead.

Treating dehydrated skin conditions start with trying to find out what caused in the first place. Most of the time the client changed her range of beauty product and her skin does not respond well to that. It can be easily rectified by looking at the ingredients in that new range and change the products accordingly.

Here are some of the most likely “problem” ingredients to watch out for (not all, the list is huge!)

• Petrochemicals-  paraffin, mineral oil, petroleum, petrolatum, Vaseline. 
• Chemical colours
• Specially denatured alcohols
• Harsh preservatives- Parabens – (methyl, propyl)
• Chemical frangrances
• Sodium lauryl sulfate benzoyl peroxide
• Salicylic acid
• Tea tree oil
• Topical acne medications (Rx treatments, such as Aczone, Retin-a, Retin-a Micro, Differin, and Tazorac)

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How to get it right
Your skin should feel comfortable and fresh after cleansing, not dry, tight and “squeaky” clean.  It should cleanse the skin without stripping it of its much-needed moisture.

 It is very possible that your skin developed a slight allergic reaction to the soap in your cleanser, so please check this first. Change it to a soap-free cleanser and see if this helps.

If you are using products that contain Alpha or Beta Hydroxy Acid  (salicylic acid), benzoyl peroxide or tea tree oil, stop using it until you have your skin has healed, then slowly introduce it again.

Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Your body needs sleep to heal and repair itself, so be kind to you skin and sleep a lot!
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Fill-up and drink 4-6 glasses water every day, yes water not fizzy drinks and YES in winter too…..

Use moisturisers  formulated for dehydrated skin. It should contain one or more of the following ingredients:       

•  Hyaluronic acid-moisture boosting effect, can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water.
•  Allantion-soothing effect
•  Ceramides-mimics the skin’s acid mantle and “waterproofs” the skin
•  Phospholipids-decrease water loss from the skin

Stay out of the sun. I cannot repeat myself enough that the sun is bad for your complexion. It will dry your skin out even more and on top of that will cause premature aging and wrinkling. 

Avoid long, hot showers –too much of a good thing is not good either!

 If you are living a very hot, dry climate you may consider getting a warm mist humidifier and run it a couple of hours each night.

I can recommend the following products from Vitaderm that will help you on the way to hydrated, soft and comfortable skin:

4-6 glasses of water per day is a must.

Vitaderm Hydrating Treatment Cream   
It contains moisture-binding elements, alongside a blend of essential extracts, to increase skin hydration and suppleness, without a trace of oiliness. It contains increased concentrations of hyaluronic acid, both high molecular weight and low molecular weight, to help boost collagen production and increase superficial hydration. It is able to retain more than 1000 times in weight in moisture.
 

Vitaderm Intensive Hydrating Serum 

This creamy, gel-textured serum contains increased hyaluronic acid concentration.  It contains both high- and low- molecular weight hyaluronic acid to impart both deep hydration and superficial suppleness. Recommended for dehydrated skins that tend to be dry rather than oily.

Please contact us at agb111@mweb.co.za if you have any questions about your skin type or condition.