If you have ever had dry skin, you know how uncomfortable it can be, since dry skin often leads to cracks, flakes, and redness. Maybe in your skincare shopping you have picked up an item that claims to be a “hydrating oil.” There’s no doubt about it: oils are excellent for your skin and have many benefits, but they will not help you "hydrate" dry skin.
The role of oil in skin hydration:
It is true that oils are extremely beneficial to your skin. Many oils contain vitamins and nutrients that penetrate and improve the health of your skin. But the recent hype of "hydrating oils" is misleading.
If you've tried using a facial oil on its own, you might have ended up with greasy yet dry skin. This is not surprising, because as wonderful as they are, facial oils can't "moisturize" or "hydrate", because they simply don't contain moisture/water. When used in conjunction with a water binding or water based ingredients, however, oils can lock in the moisture and provide a protective barrier. So the function of oils is to retain hydration, but not to provide it.
So, how do you actually hydrate skin?
As the outermost layer of your body, skin is last to receive nutrients and hydration from what you consume. So if your body is dehydrated, then your skin will show it first. Dehydration can show up on your skin in many ways, including dullness, dryness, redness, and rough patches. Drinking water along with eating water rich foods, such as watermelon and pineapple can go a long way in hydrating your body and skin from within.
Besides your inner hydration you also need to consider the external world. The sun, the wind, the water you use to wash your face can deplete your skin's moisture levels externally - no matter how much water you drink. That's why knowing how to hydrate topically is important.
The best way to keep your skin hydrated topically is to use water based skincare with nourishing ingredients that hold water, such as hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is naturally produced by your body, but tends to decline with age. Found in your skin, eyes, and tissues, the job of hyaluronic acid is to keep these areas lubricated. Hyaluronic acid binds with water to help hold moisture, and there’s more good news: it helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Our T-Zone and Cheeks contains hyaluronic acid along with hydrolyzed elastin, lentil, watermelon and apple extracts that work together to deeply hydrate and hold moisture, helping your skin look smooth, plump, and radiant! It's also cleverly formulated with plum kernel oil to provide that protective barrier that will help retain moisture and keep it from escaping too quickly.
Although, as you likely learned from a young age that oil and water don’t mix, in skin care they can work together to create a healthy and glowing complexion!