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Your amazing skin is hard at work every day keeping bad guys out and good guys in. With everything your skin is exposed to, it can be plagued with annoying issues! One common complaint? Dehydrated skin.


Dehydrated skin is pretty similar to dry skin, often showing up as flaky, sensitive, tight skin. But the two conditions are a bit different, and we’ll explain why in this article!

We’ll also go over the signs and symptoms of dehydrated skin as well as how to care for it and get your skin back in tip-top shape.

All About Dehydrated Skin

To talk about the signs and symptoms of dehydrated skin, first, we need to talk about the differences between it and dry skin. They’re two different problems, though you can have both at the same time!

Is Your Skin Dry Or Dehydrated?

scratching dehydrated skin

Dehydrated skin is just that — skin that’s lacking deep-down hydration. It’s wishing for water. Missing moisture. You get the picture.

Dehydrated skin is very dependent on outside factors (like weather, products, diet, etc.), so it can come and go.

Dry skin, on the other hand, is more of a skin type. It means your skin doesn’t have enough sebum, which is the good oil your body naturally produces to keep your skin supple and lock in moisture.

In one sense, dry and dehydrated skin can be two sides of the same coin. Sebum is what locks in the moisture that your skin needs to stay hydrated. So, if you don’t have enough sebum, your skin will lose water more easily, causing dehydration.

Both dryness and dehydration can leave you with flaky, sensitive, itchy, tight, or dull-looking skin.

Signs Of Dehydrated Skin

In addition to the symptoms we just listed above that apply to both dry and dehydrated skin, if your skin is lacking in the moisture department, you may also notice fine lines or wrinkles and dark circles under your eyes — all things no one wants!

Causes Of Dehydrated Skin

What are the factors that leave you with parched, thirsty skin? There are quite a few that could contribute. Let’s take a look.

Diet

What you eat absolutely affects your skin! When it comes to skin dehydration, alcohol, salty foods, and caffeine are three of the main culprits. And, of course, not drinking enough water will contribute to dehydrated skin.

Skincare Products

The right skincare products can work wonders, but using the wrong products (or using the right products in the wrong way) can dehydrate your skin.

Weather

getting sun at the beach

The environment has a lot to do with how hydrated or dehydrated your skin is at any given time. Sun and cold wind are especially drying. Take sun exposure a few steps further to sunburn and your skin is probably extra-dry.

Air Conditioning

Just like the weather outside affects your skin, the climate indoors does as well. Air conditioning keeps you nice and cool but can really do a number on your skin and its hydration!

Hot Baths And Showers

How do long, hot baths and showers dehydrate your skin? They strip away the natural oils on your skin that protect it and lock in all the necessary hydration.

How To Care For Dehydrated Skin

Applying Hyaluronic Acid to dehydrated skin

Even if you’re not quite sure where your dehydrated skin is coming from, we’ve got some tips to help you hydrate, treat yourself to some TLC, and get back to gorgeous, dewy skin!

Plus, some of these tips will also help you do right by your dry skin, so they’re a win-win no matter what type of skin you have!

Apply Hyaluronic Acid

If the word “acid” sounds a little, well, abrasive, let us explain hyaluronic acid. It’s actually a naturally occurring substance in your body that lubricates your connective tissue and rehydrates your skin.

When you give your skin an extra dose of hyaluronic acid, it revitalizes, smooths fine lines and wrinkles, and softens your skin. That’s why you can find it in many serums and other products.

If you opt for a hyaluronic serum, remember that it should go on right before your moisturizer, which serves to seal in all that hydration!

Here at Babo Botanicals, rather than deriving our hyaluronic acid from animals, we source it from fermented and non-GMO corn and yeast.

Add hydrating, anti-aging hyaluronic acid to your daily routine with Babo Botanicals’s Daily Sheer Tinted Facial Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30. This lightweight, non-greasy formula provides mineral sun protection and adds luminosity to your skin!

 

For the days you get a little too toasty in the sun, use aloe and hyaluronic acid to rehydrate your dry, sunburnt skin with our After Sun Soothing Hydrating Aloe Gel.

Check Your Diet

To show your skin some hydrating TLC, cut back on the coffee, alcohol, and salty snacks.

Instead of the junk food, hydrate from the inside-out by drinking more water (or drinks like herbal tea and infused water — yum!) and eating more water-rich fruits and veggies.

Moisturize Right Away

moisturizing dehydrated skin

Ahh, a long, hot bath can feel so relaxing! But remember hot water can dry out your skin, and scrubbing up can strip your skin of that layer of natural oil that it needs to stay moisturized.

Does that mean you should swear off hot baths or showers forever and ever? Of course not!

Just avoid extra hot water and (this one is super important!) put lotion on right after you hop out of the bath or shower. Providing this protective layer helps your skin lock hydration in so that it doesn’t evaporate into the air.

If you’re in search of a lotion that’s loaded with natural ingredients and oils and contains no parabens, synthetic fragrances, dyes, or formaldehyde, look no further than Babo Botanicals’s Sensitive Skin Fragrance Free Daily Hydra Therapy Lotion.

Made with two percent colloidal oatmeal, it’s created specifically for adults with very sensitive, dry, or eczema-prone skin. It also contains shea butter, sunflower oil, and sea buckthorn oil to deeply moisturize your skin!

And don’t think that we forgot about your babies! For your little ones, go with Babo Botanicals’s Moisturizing Baby Lotion, also made with colloidal oatmeal to soothe your baby’s delicate, kissable skin.

Choose Gentle, Non-Irritating Products

In addition to warding off dry and dehydrated skin, this is just a basic guideline for good skin care: use gentle, non-irritating products on your whole body — from shampoo and soap to lip gloss and lotion.

One ingredient that can be particularly drying? Sulfates. They lather up to clean your skin and scalp of dirt, grime, and oil but, at the same time, strip your skin of its natural, healthy oils.

For the sake of keeping your skin moisturized and hydrated, stay away from irritating ingredients. Instead of a shampoo made with sulfates, go with a gentle but effective shampoo, like Babo Botanicals’s Smoothing Detangling Shampoo & Wash.

Babo Botanicals’s Smoothing Detangling Shampoo & Wash

It contains evening primrose oil, cocoa butter, and shea butter to smooth and soften your hair and skin while detangling, adding shine, and calming flyaways.

Use A Humidifier

When the air in your home is particularly dry (maybe due to air conditioning), you might not be able to shake your dehydrated skin. Try running a humidifier to pump moisture into the air.

Wear Moisturizing Sunscreen

A day in the sun can zap the moisture right out of your skin. So, when it comes to sun protection, don’t pick any old sunscreen! Opt for one that shields your skin from the sun while also moisturizing and protecting your skin with healthy oils.

Babo Botanicals’s Clear Zinc Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 does just that. Our unique, clear formula is made with zinc oxide to ward off the sun’s rays and shea butter and coconut oil to moisturize!

It’s gentle and fragrance-free, making it great option to even the most sensitive skin (toddlers included!).

Rehydrate Your Thirsty Skin!

woman with hydrated skin

Dehydrated skin is thirsty skin! You’ll notice that it’s flaky, sensitive, itchy, tight, or dull-looking. You may also have fine lines, surface wrinkles, or dark circles under your eyes. No good!

To rehydrate your skin, follow our care tips above: apply hyaluronic acid with Daily Sheer Tinted Facial Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30, adjust your diet, choose the right products, use a humidifier, and moisturize with Sensitive Skin Fragrance Free Daily Hydra Therapy Lotion to lock in hydration.

With the right care, dehydrated skin won’t last long!