How to hydrate your skin, from the inside out
Winter can mean skin that is drier, flakier and prone to itchiness. Here’s how to take an in-depth approach to hydration.
Does your skin have the winter woes?
Plummeting temperatures and low humidity levels make our chilliest season a prime time for irritated skin, stripping away natural hydrators and leaving your skin’s moisture barrier damaged.
Moisturising your skin is vital and hydrating from the inside-out is another approach, supporting processes that allow your skin to heal and repair itself and working on a cellular level to keep it healthy.
Here are five ways to give your skin some good old-fashioned TLC, inside and out:
1. Keep hydrated
We know it might be easier in summer when reaching for the H20 comes naturally.
But your skin is made up of 30 per cent water, so you need to focus on staying hydrated in winter too.
Limit your intake of coffee and alcohol too as both are diuretics and increase the excretion of water.
2. Get more sleep
Getting plenty of shut-eye is a great way to jumpstart healing your skin’s moisture barrier from the inside, and what better time than winter when it is cold and dark outside.
A 2014 study out of the US found that people who got high quality sleep had a 30 per cent greater moisture barrier recovery in 72 hours than poor sleepers.
3. Eat foods rich in fatty acids
Incorporating foods like flaxseeds, salmon, eggs, nuts, leafy vegetables and oils into your diet will help you consume a healthy amount of the essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, which can help maintain the integrity of the skin’s moisture barrier.
Add vitamin A-rich foods such as carrots and sweet potatoes, which can help provide antioxidant protection for the skin.
4. Eat more fruit
Try adding some water-dense fruit (like watermelon, strawberries or oranges) to your diet to help keep you hydrated.
A 2018 study published in journal Nutrients found that increased fruit intake can help decrease the risks of something known as seborrheic dermatitis by 25 per cent, a condition that causes scaling and flaking on the scalp but can also affect other oily areas of the body like the face.
5. Be mindful about what you apply to your skin
When it comes to maintaining skin moisture, look for soap-free cleansers and moisturisers that soothe and hydrate the skin and maintain a healthy skin barrier.
The DermaVeen Extra Hydration range contains the key ingredient OatActiv+. This multi-action ingredient works on the skin in six ways:
- Hydrates the skin thanks to proteins that act as a natural emulsifier and humectant, to soften the skin
- Prevents skin moisture loss thanks to polysaccharides and lipids, which act as a barrier to pool moisture in the skin
- Soothes skin prone to itch and irritation due to antioxidants, vitamins and flavonoids
- Protects the skin barrier thanks to lipids, which restore the fatty matrix between skin cells to help replenish the skin barrier
- Balances the skin’s normal pH levels with lipids[i]
- Supports the skin’s natural microbiome with the prebiotic properties of oat
The three-step routine for intense hydration this winter begins with DermaVeen Extra Hydration Gentle Soap Free Wash, a gentle, every day, soap-free cleanser for dry and extra dry skin.
Follow with DermaVeen Extra Hydration Intensive Moisturising Lotion, which is fortified with OatActiv+ and clinically proven to provide 24 hour hydration[ii].
And finally, DermaVeen Extra Hydration Intensive Moisturising Cream with OatActiv+ and shea butter which provides intense nourishment to soothe and restore skin.
So that your winter glow is good to go, and go!
* This post is brought to you by the DermaVeen Extra Hydration range.
[i] DermaVeen® washes, lotions and creams are pH balanced
[ii] Based on clinical hydration study 19-1248, 2019.
