Does hot water damage skin? A closer look

If you like using hot water on your skin you may want to reconsider your water temperature choice.

The delicate skin on your face can become damaged by hot water. Hot water damages the skins natural protective barrier and this can result in an uneven skin tone. It can strip your face of sebum making your skin dry. Hot water can also irritate and even burn your skin.

I love them, you love them many people love hot showers, hot drinks, hot water on their face and hot water in general.

But hot water can be very damaging to the skin. Hot water can be the cause of various very undesirable skin concerns.

This article gives the answer to the question “Does hot water damage skin?”

If you regularly take hot showers you might want to consider changing your routine.

Cooler showers may have to become your new staple. It actually will do you a lot of good.

Does hot water damage skin?

Why does skin go red in how water?

This has to do with how the temperature affects the blood vessels in the skin. When the temperature is high the blood vessels will increase in size.

This happens to allow blood to flow in larger quantities and release more heat through the skin.

This increase in blood flow under the skin is what causes the skin to get red. The opposite happens for when you take cold showers.

Is hot water good for your skin?

There are pros and cons to using hot water on the skin just as there are pros and cons to using cold water on the skin.

The benefits of cold showers are that they give you glowing hair and skin. Coldwater is able to wake you up and will calm itchy skin.

The benefit of hot showers is that the steam can loosen up phlegm when you’re sick, they can open up the pores of the skin releasing oils and they can relax the muscles.

The best water to use is warm water, see why here

Unfortunately, especially when the temperature is too hot, hot water can have a variety of negative effects on the face, body and hair.

Use it sparingly, it can also dry out your skin after a shower.

How is hot water bad for your face?

Hot water can damage your skins protective barrier and over time this can result in uneven skin tone, dry skin and redness.

Read more about the negative effects of a damaged skin barrier here.

When you shower in how water your sebum (the oil that our skin produces to moisturise itself) loosens up and escapes from your pores.

This is why steaming your skin before removing blackheads and whiteheads is recommended.

Unfortunately, when you use hot water on your face the sebum gets striped for your skin. The result is that your skin becomes dry and itchy, there is no sebum to moisturise your skin.

Hot water is very drying, can irritate your skin, will strip your skin of sebum and can scald your skin. All this will leave your skin dry and dull and unhealthy.

This can further be worsened by using harsh products on your skin when trying to get that squeaky clean feeling.

The squeaky clean feeling is a symptom of over-washing your face.

Products that give us this feeling use sulphates to break down dirt, debris, sebum, pollution and any other external irritants on the skin.

Unfortunately, they do this too well and wind up removing too much from your skin including the sebum thus leaving your skin dry.

Rather use warm water when washing your face.

Does hot water age your skin?

This, in retrospect, shouldn’t have been a shock but I was surprised that hot water can do this.

Hot water can be a reason behind skin ageing faster than normal. This is because hot water dries out your skin.

As we age our skin produces less sebum making our skin less supple and youthful-looking, the skin becomes dried out.

Babies produce a lot of sebum, that is why their skin is so supple and bouncy.

Mature skin does not produce much sebum and looks less supple and bouncy.

The skin then develops wrinkles because the skin is dry and thin. Hot water dries your skin making it look older.

In addition, when you wipe your body in a vigorous way after you use the shower you might be making matters worse, opt to rather pat your skin dry after.

Vigorously rubbing your skin can be irritating and harsh on your skin especially after the sebum has been stripped from the skin.

You should use a microfibre towel on your face to pat it after cleansing it.

This is a great towel that you can use on your whole body.

Does hot water damage skin

What does drinking hot water do to your skin?

Drinking hot water has a surprisingly long list of health benefits that will boost your skin and overall health: 

  • It aids with healthier digestion. This is because hot water can help break down food faster when compared to warm or cold water. It also aids in more regular bowel movements.
  • It helps to detoxify your body. Because of its temperature, it expands blood vessels and thus improves circulation.
  • This temperature can also relax the muscles and reduce pain.
  • Lastly, it can help with weight loss as it can increase the feeling of fullness you have.

Can hot water damage hair?

This depends on how hot the water is.

General hot water can’t cause hair loss but if you accidentally get some boiling water on your scalp this can cause hair loss and a burnt scalp.

If you use lukewarm water to wash your hair you should be fine.

The scalp produces sebum to moisturise your hair in the same way that the skin on your face does.

Shampooing or conditioning using hot water will strip the natural oils off of our hair.

This can be combatted by using a conditioner or hair mask in the shower and rinsing your hair with cold or cooler water.

Does cold water dry out your skin?

Using cold water on your skin does not dry out your skin, your skin becomes dry if it is heated too high and the sebum on your skin is stripped.

If your skin is becoming dry after taking a cold shower or bath then your products are drying out your skin.

This drying is generally caused by sulphates. Switch your products for sulphate free products and you’ll be better off.

How often should you bathe?

The general population bathes at least once a day. But some people don’t.

There are various reasons why you can be in any of the two camps. It depends on your lifestyle, skin type, genetics, and where you live.

In fact showering, every day may even be bad for your skin. You can shower a few times a week and this may do your skin good.  

If the weather is colder outside showing too often can result in dryness, the cold air already absorbs moisture from your skin in winter and taking too many showers can make things worse.

If its summer you may take more showers if you’re sweating or are in the heat.

You may be active, if so you may need to shower more often but if you aren’t exercising you can skip showering for a day or two.

In general, if you have normal or dry skin showing too often can cause more dry, flaky and itchy skin.

If you don’t shower enough and your skin overproduces sebum (skin oil) then you’ll need to shower more often.

It’s different from person to person, there aren’t any hard and fast rules to it, so you need to evaluate your life and see if showering less often is for you.

This article is a closer look at how cutting out products can help get rid of acne.

What is the best way to wash your face?

  1. Start off with washing your hands. We touch so many things throughout the day that we aren’t aware of so touching your face before you wash your hands can result in you transfecting germs, oils, debris, bacteria and irritants onto your face
  2. Dampen your face with some warm water
  3. Apply the product of your choice in your palms and massage it into your face. Massage the product in for at least a minute, this will allow the product to actually get into your skin and work as well as it should. When you’re done rinse off your face with some warm water
  4. Use a microfibre towel to pay your skin dry.
  5. Apply your toner. This balances the ph of your skin and preps your face for the products you use afterwards
  6. Use the rest of your products from lightest to heaviest, the lighter products will penetrate deeply into your skin and the heavier products will seal everything in.
  7. After you’ve used all your product make sure to use a sunscreen if you’ll be going out in the sun, use a sunscreen of at least SPF 30. here is a guide on how to make screen less oily. This is a well-loved sunscreen.

Oil cleansing: If you have makeup on or you feel your skin is quite dirty you can use an oil cleanser.

This will break up any makeup, and external irritants on your skin but won’t leave your skin dry after use. Here’s a favourite oil cleanser.

Water only washing: If you choose to only wash your face with just water your routine will only consist of rubbing water into your face in the morning and night.

I hope you enjoyed this article on how hot water damages the skin. Be sure to use it sparingly and don’t overdo the hot water use.

If you enjoyed this article or found it interesting please share it so we can all be aware of the pros and cons of using hot water.

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