Tight, dull skin, sunken eyes, itchiness, and fine lines — these are all classic signs that your skin is drying out. It means that your skin is losing more water than your body takes in. It begins to lack luminosity.
Up to 98% of the general population experiences some level of hydration problems on their skin. So, it is safe to say that dehydrated skin is the #1 challenge for a healthy, dewy complexion. In this post, we’ve rounded up a couple of tips and tricks that can help you address the loss of skin moisture.
What Is Dehydrated Skin?
Water is a key part of tissues and cells. It makes up a significant portion of body fluid compartments.
Water takes 75% and 60% of our body’s composition. It serves as a crucial nutrient, acts as a solvent for ionic compounds, and plays an important role in cell homeostasis. However, the amount of water we usually get from foods and drinks is not enough to meet our body’s daily needs.
Dehydrated skin is the skin type that is water-deficient and lacks the necessary moisture. When the skin is dehydrated, it can’t function normally and loses its elasticity. So, it starts to look dull and flat.
What Causes Skin Dehydration?
You can develop dehydrated skin when your skin doesn’t get the necessary water content. It can produce too much oil to try and compensate for the water loss. Many factors can lead to such a problem. Here are some of them.
1. Weather Conditions
In places with high humidity, where there's a lot of water vapor in the air, loss of skin water content is gradual. This gives the body a chance to replenish the loss.
However, when the weather is too hot or cold, we tend to address these weather conditions with indoor heating or cooling. In these conditions, the skin loses water faster than it is being replenished. Hence, we end up with thirsty skin.
2. Inadequate Hydration
When you don’t hydrate, your system starts pulling water from other body parts. This helps the system prioritize vital processes. This process causes dehydration to show up on your face.
To keep the skin hydrated, most adults need about 9 cups (72 ounces) of water daily.
3. Hot Showers
Taking hot showers can strip off more moisture and oil from the skin. It’s best to take short showers with lukewarm water.
4. Smoking
Cigarettes are packed with toxins that can make the skin prone to wrinkles, fine lines, dullness, and dryness.
5. Lack of Sun Protection
If you don’t apply any protection day in and day out, the sun can damage the proteins and skin cells. Long-term exposure can make the skin lose more water than it normally would.
Signs of Dehydrated Skin
Before you learn how to fix dehydrated skin, it’s useful to recognize the signs.
1. Dryness
You can see areas of the skin that are scaly, rough, and itchy. These signs can go hand-in-hand with other symptoms, like thirst, medium-dark yellow urine, and exhaustion.
The Infusoderm Deep Hydration Daily Moisturizer is designed to hydrate, refresh, and revitalize the skin. With this product, you don’t just moisturize; you elevate your skincare routine. Packed with powerful antioxidants, this ultra-light moisturizer brightens your complexion and helps you get glowing skin.
2. Itchiness
Some people ask, “Can dehydration cause itchy skin?” The short answer is absolutely. The more moisture gets sucked out of the skin, the more sensitive and irritated it gets. The outer layer becomes prone to tightness and itchiness.
When you don’t hydrate, you disrupt the skin’s normal function. This makes it susceptible to outside irritants. So, whenever dust, debris, or smoke comes in contact with your dehydrated skin, you will feel itchy.
3. Dullness
Moisture keeps the skin’s natural barrier in tip-top shape. When that barrier is compromised, you can expect to get a dull complexion.
4. Uneven Skin Tone
A skin that has a depleted water content can develop an uneven tone. That’s because the insufficient moisture makes the wrinkles, forehead lines, and dark undereye circles easy to notice.
Dehydrated skin care can come in handy. Different products are designed to provide additional moisture to the skin. Skincare supports cell turnover and skin barrier function, making it a go-to choice to avoid further damage.
5. Increased Visibility of Fine Lines
Depleted water content affects the surface skin cells. It causes more fine lines to form and leads to a reduction of skin elasticity.
Your skin deserves the best, and Suvoderm delivers! This product is specifically formulated to smooth away the signs of aging and restore your skin’s elasticity. With regular use, you can enjoy a smoother, younger-looking skin.
6. Under-Eye Circles
Problems with dehydration cause your under-eye area to lose its radiance. The eyes start to look more sunken and appear to sink into the eye orbit.
