Understanding Dry Skin

What Is Dry Skin and What Causes It?

Dry skin occurs when the skin produces insufficient sebum — the natural oil that helps lock moisture into the skin's surface. Without enough sebum, the skin's protective barrier becomes compromised, allowing moisture to evaporate faster than it can be replenished. This is known as transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and it's the core challenge dry skin faces every day.

Dry skin can be genetic or triggered by environmental factors like cold weather, low humidity, harsh cleansers, hot showers, and certain medications. Understanding the cause helps you choose the most effective routine to address it.

Know Your Skin

Signs You Have Dry Skin

Dry skin often gets confused with dehydrated skin — but they are different. Dry skin is a skin type (lacking oil), while dehydrated skin is a condition (lacking water) that any skin type can experience. Here are the key signs of true dry skin.

The Routine

The Complete Dry Skin Facial Routine

Dry skin needs a routine built around three core principles — gentle cleansing to preserve oils, layered hydration to replenish moisture at every skin level, and occlusive sealing to lock it all in. Here is the ideal AM and PM structure.

Best Ingredients

The Must-Have Ingredients for Dry Skin

The right ingredients make or break a dry skin routine. These are the non-negotiables that actively restore moisture, repair the barrier, and keep your skin soft and comfortable all day.

What to Avoid

Ingredients & Habits That Worsen Dry Skin

Equally important as what you use is what you avoid. These common ingredients and habits actively strip or disrupt the moisture balance that dry skin struggles to maintain.

Seasonal Adjustments

How to Adapt Your Routine Every Season

Dry skin is most affected by seasonal changes — especially the shift from warm to cold months. Here's how to adjust your routine to keep your skin balanced year-round.

Expert Tips

6 Golden Rules for Managing Dry Skin

• 1 Always moisturise within 60 seconds of cleansing. This is the "damp skin" rule — applying moisturiser while skin is still slightly damp traps existing water in the skin and dramatically improves absorption.
• 2 Layer your hydration. Don't rely on one product to do all the work. Use a toner, then serum, then moisturiser, then oil — each layer serves a different purpose and together they create lasting hydration that a single cream cannot achieve.
• 3 Use a humidifier indoors. Especially in winter, indoor heating drops air humidity to very low levels — this directly pulls moisture from your skin. A humidifier running while you sleep makes a noticeable difference to dry skin.
• 4 Never go to sleep with bare skin. Dry skin loses moisture overnight — always apply at minimum a moisturiser before sleep, and ideally a rich night cream or sleeping mask as a final occlusive layer.
• 5 Hydrate from the inside out. Drinking adequate water, eating omega-3-rich foods (salmon, walnuts, flaxseed), and reducing alcohol and caffeine all support skin moisture levels from within.
• 6 Patch-test every new product. Dry skin is often sensitive. Before adding any new product to your routine, test on the inner forearm for 24 hours to avoid reactions that could further compromise your barrier.