Our body system often speaks to us through signs to let us know when something is wrong. However, if you choose to ignore these signs, it can result in a more risky situation. One of these signs is skin dehydration.
After spending a few hours without drinking water, your body starts giving you signs like feeling thirsty, tiredness, and a dry mouth to let you know that you are dehydrated.
Your skin also gives you signs of being dehydrated. However, many people tend to confuse dehydrated skin with dry skin.
How do you know if you have dehydrated skin? What are the signs to let you know your skin is dehydrated?
Here is a guide to help you understand what skin dehydration is all about, how to know if your skin is dehydrated, and the effective treatments to help you have more healthy skin.
Article Contents
What is Skin Dehydration?
Skin dehydration is a skin condition that occurs when your body lacks enough water. Dehydrated skin occurs when your body loses more water than it takes in.
Your skin is dehydrated when it starts feeling dry or itchy because it lacks a quality amount of water. This could be because you don’t drink enough water or you sweat a lot.
Skin dehydration is often confused with dry skin. While the former is a temporary skin condition, dry skin is a skin type due to the lack of skin’s natural oils.
In this case, you might have oily skin and still experience skin dehydration. Despite having an oily skin type, skin dehydration can cause your skin to feel dry and flaky.
Signs of a Dehydrated Skin
While you might have to go to a dermatologist to get diagnosed, here are some glaring signs to help you know if your skin is dehydrated.
You know your skin is dehydrated when you see noticeable fine lines and wrinkles on your face. Skin dehydration can also cause itchy skin and make your skin appear dull and flaky.
Other signs of dehydrated skin are sunken eyes, skin irritation, and dark undereye circles. Your skin also gets extremely sensitive once it is dehydrated because it can’t fight against any external irritants. Hence, you might notice your skin turning red.
While anyone can naturally experience skin dehydration at some point, here are some of the core causes of dehydrated skin.
Some of the Causes of Skin Dehydration
Several factors can make your skin dehydrated. It goes beyond not drinking enough water or excessive sweat.
This could be a result of lifestyle choices, environmental factors, and unhealthy diet. It could also be a result of your skincare routine. Let’s have a look:
Harsh Skincare Products
Using the wrong skincare products can have damaging effects on your skin. Harsh skincare products can affect your skin’s barrier. When you use the wrong skincare product for your skin type, it can disrupt your skin’s outer layer.
Using skincare products that have alcohol, menthol, and fragrances in them can also make the surface of your skin feel dehydrated. This will further cause skin irritation and the production of excess oil.
Your Lifestyle Choices
While not drinking enough water is a primary cause of skin dehydration, excess intake of caffeine and alcohol also causes severe dehydration. This is because these two affect your skin’s overall health since they deplete the fluid in your skin.
While caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, they also hinder the hormones that are responsible for rehydrating your skin. Maintaining an unhealthy eating habit or diet that lacks water-rich foods can also make you feel dehydrated.
Environmental Factors
Environmental factors such as UV rays and humidity can cause skin dehydration. Extreme weather conditions can zap your skin’s moisture. It’s even more difficult when you use harsh skincare products that weaken your skin’s surface.
How Can You Treat Your Dehydrated Skin?
Skin dehydration can be treated once you make a few lifestyle changes and a more healthy skincare regimen. If you feel your skin is always dry and flaky due to dehydration, here are some tips to help you rehydrate your skin.
Drink Enough Water
To stay hydrated and have healthy glowing skin, you should cultivate the habit of drinking at least eight glasses of water a day.
Drinking plenty of water will help your skin stay hydrated, brighten your skin tone, and clear your complexion. You can also make use of lukewarm water to bathe instead of hot water.
Additionally, you can invest in a humidifier to help maintain your skin’s moisture.
Reduce your caffeine and alcohol intake to at least a glass daily if you must take one.
Change Your Skin Care Routine
Another thing you want to do is check your skincare routine to see if it contains harsh chemicals that might endanger your skin.
For a change, make use of gentle cleaners that don’t make your skin feel dry. You should also stop using harsh scrubs or rough brushes that can damage the outer layer of your skin.
Replace skin stripping toners with rehydrating toners that add moisture to your skin. Toners, serums, and moisturizers that contain antioxidants and hydrating ingredients help your skin stay hydrated.
When applying products to help treat your dehydrated skin, you don’t need to use them daily to get your desired results. It’s best to apply them on alternate days to see if they work on your skin.
You can also invest in hydrating solutions like glycerin, betain, and the fatty acid complex to rehydrate your skin. There is also a caffeine eye cream and a polyglutamic acid serum that can also help you treat your dehydrated skin.
Essential Skin Care Routine to Help Your Skin Stay Hydrated
Your skincare routine is one thing you want to address when you feel your skin is dehydrated. It’s not only about drinking eight glasses of water daily. You also need to treat your skin externally.
Here are some skincare routine tips:
- Use Lukewarm Water & Gentle Cleaner
If you have dehydrated skin or want your skin to stay hydrated, always make use of lukewarm water. Instead of harsh cleansers with alcohol, you should use gentle cleansers that add moisture to your skin.
- Apply Serums and Toners
You don’t want to skip serums and toners in your skincare routine. Including a serum and a toner in your routine enhances hydration, retains moisture, and protects the outer layer of your skin from irritants.
Serums that include hyaluronic acid keep your skin soft and bright, so you won’t have to deal with flaky or dull skin.
- Exfoliate Your Skin
Exfoliating your skin is also recommended if you have dehydrated skin. However, you need a gentle exfoliant to help clear flakes and dead skin.
Exfoliants that include natural ingredients like strawberry and salicylic acid will help exfoliate your skin and brighten your skin’s appearance.
Wrapping Up
Skin dehydration shouldn’t be left untreated because it could lead to serious skin conditions like acne, dry patches, and so on.
You must make the necessary changes in the internal and external forces that cause dehydrated skin. Always drink enough water, use gentle skin care products, and reduce your alcohol and caffeine intake.
Also, your skincare routine matters more if you want to keep your skin hydrated. While it is healthy to drink enough water, that’s not enough to keep your skin hydrated.
Always invest in products that have hydrating ingredients that replenish your skin, retain moisture, and brighten your skin tone.
Take time today to take proper care of your skin!
If you need the help of a skincare expert you can contact our aesthetician for guidance.
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