You might be in a pickle here, even after you slather on your best moisturiser your skin is dry. Why is this? Isn’t the key to good healthy moisturized skin using a great moisturizer? That’s what beauty magazines, dermatologists and our moms say, our moms wouldn’t lie to us, would they? No way!
There might be a few issues with your choice of moisturiser, how you moisturize and what you do before you moisturize that might be the problem. This article will help you figure out what the issue is and what to do about it
Table of Contents
Before moisturizing:
You are stripping your skin:
This can be as a result of your skin been exposed to face washes that contain ingredients that totally remove the natural oils off your skin. Yes it is necessary for the moisturiser to take off the excess oils but it shouldn’t leave your skin so dry that your skin feels tight and squeaky clean, this can be an issue.
You are scrubbing too hard:
Physical exfoliators such as scrubs or the electric types can do this. They remove your dead skin cells but can cause micro-tears in your skin. These micro tears will damage your skins moisture barrier and cause excessively dry skin.
Hot water:
Hot water can dry your skin and cause a variety of undesirable effects on your skin. This over dying won’t allow the moisture to penetrate the skin properly as it needs to work twice as hard to moisturize your skin now.
You haven’t removed dead skin:
When your skin isn’t free from all the dead skin cells that collect on it your moisturizers won’t be able to access your healthy skin underneath. The dead skin cells will absorb all the moisturizer before it even gets to the healthy live skin.
You are over washing:
You might want to get that squeaky clean feel on the skin (which you shouldn’t for a variety of reasons) by over washing, this is a bad idea. This does more damage to your skin as it is too much processing on your skin.
You aren’t using a serum before moisturizing:
Serums will help you get moisturized skin as they help to ensure that the moisturizer really seeps into and is locked into your skin. A good serum to use will be one that has vitamin c in it.
Your acne treatment is too harsh:
Prescribed acne treatments are a great way to combat acne, unfortunately, they are also very good at drying out the skin. If you don’t moisturize your skin properly while on this medication you can end up with very dry skin.
While moisturizing:
You wait too long to moisturise:
It is important to moisturize your face immediately after you wash it. You need to moisturize your skin right after your wash because your skin is still hydrated at this time. Your moisturizer will work better when it is applied to skin that is still soft and supple from the water. You will need to pat your skin a bit then apply the moisturizer while your skin is still damp.
It’s not the type for your skin:
Different moisturizers are made to work best on certain skin types. What a person with dry skin will need in a moisturiser will be different from what a person with normal, dry or combination skin will need. Your skin won’t get all the benefits it will need from a moisturizer if you pick the wrong one.
You’re using it incorrectly:
You need to be gentle with your skin, when you rub too hard or in a downward direction on your skin it will get irritated, red and even dry from these actions. You need to swipe your skincare products up. This will also help with anti-ageing.
After moisturizing:
You don’t use a humidifier:
A humidifier works to clean the air that your skin is being exposed to in your house, room or apartment. The outside air is very polluted and filled with a plethora of irritants and impurities. You will need a humidifier to clean the air and moisturize the skin.
You are dehydrated:
Your skin needs to be taken care of not just topically but also from the inside out. If you are not taking good care of your skin by drinking water then it will show. The lack of water in your system can be seen not just on your skin but in all areas on your health.
You aren’t practising overnight moisturise:
If your skin is particularly dry then you might want to dry moisturizing overnight. This is amazing as it works on your skin while it’s at its peak restorative state. This allows the products you apply to work effectively.
I hope that you enjoyed this article explaining why your skin is dried out and not getting moisturized when if you use a moisturizer. Please share if you found this interesting or useful.
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