Some people only get dry skin when it’s very cold outside. Others develop dry patches year-round. These dry patches can be very noticeable, and they’re a sign that your skin is unhealthy. You need deep hydration over a prolonged period of time to maintain and restore the health of your skin. 

While adding a lightweight moisturizer to your daily self-care routine is a step in the right direction, it isn’t the only thing your skin needs. Dry skin requires special care to heal and reach a state of perfect balance.

When using a night cream or daytime lotion, opt for a mixture of emollients, like ceramides, to help repair your skin barrier and humectants ( like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and glycerin). Look for ingredients like shea butter, vitamin e, and aloe vera.

What Causes Dry Skin?

Dry skin can be chronic or related to a specific event, like the seasons changing or exposure to a chemical. It can also be genetic or related to a skin condition.

Winter Weather

The cold wind isn’t very kind to your face. In the winter, your pores contract, and your skin has trouble releasing enough oil to hydrate and protect itself adequately. As a result, it responds to harsh weather conditions by drying out. 

Swimming Pools and Chlorine

Swimming pools, hot tubs, and similar artificial recreational water activities will expose your skin to chlorine. While chlorine effectively keeps the water sanitary, it doesn’t do any favors for your skin. Chlorine is harsh and drying. 

You might notice that your skin and hair both get dry, and your eyes get red following a visit to the waterpark or a backyard pool party. 

Too Much Sun Exposure

The sun is extremely damaging to your skin. Sunburn causes your skin to dry out and makes the top layer peel off. Even if you don’t have sunburn, the top layer of your skin is likely so damaged that the texture mimics leather. 

Skin Conditions Like Eczema and Psoriasis

If you have a skin condition, you may have chronic dry skin as a result. Both psoriasis and eczema cause dry patches of skin that are usually itchy. They can appear anywhere on your body, including your scalp.

A Reaction to Topical Medications

Skincare ingredients like prescription tretinoin are invaluable for acne treatment, but they cause the skin to peel. While they’re treating the acne, they’re causing an upset in your skin’s natural balance of defenses. If you can’t stop using this topical medication, you’ll need to work to restore your skin’s hydration.

Dehydration

If you aren’t getting enough water, your skin isn’t getting enough water. Since your body is mostly made of water, it shouldn’t be a surprise that dehydration can become visible from the outside. 

About 64% of your skin is water. Make sure you’re drinking at least the recommended daily amount of water, and increase your intake when you’re outdoors or engaging in an activity that makes you sweat. 

Dry Skin Needs More Than Moisturizer

You may be having trouble finding a gel-based moisturizer that’s working to address your needs. Trying many different moisturizers and face creams until you find one that works will be an expensive project that lasts an indefinite period of time. Putting moisturizer on is the last step in a comprehensive regimen for effectively treating dry skin. 

Dry skin isn’t a straightforward issue to deal with. Many issues can contribute to dry skin, and simply rubbing some moisturizer won't fix the problem in the long term. If your skin is dehydrated, the moisturizer may not even reach the surface it needs to reach.

While some moisturizers contain ingredients that provide deep hydration to your skin, many don’t. There’s a difference between hydration and moisture. Hydration fills your skin with water, and moisturizer protects the surface of your skin. You likely need hydration if your dry skin is significant.

Building the Right Skincare Routine for Dry Skin

Dry skin needs a few things to reach its perfect balance: a gentle cleanser, a hydrating serum, moisturizer, and sun protection. In many cases, dry skin will benefit from gentle exfoliation to remove the dead cells from the skin’s surface. 

If the dead cells are obstructing the healthy skin beneath, the deeply hydrating ingredients won’t reach the layer of live skin cells beneath. Dead skin cells also contribute to the patchy and parched appearance of dry skin, so removing them will create an overall healthy glow. 

At the beginning of your skincare routine, cleanse your face. Many cleansers are too harsh for dry skin. They’ll strip away what little protective oil you have, ultimately exacerbating your dry skin. 

Wash your face with a natural cleanser like The Clean Slate. Designed to cleanse and invigorate the skin, The Clean Slate will help prep your skin to readily soak up the hydrating moisturizer. 

Follow with The Good during your nighttime routine. It is made purely of active botanicals designed to address common skincare concerns. It’s packed with plant-based hydration that can penetrate your skin to deliver its powerful hydration and help to promote the health of your skin. 

If you have extremely dry skin, you can apply The Good in the morning and at night. 

Finish your skincare routine with The Base Layer moisturizer. The Base Layer contains hydrating ingredients, skin-protecting ingredients, and active botanicals that can help to reduce the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles.

If you’re going outside or if it’s daytime, finish off your skincare routine with SPF.

Deeply Hydrating Ingredients for Dry Skin

 If you have sensitive skin, go for a creamy moisturizer that is also fragrance-free. Ideally, the best moisturizer for acne-prone skin and sensitive dry skin should be free of lanolin, parabens, and fragrances that commonly irritate the skin.

The Base Layer moisturizer helps to protect against environmental damage to your skin, restore homeostasis to your skin with plant stem cells and adaptogens, and provide deep hydration. 

Our formula contains several deeply hydrating ingredients from natural sources.

• Plant Squalane
• Glacial Mineral Water
• Rainforest Bacuri Butter
• Elkhorn Sea Moss
• Mushroom Polysaccharides
• Oat Protein
  
  

These hydrating ingredients are accompanied by a whole host of other active botanicals that work to address many skincare concerns that people of all ages and skin types often wish to correct. 

Peptides, antioxidants, and botanical oils will visibly firm, plump, and smooth the skin without feeling heavy or greasy. You don’t have to settle for a moisturizer that promises a single benefit when you’d rather address the health and appearance of your skin as a whole. 

Your Skin Deserves the Best

The Base Layer is the best moisturizer for all skin types, including dry skin. Caldera + Lab is a completely natural skincare line that formulates our products without synthetic ingredients, toxic ingredients, animal ingredients, parabens, formaldehyde, phthalates, gluten, aluminum, GMOs, or any other problematic ingredients. Every bottle is full of plants. There’s nothing else in the package. 

Our all-natural products have been clinically proven to produce meaningful results for men of all skin types with a multitude of skincare concerns. Our three products are formulated to work perfectly together. Addressing every aspect of your skin’s health will work to improve your dry skin. Use each product twice a day to transform your skin. 

Sources:

Skin Protection from Sun Damage | Cleveland Clinic

Dehydration: Causes & Symptoms | Cleveland Clinic

How to safely exfoliate at home | American Academy of Dermatology