Dry vs. Dehydrated Skin: Why Knowing the difference Matters

Chances are that you suffer from dry skin for at least some parts of the year unless you live in a tropical, humid country. Several factors such as genetics, age, environmental factors like weather, and diet that is low in fats, can make your skin rough, dry, and flaky. Read on to understand what "dry" skin really is and how you can incorporate simple steps to keep your skin comfortable and healthy.  

There are two conditions that are typically lumped together as "dry" skin. These are:

1. Skin that has very little oil - technically called dry skin
2. Skin that has very little moisture - technically called dehydrated skin

​Dry skin lacks oil, dehydrated skin lacks moisture. 
Dry skin is generally persistent and attributed to genetics or age. Ayurvedically, Vata predominant prakrti people are more prone to dry skin. 
Dehydrated skin, on the other hand is a condition that is generally due to a weakened skin barrier function. Anyone may be susceptible to dehydrated skin. Ayurvedically, dehydrated skin is more of a Pitta imbalance. 

How to manage dry and dehydrated skin
Dry skin needs oil, dehydrated skin needs moisture. 
Dry skin and dehydrated skin may have similar symptoms. So it's best to ensure that your skin has both enough oil and moisture.  
​There are three classes of ingredients that can help relieve the feeling of dryness: 

• Humectants: Humectants attract moisture to the skin. Examples are aloe vera, glycerin, stearic acid, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid to name a few. Humectants are great for dehydrated skin. 
• Occlusives: These are substances that form a protective barrier on the skin and prevent loss of moisture by evaporation. Examples include petroleum jelly (Vaseline), waxes like beeswax, emulsifying wax etc. which are found in commercial creams and lotions. Occlusives are also great for dehydrated skin. 
• Emollients: These are generally small molecular weight oils that penetrate the epidermal cells and fill in the spaces between them. There are a great variety of oils that have a wide range of skin benefits. But the oils that specifically benefit dry skin are those with a specific lipid profile. In general, oils with high linoleic acid content, a type of fatty acid, are the best for dry skin, specifically to help repair the skin barrier function. Sesame seed oil is a good generic oil with moderate linoleic acid content. However, it works best in synergy with botanicals because of its ability to carry these compounds deep into skin tissue. A great easily available oil that is abundant in linoleic acid is sunflower seed oil and is fantastic for skin. Typically, just a cream or lotion is not enough to manage dry skin. An oil needs to be part of your daily routine. 

​For harsh winter months, a multi-pronged strategy is recommended to protect your skin. 

• Take short showers. As tempting as it is to have long, really hot showers in the winter months, resist! Heat strips skin of its natural oils and can worsen the symptoms of dry skin. 
• Use gentle soaps, if possible only in areas that it is really needed. All soaps are going to strip some oil from your skin so my recommendation is to use as little of it as possible. Another option is to use a choornam, an age old Ayurvedic powder cleanser predominantly composed of lentil flour, like this one. 
• After a shower, apply a good body oil, like Saroya Natural's Vata Body Oil, when the skin is still slightly damp. It is important that skin is slightly damp when you apply the oil.
• For severe cases, finish off with a rich, thick cream that has waxes to seal the moisture.