Dehydrated vs Dry Skin: Which do I suffer from?

In the skin care industry, many people, products, and companies often use the terms "dry skin" and "dehydrated skin" interchangeably. In fact, most individuals will think they have dry skin when in fact, their skin isn't dry at all--just highly dehydrated. You've come to the right place to learn about which ailment you suffer from.

Dehydrated skin. This is a skin condition--not a skin type. Skin types can be summed up into very basic categories: Oily, Combination, Normal, and Dry. These types can be up for debate by certain professionals, but for the sake of this article, these are the four basic skin types. Now, as I stated before, dehydrated skin is a condition. This means that this is a variable in the skin and can change frequently depending on climate, water intake, hormonal activity, product usage, etc. Dehydrated skin means lack of water, or hydration.

Dry skin. This is a skin type. This is classified as skin that is lacking adequate production of oil. Although many are born with dry skin types, typically, as we age our sebaceous (oil) glands are not as active as they once were leading to dry, flaky skin. 

The good news is that both are highly treatable. With dry skin, it’s best to use emollient ingredients--ingredients that are oil based. Such ingredients include plant oils and esters. With dehydrated skin, it's best to look at products with humectant ingredients--which are ingredients add or retain water, such as hyaluronic acid and glycerin. These ingredients will take water from your environment and bond it to your skin. Being in an environment that’s more humid than our dry Arizona air will help substantially with dehydrated skin, even using a humidifier in your home can be a beneficial way to help with the comfort of your skin.  Keep in mind that you can have any combination of skin types and conditions, which means that you can absolutely have dry and dehydrated skin.

Stay tuned for future blog posts regarding skin types and skin conditions!