Best Ingredients for Dry Skin

Dry skin is an issue dealt with by skin types all across the board. It’s often the result of a combination of genetics and environmental factors, like weather and pollution. While it’s often thought of as a winter skin issue, dry skin can hit in the summer months as a result of sunburns, extended time in the water, or a lack of humidity in the air (depending on your region). Dry skin can be a buzzkill because it makes makeup application nearly impossible, or, if you’re going bare faced, means less glow and more flaking. We’re covering the causes of dry skin, symptoms, and remedies that actually work.

What Is Dry Skin?

Dry skin is an uncomfortable condition that usually manifests itself as scaling, flaking, itching, and cracking of the skin. Its causes range from exposure to hot water, dry weather, or certain chemicals, particularly those found in anti-acne medications as well as in a variety of conventional cleansing formulas. Dry skin develops when the production of sebum, skin’s natural lubricating lipid, is disrupted or decreased. Similarly, dry skin develops when skin’s production of moisture is stalled (due to increased evaporation of H20 from the pores, which can happen for a variety of reasons). When moisture or natural oil is removed from the skin – either due to weather, temperature or overuse of chemically-laden cosmetics – the resulting discomfort can be both painful and unattractive. Think flaking, cracking, redness and inflammation.

Caring for Dry Skin

In order to remedy dry skin, it’s necessary to take a two pronged approach. First, take into account both moisture and hydration. A skin’s moisture level refers to the amount of naturally occurring oil in the dermis. A balance of oil production is necessary for glowing and hydrated skin - oil effectively acts as a protective barrier over the skin, locking in hydration and moisture. But what is hydration? Hydration refers to the amount of H20 in your pores, and skin being dehydrated can be the result of not drinking enough water or from being in an ultra dry environment or an environment that facilitates rapid evaporation. The two concepts are linked – without proper moisture protecting the skin, pores will likely become dehydrated, due to there being no protective barrier preventing moisture evaporation. In other words, the skin needs water to hydrate, oil to lock in the moisture.

Sufficient levels of both will result in healthy skin cells and soft and elastic skin, but it’s important that the products you use take into account the different needs at play. Puristry’s Flower Water Toner functions like a drink of water for your skin, delivering immensely hydrating hydrosols (both rose and calunda) as well as hyaluronic acid, a molecule that holds a thousand times its weight in water, which will leave you with smooth and hydrated pores. And in order to lock in the H20, pair this toner with Puristry’s Seaberry Moisturizer, which contains a synergistic blend of antioxidant packed oils like coconut oil, grapeseed oil, and seabuckthorn fruit oil.

Hydrosols

But what about just plain water? It’s extremely necessary to make sure you’re staying hydrated in order to keep your skin cells hydrated, because your skin is an organ (your largest organ) and its hydration levels directly correlate with the amount of water you are drinking each day. However, when it comes to cleansing and treating your face topically, applying plain water can actually strip skin, because of its ability to remove the outer layer of protective sebum. Once your skin has been stripped of sebum, the H20 in your pores is no longer locked in, and before long will evaporate, leaving you with dryness and tightness.

With this in mind, when it comes to cleansing (and toning), using hydrosol and aloe based products is the way to go. Hydrosols allow you to replenish your skin’s water content, and because of trace oils lingering within them, they maintain the integrity of the oil balance on your skin, and thus prevent hydration from evaporating. Hydrosols are the water-based hydrants extracted from plants and flowers in the process of extracting essential oils – they are the condensed vapors produced by the process, and they boast trace amounts of essential oils, and thus very gentle and subtle lipid properties. They feature in our Flower Water Toner, which is made up of a base of ultra soothing rose and calunda hydrosols, which deliver water to the skin while simultaneously locking it in.

Aloe Vera

Similarly, aloe water is a a water-dense liquid that also boasts a high content of Vitamins B, C, and E as well as trace amounts of aloe oil. It makes up the base of our gentle and super refreshing Nopal Cactus Cleanser, which simultaneously cleanses and hydrates with a formulas that features aloe water working with nopal cactus extract, a fatty acid and electrolyte rich ingredient that retains tons of water deep in the skin. Both of these products are more hydrating than plain water alone, delivering moisture, oil, and vitamins for maximal effective water absorption and retention.

Plant Oils

When it comes to picking an effective and healthy moisturizing ingredient for your skin post hydration, it’s best to stick with plant and fruit based oils that will regulate your sebum production and lock in moisture. In puristry products, our go-to moisturizing ingredient is Shea Butter, an incredibly nourishing oil that contains 60% fat, making it highly emollient and an ultra penetrative. And it does more than moisturize, also boasting effective anti-inflammatory and collagen-producing properties that make it an excellent choice for dry and mature skin types. It features in our Seaberry Moisturizer, a must-have for everyday nourishing and vitality.

The Seaberry Moisturizer works wonder when paired with Puristry’s Restorative Facial Oil, a cold-pressed antioxidant packed blend of fruit and plant oils that works to improve elasticity and skin density. This facial oil features skin reparative rosehip oil, and serves as an incredibly tonic for restoring the skin’s lipid barrier, effectively resulting in skin better able to hold onto hydration over time. As a duo, these two products will leave you with balanced moisture levels, a healthy glow, and reduced fine lines caused by dryness.

Moisture and hydration are key components of skin health and wellness, and with organic ingredients chosen with knowledge and care, you’ll be able to put chronic dryness behind you. Keep up with us here for more skin health guides.