Many people believe they have dry skin when in reality, it is just dehydrated. But what is the difference and how do you know if you have dry or dehydrated skin or both?

Through this article, we hope to be able to enlighten you to comprehend this subtlety, and in fact, to take better care of your skin by employing the appropriate natural solutions.

The Nuance Between Skin Type and Tendency, Skin Condition

To understand the distinction between dry and dehydrated skin, you have to begin by understanding the fact that we are not talking about the same thing.

Indeed, in natural cosmetics, we differentiate the skin type from the skin tendency.

A skin type is determined by our genetic heritage. We are born with dry, combination, oily skin, etc. We will have to take care of our skin like this throughout our lives.

Despite everything, our skin can vary depending on internal and external factors, i.e. the outside temperature, the type of care we operate, the amount of water we consume, etc. 

Here we are talking about skin tendency: this temporary state, which often relies on an aggressive/unfavorable environment.

To sum up: a type of skin is unchangeable, while a tendency is a state against which it is possible to act to correct it.

What is dry skin?

Definition & characteristics of dry skin

Dry skin is a type of skin, which is characterized by a feeling of discomfort, the skin pulls regularly and lacks suppleness and elasticity. It peels smoothly and reacts to temperature changes.

Dry skin is by definition skin lacking in lipids. By secreting too little sebum, dry skin is less armed against exterior aggressions, it is therefore more sensitive and rougher. Therefore, it will wrinkle sooner than the others.

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How do you know if you own dry skin?

To easily know if you have dry skin, reply to these 2 questions:

• Does my skin glow or have visible pores?
• Does my skin pull?

If you answer NO to the 1st question and YES to the 2nd, you probably have dry skin.

What routine is for dry skin?

Maintaining your dry skin is done first of all by providing it with lipids. Vegetable oils are all meant to help your skin age well while reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Here are our suggestions for taking care of your dry skin in detail:

1_ Avoid washing your face with soaps, foaming products, and water that may attack it and dry it out more.

2_ Gently cleanse it, using a cleansing oil.

3_ Use and abuse the moisturizing botanical mist + care oil routine morning and evening to maintain a good level of hydration.

4_All of these oils are beneficial, but we recommend that you favor oils rich in linoleic acids such as vitamin serum or hemp oil for the morning.

5_ In the evening, choose oils rich in oleic acid such as plum oil.

6_ These external contributions in linoleic acid are to be supplemented internally.

7_ Once a week, we recommend doing our honey mask. Honey is a natural emollient, which will strengthen the hydrolipidic film of your skin.

8_ If your skin is dry and also suffers from dehydration, apply it morning & evening over your care oil.

Also Read: Dry, Combination, Oily: What Type of Skin Do I Have?

In addition to an appropriate skincare routine, here are some tips that will help you enhance your dry skin:

• Drink vegetable juices, rich in mineral salts which retain water and compensate for the loss of nutrients through sweat.
• Household water is often calcareous and the skin suffers. If possible, put anti-limescale tablets in your tap.
• If you fly, drink plenty of water and regularly apply a dab of oil: pressurization is a factor of intense dehydration of the skin.

Ahead, discover the 3 best moisturizers for dry skin at Amazon.

What is dehydrated skin?

Definition & characteristics

First of all, dehydrated skin is a temporary state of skin, it is not a type of skin. Dehydration can affect all skin types: dry, combination, or oily, and whatever its original characteristics: thick or thin, sensitive or reactive,…

Dehydrated skin is by definition lacking in water. Uncomfortable, it can be torn occasionally after the shower or during a strong change in temperature.

This deficiency of water can be explained by 2 main causes:

1. A quality of intercellular cement that momentarily leaves something to be desired, your skin is weakened and no longer keeps water, which leads to dehydration. In this case, your skin will require anti-dehydrating lipids such as vegetable oils, to strengthen the intercellular cement and limit evaporation.
2. The level of water in the atmosphere is too low (high heat, cold temperatures), and your skin no longer captures enough water and is therefore dehydrated. Here you will need both internal (drinking) and external (botanical mist) water supply supplemented with humectants that retain water. One can think in particular of honey.

How do you know if you have dehydrated skin?

To easily find out if you have dehydrated skin, respond to these questions:

• I often feel tightness after showering, cleaning, or, outdoors?
• This feeling of discomfort is periodic and easily relieved by the application of a treatment?

If you answer YES to both questions, your skin is dehydrated. This may be due to outside aspects such as your skin type.

What routine is for dehydrated skin?

You can fight dehydration in several ways:

1_ By drinking more to restore the water balance of your epidermis.

We recommend that you drink 6 to 8 glasses of pure water in addition to meals and other drinks.

2_ By naturally strengthening your skin barrier, the cement protects your skin from water loss.

To do this, stop using conventional creams which replace the hydrolipidic film and therefore unlearn the skin to work on its own. Yes to vegetable oils, which naturally strengthen and protect the hydrolipidic film.

Prefer oils rich in linoleic acid in the morning: vitamin serum, evening primrose, hemp, and borage.

Prefer for the evening oils rich in oleic acid: plum, hazelnut, almond.

3_ Avoid aggressive and redundant cleaning as well as pollution and other sources of oxidation that intensify dehydration.

To do this, opt for a makeup remover oil, which will gently cleanse your skin without attacking your skin microbiota.

4_ Utilizing treatments rich in humectants and emollients such as honey, present at more than 60% in our mask. 

The mask is to be applied once a week on dry or damp skin, after rinsing, it will leave a light protective film on the skin which will continue to deliver its benefits.

Photo: Pexels/ Dominika Roseclay

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