How to Manage Dry Skin: Causes, Symptoms, and Skincare

Dry skin is often not taken seriously and is commonly treated as a surface-level concern. Most people think adding an extra layer of moisturiser will do the job and ignore the deep-rooted problem causing the skin to be dry. 

If your skin is dry all the time, you may need to know what’s going on beneath your skin layers. This blog will help you to address dry skin, understand its causes, signs, and how to manage it. 

What is Dry Skin

Dry skin refers to a skin type that naturally produces low to very low sebum. Sebum is crucial to keep your skin moisturised, and when your skin lacks that, it is characterised as dry.  

However, in many cases, dry skin can be a condition triggered by any internal or external factor. It is not the same as dehydrated skin, where lack of water shapes the condition instead of oil or sebum. 

What Causes Dry Skin

Anyone can have dry skin. Some internal and external factors lead to skin becoming dry. Let's go through some of the most common dry skin causes.

• Genetics: Your skin is highly determined by your genetics, and there is not much you can do about it. All you can do is manage the dryness and flakiness with a proper routine. Skin type tends to remain consistent throughout life, though severity can fluctuate.
• Ageing: As we age, our skin tends to lose its oil, which increases the chances of dryness. 
• Certain Medications: If you are on a serious medication for a long time, those drugs can affect your skin. Itching, rashes, and redness are common problems followed by dryness due to some medicines. 
• Weather: For some people, changing weather conditions affect their skin a lot. Dry weather conditions lack moisture, affecting your skin barrier, hence, they can make your skin even drier. 
• Lifestyle Habits: If you bathe in hot water or wash your face frequently, this can dry out your skin. 
  

Dry Skin Symptoms

The earlier you catch the dry skin signs, the better you can treat them. Here are some of the general symptoms of dry skin.

• Flakiness
  
• High sensitivity
  
• Redness
  
• Irritation
  
• Stinging sensation
  
• Peeling
  
• Rough texture

Dry skin can show more visible ageing signs due to a lack of moisture in the skin’s deeper layers. You might feel tightness in the skin right after cleansing your face. It appears dull and lacklustre. There is no to minimal suppleness and reduced elasticity. 

If you are able to catch one or more signs of dryness, it’s crucial to start treating it without delay with the right ingredients and approach. 

Skincare Ingredients for Dry Skin

Treating dry skin requires a smart and combined approach. Even if your skin is genetically dry, you can manage it to a good extent with the right ingredients. There are humectants, emollients, and occlusives for dry skin. Skincare ingredients that can help with dryness include;

Humectants 

Humectants are ingredients that attract water and pull it into the skin. They take moisture from surroundings and pass it to the deeper layers of the skin. Here are the two commonly used humectants in skincare;

• Hyaluronic acid is able to hold significant amounts of water in the skin, making it a very powerful humectant and an ideal ingredient for dry skin. You can go with mild cleansers containing hyaluronic acid combined with skin-soothing ingredients. 
• Glycerin is another humectant widely used in skincare formulations. It is suitable for sensitive and dry skin types.

Also Read: How to Get Rid of Red, Irritated Skin: Skincare Routine 

Emollients 

Emollients fill the small, microscopic gaps between the cells of the skin. They do so in the form of lipids and oils. This helps to create a protective barrier on the outermost layer of the skin, keeping it moisturised from within. In other words, emollients form a thin film on the surface of your skin. Popular and effective emollients are;

• Squalene mimics the skin's natural oil, easily absorbed without making you feel greasy. It is helpful with dryness in any skin type, or specifically in dry skin types. 
• Jojoba oil is another emollient with structural similarities to sebum, making it well tolerated by usually all skin types. It helps with flakiness and patchy skin.  
  
• Shea butter is derived from the shea tree nut and can smooth the rough texture with consistent use. It can soften the skin and is usually found in thick, heavy moisturiser formulations. 

Occlusives

Ingredients that can form a physical and protective barrier on the skin surface to prevent water loss are occlusives. They lock moisture into the skin to make it well hydrated. If your skin is very dry or experiencing dryness due to heightened sensitivity, occlusives can work for you.

