If your skin is dehydrated and suffering, we’ve got some great tips for you!

Whatever is causing your skin to dry out - be it stress, sensitivities to irritants, or dry weather - your strategy for managing it needs to be multi-pronged!

Your skin and your overall health

You need to look at your skin as part of a wider picture of health, because it’s never as simple as just piling on the moisturiser.

Why? Because your skin’s health is affected by the food you eat, the air you breathe and the things you put on it, as well as your general levels of health and well-being.

So in order to hydrate your skin longer term, as well as in the short term, see what you can do to boost its resilience and keep yourself as healthy as possible.

Tips for hydrating your skin quick

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a quick fix we’ve compiled a really useful list of things you can do to sort out your skin, fast!

• Keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water
• Cut out the caffeine and alcohol
• Go herbal: drink relaxing, anti-inflammatory herbal teas
• Boost your diet with omega-rich foods like oily fish, nuts, seeds
• Avoid fragranced toiletries and cosmetics: perfume is a major cause of dry skin
• Go simple: put aside beauty treatments such as peels, perfumed masks for a while
• Moisturise throughout the day: decant your favourite emollient into a travel pot and carry it with you
• Dodge the soap: switch to SLS/soap-free alternatives
• Use beeswax-based balms on dry patches: beeswax is a natural humectant and draws moisture into the skin. It also forms a semi-occlusive barrier to prevent trans-epidermal water loss.
• Nourish your skin directly with nutrient-rich plant oils: hemp, rosehip, borage, sea buckthorn, and calendula are all great choices.
• Cleanse with oil rather than soap or foaming washes
• Avoid long hot soaks: bathe for just 15 mins in warm water instead.
• Soak & seal: pat skin dry and apply an oil or cream to slightly-damp skin immediately after bathing
• Sleep well! Go to bed early and ban screens from the bedroom.

Recommended products for hydrating dry skin

Balmonds Omega-Rich Cleansing Oil
with rosehip and calendula

Balmonds Daily Moisturising Cream
with shea butter and calendula