Dry skin doesn’t have to be a fact of life. In fact, soft, supple, smooth skin can absolutely be had, with only a little bit of time and effort, and without spending a fortune. While you can purchase over-the-counter products, it’s not necessary to spend a lot of money to treat dry skin.
Dry Skin Isn’t Normal
It’s important to note that dry skin is not a normal skin condition. If your skin is rough, flaky, itchy or red, this is a sign that something is wrong with your skin. Because skin is the largest organ of your body, it’s important to take good care of it, especially since it’s the only major body organ others can see and touch.
See Doctor for Skin Conditions
If you have persistently dry skin, rashes, abscesses, very itchy skin, etc, it’s important to see a doctor before you try to treat your dry skin, just to rule out any skin conditions that can be a health risk. Eczema, certain medical conditions (like herpes, hypothyroid conditions, and auto-immune conditions) can cause dry skin as a symptom. Because dry skin isn’t normal, it should be considered a potential symptom of a medical condition.
Drink Plenty of Water
Once a medical condition is either treated or ruled out, it’s time to prepare your skin to say goodbye to dryness and welcome in the healing and softness skin should have. The first step in this process is to stay hydrated. The skin on your body has high water content, and just a slight imbalance in the water can cause severe skin dryness, flakiness, itching and more.
Use a Natural Moisturizer at Night
After showers and before bed, use a natural moisturizer on your skin. If you have oily spots on your face and skin, it’s all right to use a moisturizer on them too. Moisturizing skin keeps the skin from being dry, but moisturized skin isn’t the same as oily skin and even oily skin can be dry in places. If you have oily skin, though, be sure you’re buying a moisturizer, and not an oil supplement product containing body butter, grape seed oil, fractionated coconut oil or mineral oil. These products are great for dry skin without oiliness, but can cause excess oil for those with oily skin areas.
Use a Mineral Based Foundation
For women, many foundation cosmetics use oil and alcohol bases in the ingredients of the makeup. Using a mineral based powdered foundation can actually help repair skin and prevent drying and flaking.
Do Not Over Clean Your Skin
The only time you need to shower with soap is when you have sweated or dirtied the skin behind normal daily activity. Most people can use products like Dove, which adds moisturizer to the cleansing agent, to help prevent skin dryness. A moisturizing body wash is a better choice than bar soap.
Soap is the harshest of all things used to bathe the body and is responsible for much skin drying and flakiness. One shower per day, and only wash your face in the morning and to remove cosmetics at night, applying a thin layer of moisturizer after, can keep skin soft. Also, turn down the temperature of the water: hotter water can cause dry skin too.
Avoid Lotions to Avoid Dry Skin
Lotion is nearly addictive, because it’s used to treat dry skin, but also tends to dry the skin out requiring you to need more lotion. Avoid lotion products when fighting with dry skin problems. A perhaps with healthy skin can use lotion after washing hands or after a shower, but someone battling dry skin problems should avoid lotion.
Instead, at least until the dry skin is under control, use moisturizers the same way you would use lotion.
Buy Products Made for Treating Dry Skin
Don’t buy products that simply state they are ‘dry skin formulas’, but rather, buy products made to treat the condition of dry skin. There are differences. If you’ll take the time to talk to your local pharmacist, they should be able to direct you to the best treatment products for your dry skin condition.
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