• Beeswax is a natural occlusive derived from honeycomb. It can support your skin barrier, calm skin inflammation, and improve irregular and rough texture. 
  

Skincare Routine for Dry Skin

You need a carefully created, consistent skincare routine for your dry skin. Your skincare should focus on barrier repair, smoothing the skin texture, and improving the dry skin signs. 

Don't look for one ideal product; instead, go for a step-by-step skincare routine to hydrate your skin deeply and lock in the moisture. 

Below is a simple-to-follow skincare routine for dry skin.

Step 1: Cleanse your skin

Cleanse your skin with Cream Cleanse, a vitamins-enriched cream cleanser. It is an emollient-enriched cleanser that can repair your skin barrier and replenish moisture in the skin layers. 

It comes with panthenol, shea butter, and jojoba oil to target dry skin problems, including inflammation, fine lines, wrinkles, roughness, and sensitive skin. 

Step 2: Target dryness with a hydrating serum

You can try Ultra B3 10% niacinamide & hyaluronic acid serum for balancing moisture and enhancing overall skin strength. 

It restores hydration in your skin while protecting against harmful UV rays. People dealing with hyperpigmentation and acne scarring can find it beneficial. 

Step 3: Moisturise to seal in hydration

Hydrafusion is a Snap 8 peptide moisturiser that gives a luxurious feel and optimal moisture to your skin. 

With its healing properties, it reduces redness and associated itching in the skin. You can use it in both the morning and night. 

Step 4: Care for your eye area

You can end your dry skin AM routine with Eyelift Day age-defying peptide eye serum and PM routine with Eyelift Night overnight repair eye mask to combat eye area dryness and dark circles. Just take one to two pumps, and you’re done. 

Also Read: Eye Serums: When & How to Apply the Correct Way

Role of pH in Dry Skin

Your skin naturally has an acidic pH that usually falls between 4.5 and 5.5. It supports your barrier to stay intact and healthy by helping the microbes and lipids stay in balance. 

When this balance gets disrupted, which may be due to several reasons, including harsh cleansers, hard water, extreme weather conditions, etc, your barrier struggles to hold onto moisture. In this situation, your skin starts showing signs of dryness, flakiness, and even redness. 

A disturbed pH balance results in dry skin. Hence, it is important to maintain the natural pH environment of your skin to keep it healthy, plump, and fresh. 

Common Mistakes That Worsen Dryness

Even a well-established routine can fail if you keep practising wrong lifestyle habits to worsen the dry skin condition. Some of the most frequent ones to watch for:

• Over-exfoliation: Rubbing your skin with harsh cleansers and face washes will not reduce the dryness but make the condition even worse. Avoid strong acids and physical scrubs if your skin is inflamed and stinging. They strip away the natural oils. 
• Using hot water: Heat can contribute to making your skin drier by attacking your sebum. Avoid hot and even warm showers if your skin is very dry. 
• Skincare with harsh actives: Some ingredients can work for other skin types ideally and still impact your dry skin negatively. Not every skincare ingredient suits the dry skin type. 
• Not moisturising well: Leaving skin bare for too long after washing, allowing water to evaporate from the surface before it can be locked in.
  

Final Words

Dry skin does not have to be a constant cycle of temporary fixes. A consistent and well-maintained skincare routine created with appropriate actives can help you manage your dry, rough skin. 

Use hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and glycerin to support your barrier. Practice habits that help preserve natural oils for your skin. 

References

• Marie Lodén, "Role of topical emollients and moisturizers in the treatment of dry skin barrier disorders", 2003
• E Proksch, "The role of emollients in the management of diseases with chronic dry skin", 2008
• Anneke Andriessen, "Prevention, recognition and treatment of dry skin conditions", 2013 Jan
• Ehrhardt Proksch, Jean-Marie Lachapelle, "The management of dry skin with topical emollients--recent perspectives,"2005 Oct