Dry Skin vs Dehydrated Skin: What’s the difference?

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Here in the U.S., fall is in full swing. I love seeing the leaves change color, fall, and form a beautiful blanket over the streets and yards. And while the temperature is still fairly crisp (though it did snow here while I was in London!) day after day we’re starting to feel the temperatures go down. As it becomes colder, and we begin heating our homes, offices, etc, our skin goes through an adaptation period that’s honestly pretty sucky. I’ve already started to feel some hydration issues with my skin, and I’ve been using a few different products to try to combat that. Every winter, my skin gets dehydrated, flaky, dull, and looks worse with makeup on. It’s something I’ve been trying to learn more about and fix for years!

But after all—what’s the difference between dry & dehydrated skin? And how should those two things be treated?

 

Dry Skin

Dry skin naturally doesn’t produce a lot of oil, and has trouble keeping its skin moisturized for this reason. It flakes easily, and often doesn’t have that healthy glow that is so coveted in the K-beauty world. Luckily, low oil production is easy to treat with the right ingredients.

Instead of focusing on hydration (which we’ll talk about later in this post), dry skin should focus on emollient ingredients, those which moisturize the skin. Here are a few lovely ingredients in that category:

• Glycerin
• Certain oils
  • It’s important to point out that not all oils are created equal. We tend to think of oils as moisturizers, but the truth is that each kind of oil serves a different function. Tea Tree oil, for example, is extremely aggressive and used to combat oily skin and acne. For dry skin, that would be a recipe for disaster! Essencial oils can also be tricky—they can be extremely irritating for certain skin types. Some oils that are wonderful moisturizers are: jojoba, marula (my favorite!), squalane, tamanu, and rosehip.
• Honey

Those with dry skin should focus on moisturizing serums, moisturizers, creams, and oils. Here are a few products for dry skin:

• Drunk Elephant Marula Oil
• Biossance Squalane & Rose Vitamin C Oil
• Tamanu Oil
• Embryolisse Lait Crème Concentre
• Weleda Skin Food
• Neogen White Truffle Serum in Oil Drop

 

Dehydrated Skin

Unlike dry skin, dehydrated skin can actually produce quite a bit of oil. Many people with oily skin don’t usually think their skin can be dehydrated—but it definitely can! The issue with dehydrated skin is that it can’t retain as much water, which sometimes makes is produce even more oil to try to compensate.

What makes our skin become dehydrated? Low humidity levels in the air around us, the dry air from heating, low water intake, genetics… there are several factors that can contribute to this issue.

Those with dehydrated skin, like myself, should focus on hydrating ingredients that increase the amount of water in the skin. Here are a few great ones:

• Hyaluronic Acid (I’ll write a separate post on this ingredient, because I’ve found out the hard way that if used without other hydrating ingredients it can actually make your skin worse!)
• Aloe Vera extract
• Collagen

The key product categories for dehydrated skin are toners, mists, serums, and hydrating moisturizers. Here are some of my personal favorites:

• Klairs Supple Preparation Toner
• Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence
• Hada Labo Gokujyun Premium Hyaluronic Acid Lotion
• Drunk Elephant B-Hydra (meu hidratante predileto de todos os tempos!)
• Belif Aqua Bomb

For those of us in dry, cold climates, simply increasing the amount of water in our skin won’t cut it. We also have to make sure that water stays there! To that, after applying all of your hydrating products, it’s important to add an occlusive layer to lock it all in. Occlusive creams or oils don’t have to be heavy, and also don’t have to be applied in thick layers. The products listed above for dry skin are great options!

I know that oily skin types are usually really scared of applying heavier creams. And those with dehydrated skin may have tried to fix it with heavier creams or oils without much success—precisely because they were solving the wrong problem. I’m speaking from personal experience! It’s worth trying this method and seeing how your skin reacts.

After much trial and error, I’ve learned a lot about my skin and have discovered that I have combination skin which gets easily dehydrated in the winter. Even though I drink a ton of water (about a gallon a day) the water we drink doesn’t generally end up going into our skin. It must be absorbed from the air around us, or we have to make up for it with our skincare. It’s been a long trajectory for me! This will be my ninth winter in the northern U.S. and I feel like I finally understand how to handle this very aggressive climate for my skin.

 

Do you have dry or dehydrated skin? What are your favorite products or treatments for these issues?

 

Stay curious,

Nati