If you have dry skin, you know how important it is to keep hydrating, moisturising and treating your skin. It needs TLC to prevent it from flaking, peeling or itching. If slathering on moisturiser isn’t working, you might need to change things and add some extra steps to your routine. 

First, Figure Out If Your Skin Is Dry Or Dehydrated

Dry skin is a skin type — it is usually just innate. It is characterised by a lack of oil, which messes with barrier function. This causes flaky, dry skin pieces that come up the surface, causing itchy skin and overall dryness, especially near the eyebrows and around the corners of the nose and mouth. Look for products with Ceramides, Fatty Acids and Petroleum, which will work best to soften skin, moisturise and repair barrier function. 

Rather than lacking oil, dehydrated skin lacks water. It looks flat because of surface cell deflation, because there isn’t any moisture in the cells to hold them up. It usually shows up as tiny, triangular fine lines on the surface, and the skin feels tight and dull. This skin condition requires TLC to solve—you’ll want to load up on humectants to hydrate, and then emollients to seal.  

Some Factors That Help Determine If Your Skin Is Dry

Confused whether your skin type is dry or not? Here are a few factors that will help you decide 

1. Your skin feels dry right after cleansing: When you have exceptionally dry skin, it may feel dry or uncomfortably tight right after cleansing. To remedy this situation, we recommend humectants-infused, pH balancing formulas. 

2. Skin may appear flaky or scaly: Since dry skin is characterized by less than adequate sebum production, it may appear flaky or scaly on the outside. To compensate for the lack of natural moisturization – try rich, hydrating cream in your morning/evening routine. 

3. Dry skin is more prone to inflammation: Dry skin is more susceptible to flareup due to its diminished water-retention capabilities. Use soothing formulas with Niacinamide, Alpha Bisabolol, and Betaine to counter this problem. 

4. Itchiness or irritation: Dry skin loses its ability to avert allergens, irritants, and toxins. These aggressors penetrate the lipid barrier and activate the immune system, leading to inexplicable episodes of itchiness or irritation. 

What Causes Dry Skin? 

Dryness can occur due to a gamut of reasons. Take a closer look at them here - 

1. Genetic predisposition: Many folks are genetically predisposed to dry, flaky skin.

2. Extreme cold temperatures: Extreme cold temperatures can sap the moisture from your skin, leading to dryness, flakiness or a scaly texture.

3. Harsh skincare products, soaps, and detergents: Harsh skincare, soaps and detergents can dislodge natural oils from the skin, making it dry and uncomfortably tight. To preserve your skin’s moisture content, we recommend using gentle and hydrating formulas.

4. Your surroundings: Do you experience dryness after sitting in an air-conditioned office all day? This happens because the air con zaps moisture molecules from its immediate surroundings.

5. Ageing: Ageing makes your skin thinner, diminishing its oil-producing capabilities. This is why, after a certain age your skin becomes dry and flaky.

6. Overwashing and over-exfoliation: Overwashing or over-exfoliation can remove natural oil from the skin, causing it to dry out. To counter this problem, we recommend cleansing only twice every day – in your morning and nighttime skincare routine. Additionally, experts suggest that exfoliating 2 to 3 times a week (and nothing more) bodes well for all skin types.

The Best Routine For Dry Skin 

Always cleanse well 

A good face wash should cleanse without stripping oil from the face, and must maintain your skin’s pH balance. Look for calming ingredients. Incorporate Aloe Vera, Rose Water, Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid and stick to textures that are creamy or milky. Skip very stripping foaming cleansers, because these will over-dry your skin and worsen dryness. 

Our recommendation: Try Foxtale’s Hydrating Face Wash to revive your dry skin. It boasts Sodium Hyaluronate and Red Algae Extract that improve your skin’s water-holding capacity. The formula guarantees a thorough cleanse without making your skin feel stripped or dry. Moreover, the Hydrating Cleanser doubles as a makeup remover. Infused with gentle surfactants, this cleanser melts every trace of makeup and SPF. 

