A lot of dermatologists go on about what you can do to prevent your skin from feeling tired, dry or even dehydrated. However, what happens when your skin already feels like that? With 30% of the population experiencing dehydrated and dry skin, it’s a problem too prevalent to ignore.

What is dehydrated skin?

Generally, your skin fits into one of five camps; dry, sensitive, normal, oily or combination skins. Throughout the year your skin may change slightly depending on various external factors such as temperature, climate, working conditions etc. Therefore, you may experience drier, more dehydrated skin during the colder months - this is down to a mixture of both central heating creating low humidity, plus the cold air outside sucking the moisture from your skin when you move from one to another. Not to mention that dehydrated skin can speed up the ageing process too, we’re just as upset about it as you, don’t worry.

Also, if hands are the are that concerns you most, we have a whole blog on how to care for dry and cracked hands. But let's jump to how to fix dy skin:

How to fix dry skin

Understanding how to treat dry and dehydrated skin could make you think that you will be needing to spend a small fortune on skincare products – when in fact, you can treat it at home with just a few small lifestyle changes. This is where the 10 S’s come in…

1. Sunscreen

It may surprise those that are just getting into skincare that you need to be covering your face with sunscreen all year round. No matter if it’s wet and miserable outside or glaringly warm – the sun’s UV rays can still damage the skin. Sure, you probably won’t be getting burnt in the winter if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, however, it can still cause premature ageing.

The easiest way to understand how the UV rays work is to think of it (very loosely) as in the summer you will experience both UVA (A for ageing- our simple way to remember it) and UVB (B for burning). However, even when the sun is not out UVA is present, therefore, you can still encounter premature ageing during the winter months without properly protecting yourself and wearing sunscreen.

2. Showers

Especially during the colder months, avoiding hot showers can be a difficult task. It’s important to remember to always have your showers a little cooler and keep your face out of the water, as this will cause your skin to react and your pores to open and close unnaturally. Try to hold your head up, as if your nose is pointing to the ceiling – this allows for no shampoo or hot water to land on your face.

3. Shea Butter

When you suffer from dry, dehydrated skin – you may find you are more susceptible to dry and chapped lips also. Raw, unrefined and organic shea butter should become your new best friend – it’s time to finally put down the Carmex and Vaseline as these are petroleum-based ingredients, that create the illusion that they are moisturising but not truly doing the job efficiently. We would always recommend you purchase the raw organic blocks of African Shea Butter rather than one that has already been melted into a pot.

4. Sh*t loads of water

This may seem an obvious one, but particularly during the colder months when humidity is at its lowest – you should become more conscious about getting the right amount of water for your body. Another great way to keep your skin hydrated is to invest in a humidifier when you sleep, a cheaper alternative is leaving wet towels on your radiators as it will add more moisture back into the air.

5. Supplements

It is a known fact that everything you put into your body reflects how your body and organs behave, including your biggest organ – skin. There are various supplements you can take, to aid your skin’s recovery during the dehydrated stage – however, this doesn’t mean that you should go out and buy the first supplement you see. You should always consult a doctor, GP or nutritionist before taking any supplements, as everyone’s bodies require different things.

When speaking in general terms, we would always suggest that you should be taking a powder-form Vitamin C to help formulate hair and nail growth, plus it does wonders for your skin. Next, we have Vitamin D and if, like us, you live in the UK – you are probably deficient in it, due to the lack of sunny weather we receive.

You can very simply test your Vitamin D levels with a £29 NHS laboratory test. You can do this at home and post it off. Liquid vitamin D is preferable as you can adapt the dose and powder form tablets have more bulkers and fillers added to them. Magnesium is needed as a cofactor to activate Vitamin D. There are lots available, we would suggest this Bioptimizer Magnesium Breakthrough, with seven types of magnesium.

Lastly, we have fish oils this is a tricky one if you are vegan, as you can buy flax seed alternatives – however, nothing will ever do the trick quite like fish oils. When looking in your local Holland & Barrett or online, you may feel a little overwhelmed with how many fish oils there are on the market. A great way to decipher between the rubbish is to look on the back of the tub and see how high the EPA and DHA’s are – the higher the better. 

6. Swap to a balm cleanser

Whether you wear a full face of makeup or just need something to wash the pollution away at the end of the day – a balm cleanser is always your best bet, especially if you’re suffering from dry and dehydrated skin. Gone are the days of using makeup wipes or micellar water to take your makeup off as not only does this just move the makeup around your face – but it doesn’t clean it off properly either. Ideally, you want to find a balm cleanser without a lot of beeswax, such as this Hydrating Deep Cleansing Melt – as this makes the removal process quick and easy.

7. Shed less

If you like in the UK, you are probably aware of the fascination everyone seems to have with exfoliating and scrubbing your face. There is a lot of marketing that suggests that if you have dry or dehydrated skin you should be using a face scrub often – this isn’t the case. If you are using an exfoliator with coarse grains in, this should only be applied once or twice a week. Whereas if you use a chemical exfoliant – this might be a more calming option.

However, if you still want to be using a scrub in your weekly skincare routine – we would suggest using an ultra-gentle balm polish, like Rosehip Face and Body Scrub as it is a little gentler on the skin.

8. Serum

The more dehydrated your skin is – the more you should be moisturising your skin. Many people forget a crucial step in any skincare routine… serum! Make sure you are using them am and pm under your moisturiser. Oil serums are great to mix into your moisturiser to give your skin the extra hydration that it may be after.

9. Sport

If you live the Proverb ethos of Get Out What You Put In, you will probably be familiar with the early mornings of training and working out. Although this is a great way to start the day, it might be one of the reasons that are causing your skin to feel dehydrated. Naturally, as you exercise, you will sweat thus losing water from your body. Therefore, it is always important to remember to stay hydrated during your workouts.

However, just because you will come home and shower after, doesn’t mean that you should neglect your skincare routine. Applying a layer of moisturiser or balm and SPF before you head out on your run in the morning, will help to protect your skin.

10. Selenium

Selenium is a powerful mineral that is essential for the proper functioning of your body. This is great for the skin and very easy to digest in the form of different fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, peas, peaches, even brazil nuts and almonds.

Dry skin is easily treatable

Dry skin really is a simple fix when you know how. By following the steps above, you will hopefully start to see an improvement in your dry and dehydrated skin. Why not try the Proverb Hydration Pro Moisturiser - this provides daily moisturising protection with complex amino acids to tone, strengthen and protect dry skin.