When I tell clients that their skin is dehydrated, many of them are puzzled at that statement. I was too when I was in school and first told I had dehydrated skin. Like me, most of clients drink large amounts of water and practically pee their brains out all day. But we are not plants. Ha! I love that comparison. Unlike plants, water does not go straight to our skin. Water is vital to body parts such as our digestive system, our circulation
system and our kidney's. Before water goes to our cells, it goes to these systems to keep us alive and functioning. Water makes it to our skin cells last and from there, has to travel up several layers of skin to reach the top epidermal layer cells before we see any skin benefits. Its a pretty long road to travel. In addition to traveling all this way, our skin is constantly losing water through Trans Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL), especially when our natural barrier function has been damaged.
To really hydrate our skin, we need to
nourish it on the outside and protect our natural skin barrier which is a
mixture of oil and sweat on the top of our skin that protects our skin. Without our natural lipid barrier, our skin
quickly losses water and becomes dehydrated and irritated. Basically, our skin is unprotected and prone to irritation and sensitivities.
In addition to frequent internal hydration, your skin should be regularly hydrated on the outside by using a moisturizer and a daily serum specific for your skin type. Try not to go without moisturizer even if you have oily skin as your barrier is unprotected. Instead look for an oil free, non pore clogging moisturizer like Juice Oil Free Moisturizer which I love. It is an organic moisturizer, free of parabens and pore clogging ingredients. It is really great and surprisingly hydrating.
All the best,
Karen
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