Not all dry skins are created equal

Not all dry skins are created equal

I remember the first time I heard it: “your skin is just dehydrated.” I had saved money for a while to go to a very nice, older, very popular dermatologist on fancy Rodeo Drive. He didn’t expand on what he meant with that statement. To me, it meant I had dry skin. Duh! I had fine lines and some wrinkles, I knew that. Now a few years (and a couple hundred dollars spent on creams that did nothing) later, I finally realized what he meant.

The fact that your skin feels “dry” can mean several things. For the purposes of skincare, we will focus on 2. Your skin is either dehydrated or actually, you have dry skin. If you confuse those two very similar terms, you may be doing your skin more harm than good by applying certain products. The symptoms are very similar, and the one that probably makes you look for the latest and greatest skincare is probably that your skin feels dry and your makeup makes you look older because it absorbs very “weird” in your dry/dehydrated skin.

In my case, many things happened on or around the same time, I moved to a dry area, I started getting a ton of stress, later I started having children, and of course, I wasn’t getting any younger. With all that, I just couldn’t point my finger on what was happening to my skin, all I knew is that I needed help. So, before you do anything you must be sure where your skin falls:

Dry Skin vs. Dehydrated skin

Dry skin is a skin Type. If your skin is dry, it simply means your skin lacks oil and the stork brought you to your parents this way. You probably had dry skin when you were little, your legs got itchy and your hair started to feel dry as time passed. It means your whole body is dry, some parts more than others but in general, your skin appearance and feel is dry.

Dehydration is a skin Condition. If your skin is dehydrated, it means your skin is lacking water and there are other external factors causing it to feel dry. It may be diet, weather, stress, makeup, incorrect product or many other factors.

With that said, you need to both hydrate and moisturize your skin. By Hydrating we mean adding water to your skin cells and by moisturizing we mean preventing water to leave those same skin cells. Remember this piece of information, we will use it below.

How do you know what type of skin you have?
You may have the following:
Oily-
· Large pores
· Frequent breakouts
· Oily complexion, especially on the T zone (forehead, nose, mouth area)
Dry Skin-
· Dull, dry complexion, regardless of any external factors
· Dry or even flaky patches
· You start seeing fine lines and wrinkles at an early age
Combination-
· Oily T-zone while the rest of the face feels dry
· You can identify a combination of both checklists above

How do you know if your skin is dehydrated?

This is where is gets confusing, if your skin is dehydrated, it will begin producing more oil to compensate. BUT, dehydrated skin lacks water, not oil. With incorrect product application you start seeing breakouts, random pimples and dry patches. The skin simply is working overtime and you’re applying product that isn’t needed. Some common symptoms of dehydrated skin are:
· Skin feels tense when moving facial muscles (try smiling for example)
· Skin tends to look dull even when using creams
· Product may start breakouts instead of helping skin keep hydrated

How do you treat Dehydrated skin?

Very dehydrated skin, needs to be hydrated first, moisturized second.

1. You need to also increase the amount of liquid intake to about 2L per day as a minimum, and keep in check all other external factors that may be causing your skin to lack hydration, such as stress, sickness, dry weather, stress, smoking, etc.

2. use Aynara Argan oil as a Serum, right after cleansing your skin and applying toner. Then you can apply a good skincare line –try Ormana (www.myOrmana.com), which is a wonderful French-Moroccan brand that is also Argan and Prickly Pear Seed Oil based- and then apply another thin layer of Aynara Argan Oil as a primer before your makeup. This way you will Hydrate, Moisturize and lock in the moisture.

How does Argan oil help with my dry/dehydrated skin?

Well, this post ends up on a very high note. Argan is so versatile and full of nutrients that it actually helps both the skin type and the skin condition. Argan hydrates the skin, and nourishes plus it regulates the production of sebum (oil). If you have dry skin, it with add healthy oils for a natural healthy glow. If your skin is dehydrated it will nourish it allowing your skin to absorb water and slowly but surely return to its plump beautiful self.

Argan is wonderful as a makeup primer, coating the skin and preventing moisture to escape. It is also a good barrier between your skin and all the chemicals in most makeup products.