Like any other part of the body, our eyes deserve the best treatment. The Eyevage can help with that. This product is quickly absorbed into the skin, reducing the dark circles and puffiness. After use, the eyes feel and look smoother.
7. Chapped Lips/Mouth
Dehydration doesn’t just affect your face and the area under the eyes. It can have far-reaching consequences.
Our lips don’t come with oil glands. So, the only way to fight against lack of moisture is to hydrate them. The Sundefend Lip Balm SPF 15 is designed to give your lips the treatment and nourishment they deserve.
The product has moderate UV protection, making it a practical solution for regular use. It lasts a long time and leaves the lips feeling soft.
If you want to take your skincare routine to a completely different level, then the Recharge Bundle {Eyevage+Infusoderm+Suvoderm} can be your best bet. With it, you get every moisturizing product you need, like moisturizer, eye cream, and night cream.
How Does Dehydrated Skin Look Like?
Do a quick pinch test. This can help you figure out how much moisture you have in your skin.
Take a bit of your skin between two fingers, and pinch the areas around the cheeks. Give them a light squeeze, just enough to see the texture. When the pinched skin immediately wrinkles and doesn’t bounce back when you release it, it may be thirsty.
Lack of moisture makes it feel dull and itchy. The more dehydrated it is, the more pronounced the wrinkles and fine lines become. Shadows around your nose and eyes are easier to spot.
If you are severely dehydrated, you can also feel dizzy, lightheaded, weak, and exhausted. Your urine also becomes darker than usual.
Dry vs. Dehydrated Skin
Many want to know, “Can dehydration cause dry skin?” It’s important to point out that dry skin and dehydrated skin have similar characteristics but different causes.
Dry skin happens because of inadequate sebum production. It can occur due to an ongoing problem, like eczema or psoriasis. It can get worse with external and internal factors.
Dehydration occurs due to a lack of moisture. The skin looks very tired. Replenishing moisture can take care of the symptoms.
How to Treat Dehydrated Skin?
Here are a couple of options for you to try.
1. Use Hydrating Cleansers and Avoid Harsh Cleansers
Sensitive skin reacts to harsh chemicals. Natural solutions with anti-inflammatory and hydrating compounds can help you alleviate the symptoms.
2. Apply Hydrating Moisturizers
Do you wonder how to treat dehydrated skin? The right moisturizer helps with under-hydrated skin.
3. Use Hydrating Serums
A serum leaves your skin feeling silky smooth. Not only that, it also boosts elasticity, improves texture, and amplifies moisture retention.
4. Increase Water Intake Throughout the Day
When you drink enough water, you are protecting and lubricating your tissues and joints, bowel movements, urination, and perspiration.
5. Avoid Hot Showers
Taking hot showers could damage the keratin cells found in the epidermis.
FAQs
Can dehydrated skin be cured?
Of course. Depleted water content in the skin is a temporary problem. You can treat it with adequate skin care solutions.
How long does it take to reverse dehydrated skin?
Depending on the level of skin damage, you should see notable results in a couple of days of regular moisturizing.
Does dehydrated skin cause acne?
The more you neglect and dehydrate your skin, the higher the odds of skin irritation, dullness, dry patches, breakouts, etc.
Does dehydrated skin look dark?
Lack of water makes the blood vessels narrow. It can result in dark shadows and hyperpigmentation.
Conclusions
As mentioned, our skin requires as much care and attention as the rest of our body. The question is, how much have you been putting effort into hydrating your skin? Understanding what is causing your skin dehydration, revamping your skincare routine, and changing your lifestyle, can pave your way to achieving healthy, glowing skin.
References
1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4529263/
2] https://www.webmd.com/beauty/ss/slideshow-signs-skin-hydration
3] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/water/
4] https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/dry-vs-dehydrated
5] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dehydrated-skin
6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565884/
7] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30998081/
Amna Eltawil
Amna Eltawil is an Egyptian journalist who grew up on the coast of the Mediterranean in Alexandria, Egypt, before moving to Cairo and getting her bachelor's in journalism. From there, she went on to cover new stories and entertainment news for several local and international platforms. Amna enjoys visiting cities on the Mediterranean reminiscent of her childhood city Alexandria, like Barcelona, and she can never have enough of Paris, where she simply likes to walk the streets of the city and enjoy a simple Parisian crepe or have a chill picnic.
