We all know our skin needs hydration and moisture, and have been taught to hydrate and moisturize the skin as much as possible. However, too much hydration and using the wrong types of moisturizers can actually damage the skin, making it more prone to sensitivity, irritations, dryness, and even acne and inflammations.
Find out why, and learn the proper ways to hydrate and moisturize without damaging the skin in the process.
When you take a bath or swim for too long, your skin becomes wrinkly and extremely soft, and sometimes even itchy. This phenomenon is called "skin maceration".
Skin maceration happens as the stratum corneum becomes saturated with water, and the corneocytes start to swell. Not only will the skin gets wrinkly, it will also become brittle as the intercellular lamellar structure that controls barrier function becomes unstable, and the corneodesmosome degrades. When the barrier function weakens, trans-epidermal water loss accelerates, leading to more dehydrated skin that is dry, tight and itchy; whilst the risk of penetration of bacteria and irritants gets higher at the same time as the damaged barrier can no longer block out them out, resulting in "moisture-associated skin damage", such as acne, sensitivity and even inflammations and infections.
This is especially problematic when the skin is broken, such as from eczema and rosacea.
Here are the typical scenarios where the skin can get over-hydrated or is over-exposed to water:
- Taking long baths too often
- Using sheet masks or hydrating masks too often
- Washing hands or soaking hands too long too often
- Swimming for too long too often
| Avoid excessive exposure to water
First of all, avoid taking long, hot baths. Secondly, while washing hands is unavoidable, do not soak your hands in water directly for too long too often, say when you hand-wash your dishes and clothes.
| Hydrate with soothing, anti-inflammatory toners and serums
As for skincare products, don't worry, the toner and hydrating serums that you use daily will unlikely cause over-hydration. Simply choose one that also soothes skin and calms inflammations at the same time.
Product Recommendation
AGENT NATEUR
holi(water) Hyaluronic Pearl & Rose Essence <- Click to shop
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MARIE REYNOLDS LONDON
Hydr8 Misting Veil™ <- Click to shop
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EATH LIBRARY
The Pure Wonder Active Serum <- Click to shop
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KLUR
Immersion Serum Concentrate <- Click to shop
| Limit use of sheet masks and hydrating wash-off mask
The problem mainly lies within daily use of sheet masks and hydrating wash-off mask.
Many people rely on daily use of sheet masks and hydrating wash-off masks for instant hydration when they feel their skin is sensitive, red, and especially after lasers and facial treatments. Now, the skin does need hydration, but over-doing it will cause harm instead.
Think about how wounds heal faster and better when they are kept dry. The same logic applies to skin after lasers and facial treatments, and when the skin is sensitive, red, and inflamed——the skin barrier is typically damaged under these circumstances, and over-hydrating the skin with daily sheet masks or hydrating wash-off mask will only further weaken the barrier, and lead to the side effects mentioned above.
Unfortunately, when this happens, some people will do even more sheet masks and hydrating wash-off masks, which damages the skin even more, resulting in a vicious circle.
What is best instead, is keep using your hydrating toner and serum daily, but more importantly, nourish and repair the skin barrier with ingredients such as squalane and oils, and use a leave-on sleeping mask at night. When the barrier strengthens, the skin will naturally hold in water and block out irritants and bacteria better. Sheet masks and hydrating wash-off masks can still be used, but should be limited to once or twice a week.
Product Recommendation
EATH LIBRARY
The Bright Recovery Brightening Overnight Mask <- Click to shop
| Skip sheet masks and hydrating wash-off mask when skin is broken from eczema, rosacea or injuries
Skin that is broken with wounds from eczema, rosacea or injuries should refrain from using sheet masks and hydrating wash-off masks until the wounds are healed. Nourishing masks or leave-on sleeping masks can however be used.
| Over-moisturizing can slow down the skin’s natural renewal process
Although its speed and efficiency decreases with age, our skin does continuously renew itself naturally, whereby skin cells move from the bottom of the epidermis up to the surface, after which they die and shed to reveal the next layer of fresh, healthier skin cells underneath. These fresh skin cells would then eventually die and shed too to give way to even newer skin cells.