Buff your skin (gently) 

Over exfoliation is damaging to the protective skin barrier and triggers an inflammatory response in the skin. This causes long-term inflammation and barrier damage, which can be worse if you already have dry skin. But buffing your dry skin is important. You want to get rid of the dead, dry skin cells on the top, so the hydrating ingredients can actually get to the newer, younger ones. Use scrubs with very fine granules (so you don’t create microtears in your skin) or a washcloth if you like to physically exfoliate. If you prefer chemical exfoliation, lactic acid and glycolic acid (in a buffered, pH adjusted formula) are a good call. Use these in a serum, peel or toner form for best results. Finally, then follow with a moisturiser and oil, as your skin is more adept at holding in moisture post-exfoliation. 

Our recommendation: Use Foxtale’s innovative AHA BHA Exfoliating Serum to cast away buildup. Glycolic and Salicylic Acid remove flakiness, dead cells and other debris to ensure healthy cellular renewal. We love how this formula doesn’t burn or sting on application. Moreover, Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide ensure sustained hydration to the skin – making it a great fit for dry skin folks 

Hydrate, moisturise and seal 

In the day, it is best to use a lightweight serum and continue with a moisturiser + SPF combo that’ll brighten, hydrate and balance. 

At night, it’s time to pull out the big guns. During the day, the skin is in protection mode, and it is working to fend off UV rays and pollution. When your skin is at rest at night, its permeability is the highest. So, it allows active ingredients to absorb deep into the skin. After cleansing and toning, you’ll want to use a lightweight humectant to draw water into itself and hydrate the skin. Glycerin and Hyaluronic Acid are the most popular ingredients to serve this purpose. They are best applied on damp skin so the molecules have enough to pull in and hold on to. Always apply lighter, watery products on damp skin. Then layer thicker products on top to trap the water in, it allows for hydrated, supple and bouncy skin. Next, apply a moisturiser with barrier-boosting ingredients like Lipids, Ceramides and Fatty Acids. These serve as emollient ingredients that fill up the spaces between your skin cells and smooth out the skin. Last, finish with a face oil that has light oils and antioxidants—it’ll scavenge free radicals while holding in all the goodness of the moisture sandwich you previously created.  

Our recommendation: To seal and satiate, use Foxtale’s Hydrating Moisturizer with Ceramides for dry skin. Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer and Olive Oil bind water molecules to the skin, making it soft, elastic, and bouncy. Ceramide helps double down on efforts for hydration by preventing TEWL or transepidermal water loss. The super ingredient also shields the skin against harmful pollutants, UV rays, free radicals and other aggressors.   

Look to antioxidants like Vitamin C and Vitamin E 

Include antioxidants into your skincare routine, because free radicals are able to reduce cellular function, which can reduce collagen and elastin production, therefore leading to wrinkles, fine lines and a loss of elasticity. Topical antioxidants like Vitamin C, Vitamin E and resveratrol are a good call, and you can layer them into the serum step of your routine.  

Our recommendation: Try Foxtale’s emollient-rich Vitamin C Serum. It uses gel-trap technology that encapsulates Vitamin C (a water-soluble molecule) with Vitamin E (an oil-soluble molecule). This step in formulation ensures better absorption of the serum across the lipid barrier. Travelling 4X deep into the skin, Foxtale’s Vitamin C Serum shows jaw-dropping results in 5 uses only. Use it for brightening, fighting premature signs of ageing, reducing radical damage to the skin and more. 

Focus on preventative anti-ageing 

Dry skin doesn’t cause wrinkles, but it can make wrinkles and fine lines look more pronounced. Hydrating and moisturising will plump the skin and reduce the look of them, but you’ll want to use a collagen-boosting ingredient like retinol too. Retinoids reduce fine lines and wrinkles by increasing the production of collagen and elastin, and they also stimulate the production of new blood vessels in the skin. However, in the process of improving cell turnover, they also reduce oil production in the area, which can cause dryness and flakes. Struggling with Retinol-induced dryness? Pair it with soothing ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid and Ceramides, or apply it mixed with the product in a 1:1 ratio.  

Our recommendation: Layer Foxtale’s Daily Hydrating Serum with Retinol Serum in your nighttime routine. Our innovative Hydrating Serum contains 6 humectants that make your skin plump, soften ageing lines and offset episodes of accidental inflammation – making it the perfect precursor to Retinol. Our beloved Retinol Serum encapsulates the star ingredient in a protective barrier that travels deep inside the skin and breaks open. This helps reduce purging and breakouts that Retinol otherwise causes on the dermis.