Dry Skin

By Bethan Cole

Dry skin problems can make you feel older than the Sahara Desert. Your skin feels tight, parched and flaky - and slapping on the moisturiser doesn't seem to help. Well, help is at hand, because this is 4Beauty's guide to the best treatments for dry skin on the face, body and hands, so that you can get back to feeling supple-skinned and gorgeous.

Do I Have Dry Skin?

Dry skin appears in a multitude of forms. In the mildest cases, skin has a taut look and there may be mild flaking. In more severe cases, you will experience itching, red or white patches of skin, cracking, bleeding, severe tightness and pain - and this may be a result of eczema. Skin has its own natural elasticity enabling it to stretch and move as you do, but dryness will reduce this and lead to other skin problems such as wrinkles and stretch marks.

Causes of Dry Skin

Dry skin has many possible causes. It can be triggered by central heating indoors and cold weather outdoors, or by sun damage - sunbathing for long periods of time, even with sun block, can dehydrate your epidermis (the outer layer of your skin). Other external causes for dry skin include excessive washing or using harsh foaming products that strip away your skin's natural barrier (they usually contain a skin irritant called Sodium Lauryl Sulphate).

Internally the condition can be caused by underactive sebaceous glands, which create the natural oils in your skin. It can also be a sign of illness, malnutrition or a side effect of medication. In all cases, you must keep your hydration levels up inside and out to help the skin's natural barrier repair itself. Every chemical process that takes place in the body relies on you being hydrated. Taking supplements for dry skin is a good idea - fish oils are very good, and be sure to drink at least eight glasses of water each day to keep you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Dry Skin on the Face

Susan Harmsworth of Espa recommends regularly using gentle facial scrubs and a cream or lotion cleanser rather than a foaming wash. Pay particular attention to areas that are prone to dryness - around the eyes, cheeks, neck and décolletage (the thin-skinned, delicate chest area). Use a treatment or aromatherapy oil to feed your skin and lock in moisture. Good ingredients include vitamin E, evening primrose oil, macadamia oil and micro algae. Look for products that contain jasmine and rose essential oils too as they have intensive, natural moisturising properties.

Dry Skin on the Hands

Nourish the skin around your nails by putting whatever product you have left over from moisturising your face and body onto your cuticles. You can also soak your nails in warm almond or olive oil and feed cuticles by massaging a balm into your nails. Exfoliate mildly around the nails with a salt and oil or sugar and oil solution and apply nail oils at night.

To nourish particularly parched hands, work in a rich hand cream and slip on some cotton gloves before you sleep. You might feel like Lady Muck but if you want super soft mitts, it really works!

Dry Skin on the Body

Loofahs are good to use on your legs, which can suffer badly with dryness because the skin there doesn't produce much oil. Speeding up cell regeneration via intense exfoliation is the best way to deal with dryness because moisturiser is able to sink in more readily without a barrier of dead skin cells to work through.