Who is affected?
- It is interesting that many more women struggle with dry skin than men.
- Unfortunately, skin dryness also increases with age.
What is dry skin?
- Dry, fat-deficient skin is almost always dehydrated at the same time.
- Because it does not produce enough sebum, a lipid deficiency occurs.
- Lipids are essential for the skin to retain moisture.
- The presence of lipids also serves as a protective shield against external influences.
- Their absence can therefore cause a disturbance in the function of the skin's barrier, i.e. protective layer.
What are the characteristics of dry skin?
- Rough and tight skin.
- Unfortunately, the appearance of deeper wrinkles increases in direct proportion to dry skin.
- The moisture content of the skin also decreases (it is interesting that trans-epidermal water loss can be up to 0.5 l of water per day).
What causes it?
- Lack of natural moisturizing factors, i.e. NMF. These are ingredients that take care of the external hydration of the skin. Examples include amino acids, urea, glycerin, saccharides, sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid
- phospholipids, epidermal lipids such as ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol, cholesterol esters, all of which are necessary for the healthy protective function of the skin.
If these natural moisturizing elements are permanently missing from the skin, the protective function of the skin is also damaged.
How dry is it?
The degree of skin dryness can range across a wide spectrum.
Slightly dry skin:
Due to various stress factors, the skin's ability to hydrate is temporarily disrupted. In such cases, the heels are an early indication that something is wrong in the body, they can become dry and cracked.
Dry skin:
tense, rough and cracked, inflexible, sometimes itchy
Very dry skin:
If dry skin is not treated, it is almost certain that the problem will get worse:
- appearance of dry patches, peeling, rough skin, premature skin aging, tight feeling, frequent itching, skin sensitivity, irritation
- in the worst case, the development of infections
Eczema symptoms may already appear in certain areas of the body at this stage: blisters on the skin, the skin cracks, which can cause wounds, the skin thickens and hardens in places, frequent peeling, constant itching
It is therefore worth preventing chronic dry skin!
- with gentle facial cleansers,
- with frequent hydration
- with cosmetics containing the right amount and quality of lipids
- with moisturizers
In any case, pay attention to the pH, because a pH shifted in an alkaline direction can block the functioning of the enzymes that play an important role in ceramide production.
Make sure you drink the right amount of fluids!