This Dry Skin Care Restores And Remoisturizes

Dry skin care deserves a little extra attention, I believe. Dry itchy skin can be extremely annoying, but it's also a sign of poor health. In addition, it hastens an aged appearance and increases the risk of sagging and wrinkles. Take the time now to learn the necessary steps. You'll look better and feel better, too.

How much water do you drink? Is it purified water, bottled or straight out of the tap? Do you drink one or more caffeinated beverages every day? Do you shower in chlorinated water?

That might seem like a lot of questions to ask, but the answers are important when it comes to dry skin care. Dry itchy skin is one of the first symptoms of chronic low-level dehydration. Caffeine is dehydrating. Drinking chlorinated water is also dehydrating. Many of the bottled brands contain as much chlorine as your tap water does.

In the shower, chlorine strips the hair and skin of its natural oils. Beauty experts used to recommend that their model-clients wash their hair and faces in bottled water, particularly before a big show. That was before the age of effective shower head filters. Now, beauty experts, dermatologists and allergy specialists recommend shower head filters for dry itchy skin.

What kind of personal care products do you currently use? Do they contain petrolatum, mineral oil or paraffin wax? If you don't know, read the label of ingredients.

Those petroleum-based products have been in use for over a hundred years. They provide some dry skin care relief, but they also cause a greasy feeling, since they are not absorbed by the pores. What you really need is an effective moisturizer and that's not what the major companies provide.

We usually have the roughest driest skin on our heels and elbows, for those areas you need a number of moisturizing plant-based oils and other natural extracts. To get the most relief for dry itchy skin, you want creams that have proven effectiveness in treating eczema and dermatitis, since the symptoms of those conditions include excessive dryness, extreme itchiness, flaking, redness and cracking. Let's start with jojoba.

The jojoba plant grows in the Southwestern United States and Central America. Its seeds can be pressed for oil that is almost like a liquid wax. Jojoba oil is very similar to the skin's own sebum, so it replenishes lost moisture and dries to a non-greasy layer that locks moisture in.

For dry skin care on the face, grape seed oil is a thinner and less waxy than jojoba. It can be worn under make-up on a daily basis to moisturizer, lock-in moisture and prevent make-up from clogging the pores.

But, for all areas of the body, I would have to say that a new extract called Functional Keratin has the most clinical studies backing up its effectiveness at relieving dry itchy skin. It was originally developed for treating dermatitis, but clinical studies showed that it also had an anti-wrinkle effect. Imagine dry skin care meets anti-aging skincare. What more could you ask for?