Dry skin can be difficult to handle. Whether you find that your face is dry, your lips are dry, or, in this age of must-do handwashing, you find that your hands are impossibly dry, we feel your pain. We’ve put together a guide to creating the best skincare routine for dry skin, so you can kiss your dry skin woes goodbye for good!

How To Identify Dry Skin

Dry skin sounds self explanatory, but can actually present itself in a number of ways. Dry skin is caused by the surface becoming damaged, causing miniscule cracks in the skin. The reason that your skin becomes dry when this happens is because moisture escapes through the cracks, and unfortunately, irritants get in. As a result, your skin can appear dull, lack elasticity and feel tight – if this continues, you may even find that your skin is itchy and red with flaky patches appearing. 

How To Prevent Dry Skin

The best way to prevent dry skin is by creating a skincare routine that keeps the skin hydrated and balanced throughout the day so that it doesn’t have a chance to become dry and damaged. Depending on whether you fall into the dry skin or combination category, you’ll need to adjust the exact products you use to suit your needs and make sure your skin remains balanced, but we do have some broad recommendations for which products you should use and when.

Morning Skincare Routine For Dry Skin

A morning skincare routine is not only an opportunity to rid your skin of any dry, dead skin and dirt, but a chance to prepare your skin for the day ahead. Throughout the course of a day,  your skin may need to fight all manner of damaging conditions from UV rays to dust and air pollution. 

Cleanser

Begin the day by washing your face with a gentle face wash – many are designed specifically for treating dry skin. While you may think that moisturiser is the only skincare to return moisture to your skin, a face wash is actually one of the most hydrating steps in any skincare routine.

Serum

Serum can help to seal in moisture and prevent it from escaping, so it’s an essential for people who suffer from dry skin. Find a serum that contains hyaluronic acid; this draws moisture into the skin and stops it from leaving your skin again – perfect for maximum hydration. 

Moisturiser

The key to keeping your skin hydrated throughout the day actually doesn’t lie in the moisturiser, but the previous two steps. The moisturiser you apply in the morning should actually target SPF protection to prevent sun damage throughout your day.

Evening Skincare Routine For Dry Skin 

Makeup Remover

Taking off your makeup is an essential part of any skincare routine – we’re sure we’re not the first ones to tell you that leaving your makeup on overnight can cause all kinds of problems for your skin beyond dryness! Make sure you take off every scrap of makeup using a good makeup remover. If you’re worried about your remover stripping moisture from your skin as well as makeup, look for a makeup remover with a coconut as an ingredient as this is known to put the moisture back into your skin!

Cleanser

Cleansing the skin can seem counterintuitive when trying to prevent skin from becoming dry; it’s well known that some cleansers can strip the skin of natural oils that work to keep your skin hydrated. There are, however, cleansers designed to minimise this – look for cleansers that include vitamin E and aloe vera in their list of ingredients.

Exfoliator

Exfoliating can make sure that you get rid of any dead skin cells that have built up, but make sure that you don’t do this more than twice a week to prevent your skin from becoming raw and irritated. To reduce the moisture lost in this process, look for a moisturising face scrub to help you get the best of both worlds. 

Serum

Just as serum holds in moisture during the day, it will hold moisture in your skin overnight too. The key to keeping your skin balanced is to not use a lot of heavy hydrating products at once; serums are relatively light to wear but contain high concentrations of moisturising ingredients that are sure to soothe your skin after a long day.

Eye Cream

The skin around your eyes is particularly delicate and can quickly become susceptible to flakiness and rough skin. Eye cream is designed to specifically target the area around the eyes with the correct moisture levels while minimising the appearance of fine lines or dark circles. 

Night Cream

Night cream will likely be heavier than the moisturiser you use on a daily basis – this is fine as it will sink into your skin and help it to repair and recover while you sleep. Choosing a night cream is a great opportunity to find one that offers additional benefits such as anti-aging properties. 

Extra Skincare Routine Must-Do’s

Not all skincare is meant to be worked into a daily routine. Incorporate these hydrating skincare solutions into your ‘treat yourself’ routine instead.

Face Mask

A great self-care choice, face masks are soaked in hydrators which work to give you skin a boost of moisture leaving it looking bright and nourished. Once you’ve left your sheet mask on for as long as it indicates, massage the remaining serum into your skin and leave it on overnight for an extra boost.

Face Oil

An alternative to standard moisturisers and serums, face oils are a concentrated dose of hydration that will sink into your skin and prevent skin from becoming dry and cracked. Take your time massaging the oil into your skin to really feel the benefit!

How To Prevent Dry Lips

While your lips will likely benefit from your regular skincare routine to treat dry skin, they may need a little extra attention if you’re working in a particularly dry environment or if the weather is cold and windy. A little while ago we put together a guide to kissable lips that begins with advice on how to properly exfoliate and moisturise lips which we recommend you read to find out how to prevent dry lips! Plus to keep your lips protected and moisturised on a daily basis, we can’t recommend products such as Vaseline enough.

How To Prevent Dry Hands

We understand that at the moment, hand washing is more necessary than ever, but can cause your hands to become dry and cracked very quickly if you aren’t replacing the moisture that hand soap removes. The simplest way to prevent your hands from becoming dry is to create a hand moisturising habit that involves applying hand cream just after proper hand washing and drying. Again, Vaseline is a fantastic brand you can find in our range of hand cream that offers affordable and nourishing hand and body creams that can replenish any lost moisture from your hands, and fast.