Written by - Dhatri
What's your skin type? A dehydrated one or a dry one? What? What do you say? Do you mean they have different meanings? Are you thinking of something like this? Well, they differ. They differ in meaning, they differ in symptoms, and they differ in causes.
So let's look at the difference between these two confusing words. By the way, a hydrator is different from a moisturiser. Hydrator absorbs water content from the atmosphere whereas moisturiser locks the water content in skin cells.
What do you mean by having dehydrated skin?
Dehydrated skin is the most common skin issue that can happen to anyone, regardless of age and skin type. Even oily skin can be subject to dehydration because of the deficiency of water in the body that makes your skin dehydrated.
Dehydration clearly shows up on your skin when there is a shortage of water content in your body. And that's why the skin looks dry and pale. Dehydrated skin, on the other hand, is very different from dry skin. Let's find out how and why.
The causes of dehydrated skin:
The main cause of dehydrated skin is the lack of water content in the body. And there are several other things that can cause the skin to dehydrate.
Factors like
- Inadequate water consumption.
- Extremely hot or dry weather conditions
- Environmental changes
- Junk food and food that lacks water content
- Sleep loss
- Pollution
- Skipping your regular skincare routine
What happens to your skin when it gets dehydrated?
Traces of dehydrated skin:
- Dehydrated skin looks dull, rough, scaly, and flaky.
- Dehydrated skin is more sensitive, rigid, dry, and too rough.
- Because of dehydration, the skin loses its elastic nature, plumpness, and suppleness.
- signs of premature ageing. Face wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes, and fine lines are a few signs of ageing.
So what do you mean by "dry skin" then?
So, finding out whether your skin is dehydrated or if you have a dry skin type is a bit hard, but not that hard either.
Dry skin is something that does not relate to a shortage of water in the body. It's actually a skin type, just like oily skin, sensitive skin, and now we are talking about dry skin.
The main causes of dry skin are insufficient or absence of oil in the skin that moisturizes the skin. So it causes skin dryness because of the absence of a protective barrier on the outer layer of the skin that lubricates and guards the skin against UV rays.
The causes of dry skin:
- Usage of the wrong skincare product
- Hard exfoliation
- Extremely dry weather conditions
What happens to the skin when it gets dry?
- Itchy or scaly skin.
- Rough skin
- Flakiness
- Stinging or burning skin?
- Peeling of the skin
- Wrinkles
- Cracks and breakouts in the skin
Now, dry skin and dehydrated skin share one thing in common: skin dryness. So what are the remedies to cure dehydrated skin and dry skin? But the treatments for both these skin concerns are different.
What elements in skin care products help in treating dehydrated skin?
- Hyaluronic acid locks moisture in skin cells.
- Glycerin acts as a humectant that stores moisture in skin cells.
- Aloe vera is widely used for skin cooling and healing purposes, but also for hydration.
- Honey locks in moisture by absorbing environmental vapour.
- Ceramides help to prevent skin dryness and itching.
- Lactic acid improves the self-moisturising property of the skin.
- Citric acid
- Snail mucin
What elements in skin care products help in treating dry skin?
- Mineral oil reconstructs the outer epidermis layer and protects the skin from dryness.
- Lanolin helps in preventing water loss from skin cells.
- Jojoba oil regulates sebum production, which is the main cause of dry skin.
- Rose oil acts as an emollient.
- Squalene oil calms down the skin's irritation and redness.
- Tea tree oil does the same as squalane oil.
- Shea butter restores the moisture.
- Coconut
- Almond
- Hyaluronic acid
- Ceramides
Bottom line:
Dehydrated skin is the most common skin issue that can happen to anyone, regardless of age or style type. Dry skin is something that does not relate to a shortage of water in the body. The causes of dehydrated skin include lack of water content and there are several factors too that cause the skin to dehydrate. The common thing between dehydrated skin and dry skin is skin dryness. The main causes of dry skin are insufficient or absence of oil in the skin that moisturizes the skin.
Sources:
1.“How to Hydrate Your Skin.” Mayo Clinic, www.mayoclinic.org, 21 Nov. 2020, http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/hydrated-skin/faq-20058067.
2.“Dietary Water Affects Human Skin Hydration and Biomechanics - PMC.” PubMed Central (PMC), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 1 Jan. 2015, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4529263/.
3."Dry skin relief. American Academy of Dermatology." https://www.aad.org/public/skin-hair-nails/skin-care/dry-skin-relief. Accessed Jan. 15, 2019.