Extra Dry Skin

Extra dry skin is a wake-up call. If you pay attention, you can turn it around very quickly. But if you do not take care of it, extra dry skin can age more quickly, resulting in premature lines and wrinkles.

Fortunately, it is easy to rejuvenate your skin. The key is to use the right products. Additional products are not the answer; the right products for dry skin are what make the difference. In fact, extra dry skin is often caused by using the wrong products. The good news – you only need 4 products, at the most.

You can rejuvenate extra dry facial skin in these easy steps:

1. Use the right cleanser

– Avoid cleansers that dry out your skin. This is one of the main ways that extra dry skin comes about. We use harsh chemicals that damage our skin. So the first thing is to stop doing things that cause problems! Many cleansers contain detergents like sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). They have been shown to damage the skin’s vital moisture barrier. Yet they are commonly found in skin care products. If you read the ingredient lists of the products you use, you will be able to stop using ones that contain sulphates.

– How to test cleansers. Test cleansers by how your skin feels after you use them. If your skin feels dry and tight, switch to a gentler cleanser that has a moisturizing feeling after you use it. Manufacturers use all kinds of tricks to make soaps feel rich and creamy while disguising the true nature of the product with clever chemistry. The test is how your skin feels after you use the product, not how much foam or lather it generates.

Ingredients To Look For:

– Extra dry skin calls for a moisturizing cleanser rich in creamy emollients that will soothe and nourish your skin. Read the ingredients and look for whole plant oils, like olive oil, sesame oil, safflower oil and others. They should be at the top of the list, showing they are present in large amounts. Avoid cleansers that contain “fragrances” and other unknown chemicals.

– Super-fatted soaps are made by adding more rich oils into the process than can be fully saponified into soap – so the oils remain present to moisturize your skin. These soaps are rich in glycerin, too. Glycerin occurs naturally when soaps are made with an abundance of rich oils. It adds to the moisturizing effect of the soap. You will be able to feel it on your skin after you use soap rich in it.

– What you need to know about labels. Soap is labelled according to either (a) what it was made from, or (b) what is in it after it has been manufactured. The process of soap-making makes these 2 lists appear quite different. This means you can rely on ingredient lists to show you what cleansers to avoid. But, after that, you need to rely on your own experience with the cleanser to find the very best one for you.

– Even the mildest cleanser can be over-used. It is best to cleanse once a day, using warm, not hot, water.

And even when we use the best cleanser, we can still develop extra dry skin. That is because of 2 factors we cannot control:

1) genetics – some of us generate more natural oil, or “sebum,” than others;

2) time – our production of sebum declines as we grow older.

Fortunately, there is tried and true way to deal with this.

2. Use the right moisturizer

It is easy to tell if you are using the right moisturizer. The right moisturizer, if you use it regularly, will rejuvenate your skin. You should see results in hours, not days. You will not have extra dry skin. If you have extra dry skin, you are not using the right moisturizer.

The right moisturizer will…

– plump up your skin and make fine lines disappear

– soften and smooth your skin to give you a luminous, dewy complexion

– protect you from free radical and sun damage and slow the aging of your skin

– improve the elasticity of your skin and delay the formation of wrinkles

– provide healing factors that reduce breakouts and relieve irritation

Moisturizing is not the same as “hydrating.” Extra dry skin is caused when the natural moisture barrier in our skin is compromised. This barrier is a thin layer of oils, less than the thickness of a sheet of paper, that holds in water and stops it from evaporating. Your moisturizer replenishes this oil layer; it does not add water to the skin from the outside. You need a moisturizer that is filled with oils, not water!

The best moisturizers for dry skin are made from whole plant oils. Jojoba oil, coconut oil, olive oil and others absorb deeply and easily into the skin, blending with and replenishing our natural oils, while plumping up the skin to reduce fine lines and filling in the small cracks between cells to smooth and soften the skin.They nourish and rejuvenate dry skin, restoring its natural radiance. People have used these natural oils for thousands of years. They are time-tested, safe and effective moisturizers that protect and beautify the skin.

Mineral oils do not absorb. They sit on top of the skin and block the pores. They soften the skin when they are first put on, but they will not add to the deeper well-being of your skin. They give an immediate feeling of “moisturizing” and, like water, they are inexpensive. So they are popular ingredients in products that seek to provide “value.” But they are not going to give you what you really need.

Natural plant oils will not clog your pores. Clogging is something synthetic oils do, not high-quality natural oils, such as those highlighted here. They absorb deeply, and will cleanse your pores while they nourish and heal your skin.

Extra sensitive skin may need special treatment. If your skin reacts easily, or if you have difficult, persistent flare-ups, then you might need extra soothing help in your moisturizer. I have found colostrum works wonders to soothe dry sensitive skin. It calms eruptions and I have seen it quickly clear up long-standing, severe conditions.

3. Exfoliate twice a week

With extra dry skin, there is often a build-up of dead cells on the surface. They give the skin a dull, lifeless look, and, if left alone, can result in flaking. Dead cells also cause the skin to age more rapidly. They keep moisturizing oils and emollients at bay, and lines form more quickly. So it is important to remove dead cells with a gentle exfoliant. – one that moisturizes as it scrubs. Otherwise, extra dry skin can be made worse.

Exfoliating twice a week will:

– remove dead skin cells and take away their dull, lifeless look

– boost your skin’s circulation and restore its natural glow

– give an even, healthy tone to your complexion

– deeply cleanse your pores and reduce breakouts

– reduce fine lines and delay formation of wrinkles

– allow your moisturizer to penetrate more deeply and and rejuvenate your skin more effectively

Use an exfoliant that contains rich emollients, so it multi-tasks and moisturizes as it sloughs off dead skin cells. Twice a week is a good routine. You should spend no more than 30 seconds per session exfoliating your face. Any longer than that, and you are over-doing it. And go gently, especially at first while you are getting used to your exfoliant. Your skin should be gently stimulated; no more than that.

4. If you have large pores, minimize them with a non-drying toner

If you have large pores you may be using a toner to reduce their size. But if your toner contains alcohol or a “fragrance.” you may be making your skin drier every time you use it. You can still benefit from using a facial toner. It is just a matter of making sure your toner contains no alcohol or other drying agents, and no harsh chemicals.

The best toners for extra dry skin are made from natural astringents in the form of flower waters and other botanical hydrosols.

Rose water, alcohol-free witch hazel extract, apple cider vinegar, and green tea are the first choices. They are gentle, yet they do the job of reducing the size of the pores, tightening the skin, and leaving it smoother, refreshed and pH-balanced to stay healthy.

The bottom line

You can quickly restore your skin’s natural radiance. There is no need for extra dry skin to age your face – but it will if you do not take care of it. You may have gotten the idea that your skin condition is hereditary and cannot be helped. That is not true. Extra dry skin is caused, in the main, by neglect or by using the wrong products. You can turn it around very quickly with the right products for dry skin. You should see results within hours – and it should only take 2 minutes a day to have beautiful, luminous skin, no matter how dry your skin might be today.