It has been a common and long-held belief that drinking copious amounts of water results in healthy, glowing skin, but can water actually hydrate your skin? In a word, no – but let me explain.
Drinking water is undoubtedly essential to good health. We wouldn’t be able to survive more than a few days without a sip of water. It flushes out toxins from our vital organs, aids in digestion, helps with normal brain function and prevents dehydration, but as a way to keep our skin plump and smooth, there simply hasn’t been any scientific evidence supporting the link between water consumption and skin hydration. It is possible to drink 8 glasses a day and still suffer from dry skin. As the upper layer of the skin is made up of dead skin cells, it cannot absorb water from the inside.
What about from the outside? Can soaking in a bath help hydrate the skin? Again, the answer is no. Long baths may actually cause more harm than good. A long soak in the tub washes off the sebum, or the layer of natural oils. These oils help to seal moisture in and once they’re gone, moisture escapes from skin, leaving it feeling dry and itchy. You may notice that the top layer of the epidermis (the stratum corneum), starts to swell up with water – our fingertips and toes get wrinkly and feel waterlogged, but once we get out of the tub, the excess water evaporates and leaves our skin drier than before because there are no natural oils to help retain the moisture. Hot water exacerbates the problem by causing even further moisture loss. This is where topical treatments can help.
When applied to damp skin, a good moisturizer will act as a barrier against water loss. It not only provides a barrier against further moisture loss, but it also helps seal in moisture residing on your skin post bath. When it comes to keeping your skin well hydrated, an emollient moisturizer is more effective than drinking a glass of water. Look for ingredients like ceramides, urea, glycerin which have been shown to help keep skin hydrated. Ceramides naturally form part of the skin’s barrier system and can keep moisture from leaching out and external irritants from being absorbed. I like Impruv Barrier Cream for dry winter skin.
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