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Dry Skin Guide: Help! My skin is dry and flaky no matter what I do!

Remedies for Dry Skin on Face and Body - guide for sensitive, extremely dry skin

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Remedies for Dry Skin on Face and Body - guide for sensitive, extremely dry skin

Question:

My skin is dry and flaky no matter what I do! What should I do?

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Answer:

First, consider whether you’re inadvertently (and unknowingly) weakening your skin’s ability to stay hydrated by poking holes in its moisture barrier.

Botanical Face Wash - Skincare Facial Cleansers for a Natural Skin Care Routine

Facial Cleansers

Any and all cleansers can affect our skin’s natural moisture barrier. The difference between one that supports your skin and one that doesn’t is that harsh cleansers will damage your barrier so much that it won’t be able to repair itself before you cleanse again.

If you can relate to having dry, flaky skin right now, that’s enough evidence to tell you that you need to adjust your cleanser. Go with the mildest cleanser you can get your hands on and stick with it for at least 3 weeks.

Natural Micellar Cleansing Water - botanical, herbal, apothecary skincare benefits

My top recommendations for mild, soap-free, non-foaming facial cleansers are:

Morning:

Evening:

If you have makeup to remove in the evening, use a micellar cleanser first, followed by one of the evening suggestions.

Sensitive Skin Gel Cleanser face wash for oily skin, acne, and combination skin.

Body Cleansers

What you wash with during your daily shower has a huge effect on your skin. Just like our facial cleansers, if you’re using something with harsh sulfates (found in the majority of “off the shelf” body wash), you’ll no doubt experience dry skin as winter conditions take their toll.

If you already have dry, cracked heels (the number one telltale sign of a body cleanser that’s stripping your moisture barrier –  all your body wash runs over your feet as you lather up and wash off so they tell you a lot about whether or not you’re using the right body cleanser), it’s time to switch things up!

My top recommendation is:

  • Happiness Boost Body Wash – packed with skin-supporting lipid-rich ingredients (lipids are the foundation of our moisture barrier).

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Botanical Skincare Products - Aloe Vera Moisturizer Hydrating Gel for Skin

Next, it’s time to rehydrate and moisturize your skin.

This is a two-step process because our skin needs hydration (water) to stay below the surface of the skin and a healthy moisture (lipid) barrier to keep that water from leeching out.

Here are my top tips for fortifying your moisture barrier and getting your skin back on track:

Facial Care

  • Don’t skip using a dedicated hydrator – these products are applied after cleansing and before moisturizing. They soften skin, help lubricate our pores (so debris and dead skin cells can be purged), and are often the missing key to healthy skin when a moisturizer alone isn’t cutting it. Use this quiz to find one that’s right for your facial care routine. For body care, use our aloe-ver body hydrator.
  • Add a serum to your evening routine to give your skin the lipids it needs to rebuild and repair. My top recommendations for correcting winter dryness with serums are:
  • Try this experiment: If you’re exfoliating with a scrub every day, try skipping the scrub and layer up hydrating and moisturizing products overnight instead. This will encourage the buildup of dead skin cells to soften and slough off on their own. The reason to try this out is that it can stop the cycle of repeatedly feeling the need to scrub off flakes rather than getting to the root of the problem by softening buildup and moisturizing new layers of skin.
    • My favourite combo for this is Calendula Gel Hydrator, followed by Pumpkin Enzyme Mask as an overnight treatment (applied as my moisturizer) and layered with Balance Serum overtop – but feel free to try different combinations to find out what works best for you.
  • Don’t be afraid to apply your moisturizer again, mid-day, if you need to!
Natural skincare products for dry skin - skin care body cream

Body Care

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Phew – that should be enough to get your skin headed in the right direction this winter! But if you need clarity or further recommendations, hop into the facebook group, have a read through more of our dry skin blog posts, shop products for dry skin here, or check out more resources here.
Jamie's signature - founder of grounded sage skincare
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Remedies for Dry Skin on Face and Body - guide for sensitive, extremely dry skin

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Jamie Sabot, Author, Grounded Sage Skincare

Jamie Sabot

Jamie Sabot is the founder of Grounded Sage Skincare. Since she started in 2009, Grounded Sage Skincare has helped thousands of customers with their skin by creating handcrafted skincare products, online workshops, and this blog, which has been a trusted resource for straightforward natural skincare information to over 2 million readers and counting.

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