What’s the Difference Between Hydrating and Moisturizing
What’s the difference between hydrating and moisturizing
Like many people during the winter months, you may be suffering from itchy, dry skin. You have bought every different creams and moisturizers to help fight the problem, but nothing seems to give you an extended amount of relief. Although moisturizers can help ease the itching and give you smoother skin, there are a few things you need to do to hydrate your skin as well.
Hydrating your body and your skin
What you eat and drink daily does affect your skin because it is an organ. The key to hydrating your skin properly is to drink a lot of water during the day. When we sweat, we are dehydrating our bodies, which can cause irritated and itchy skin. To get our hydration levels higher, we need to consume enough water to offset the dehydration process. Pure, clean water is needed to be drank as well, the water in your coffee or tea won’t help you. Try to aim to drink 2-3 litres of water a day to help rehydrate your skin, it will also help with your overall health!
If you have pre-existing damage to your skin due to dehydration, drinking water won’t fix it immediately. Much like anything you consume, your body has to process the water before you start to see any results, this may take months to see a difference, depending on how bad the damage is. Talk to your dermatologist and see what products they recommend to immediately help repair any damage.
Moisturize your skin to combat dry skin
Now that you have hydrated your skin, you will need to moisturize it as well. This is where the difference between hydrating and moisturizing your skin comes into play. Dehydrated skin doesn’t have enough water going to it, while dry skin is caused from lack of oil and needs to be moisturized.
A lot of people mistake the differences and treat their problems incorrectly. In most cases, if you skin is soft, it means that it’s hydrated. However, if there is no oil protecting the hydration, it will evaporate and cause your skin to be flaky. On the other hand, if you moisturize dehydrated skin, it may feel smooth for a little bit, but your skin won’t be hydrated which will feel hard and tight.
It’s super important to always keep your skin hydrated and moisturized to ensure it’s a smooth and comfortable as possible.
Choosing the right products
There are so many products on the shelves that promise to help combat your itchy, dry skin, but which ones can you trust?
When you are looking for a hydrating product, check for a product that includes hyaluronic acid. This acid is found in the human body naturally, but it does deplete over time, so refreshing your body with it through products will help keep your skin hydrated for much longer.
When looking for a moisturizer, always find one that contains oil. This may go against what you’ve been told your whole life, that oil causes breakouts, but that’s the furthest from the truth. Your skin produces oil naturally, so removing it will cause your skin to become drier. It will also make your body produce even more oil to compensate the lack of oil, which will age your skin faster and be susceptible to breakouts.
If you still have questions about hydrating and moisturizing your skin, book an appointment with Derma Bright Clinic in Vancouver today!