Now, over-moisturising the skin with heavy moisturizers that contain occlusive ingredients such as petrolatum, vaseline, lanolin, wax, and mineral oil impedes this natural cycle by keeping the unwanted, dead cells stuck to the skin surface, instead of letting them shed naturally. This can make the skin look dull and textured, and may even appear as lines that aren’t even actually there. Here’s what worse. According to renowned dermatologist Zein Obagi’s book “The Art of Skin Health”, the accumulation of dead skin cells at the top signals the epidermis to stop creating new cells as quickly, the mother cells deep in the epidermis will stop dividing and creating new cells, which ultimately slows down the entire cell regeneration and renewal process.
In fact, a lot of people confuse this layer of dead skin with dry skin. When was the last time you bought a moisturizer, piled it on, washed it off after cleansing, and felt that the roughness and tightness were still there, so you went and bought an even heavier moisturizer?
| Over-moisturizing can stop your skin from hydrating itself
According to renowned cosmetic dermatologist Rachael Eckel, besides those with eczema and rosacea, only 15 percent of the population have genetically dry skin that requires moisturizer——telltale signs being invisible pores, no acne and dry body skin. For the rest, there is really no need to use a heavy moisturizer with the occlusive ingredients twice a day, 365 days a year.
The skin has a naturally built-in function of hydrating itself. When heavy moisturizers are continuously applied to the skin, the cells in the epidermis would send a signal to the cells in the dermis telling them there is enough hydration so there is no need for more, instead of asking them to move hydration up to the skin surface. Gradually, the cells in the dermis would become lazy, go dormant, and ultimately stop regulating its own hydration level, resulting in drier and less elastic skin.
| Exfoliate periodically
As mentioned above, our skin’s renewal process slows with age, so the fact that your skin feels rougher, more textured, and tight, may simply be because it is now naturally shedding much slower, and have nothing to do with your skin being dry.
So first of all, what you need to do instead is encourage the natural renewal process by using carefully formulated acid-based products, which contrary to popular belief of being harsh, will actually strengthen the skin’s barrier function by helping dead cells on the skin surface to shed faster, and letting stronger, fresher cells underneath come forward.
Product Recommendation
AGENT NATEUR
acid(wash) Lactic Acid Brightening Cleanser <- Click to shop
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OUMERE
No. 9 Exfoliant <- Click to shop
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Agent Nateur
holi(bright) Resurface Glass Face Mask <- Click to shop
| Use an oil and lightweight moisturizer
We are not saying you should skip moisturizers entirely, because sealing in moisture is important too! However, instead of a heavy moisturizer, it is better to incorporate an oil-based products to your skincare routine, which helps to rebuild your skin barrier, supports the skin’s natural water retention function, and provide the skin with a lot of vitamins, minerals, phenols, and other phytonutrients that can strengthen skin health while providing a lot of anti-aging benefits.
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MARIE REYNOLDS LONDON
Elixir™ <- Click to shop
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AGENT NATEUR
holi(oil) Ageless Face Serum <- Click to shop
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OUMERE
Serum Bioluminelle™ <- Click to shop
Then add a lightweight emulsion, hydrator or cream that does not contain a high concentration of occlusive ingredients, so the cells can be nourished without impeding the skin’s natural hydrating function. You may also add a layer of lightweight regenerative sleeping mask that aims to provide the skin with nutrients and support its renewal process at night, especially when air-con and heaters are on.
Product Recommendation
KLUR
Sculpture + A Overnight Enrichment Cream <- Click to shop
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EATH Library
All Day Radiance Light Concentration Cream <- Click to shop
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AGENT NATEUR
holi(crème) Filter Face Cream <- Click to shop
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MARIE REYNOLDS LONDON
Skin Quencher <- Click to shop
Product Recommendation
TWELVE BEAUTY
Nutritive Repair Emulsion <- Click to shop
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