You’re not seeing any flakes.
There are no cracks in your skin.
Your skin doesn’t look wrinkly and full of fine lines.
Yet, you’ve heard that moisturizing is essential for your skin’s health, even when you drink plenty of water.
What gives?
How Does Your Skin Work?
Your skin is not just a hapless covering for your muscle and bone structure. It’s actually the largest organ in the body and is a complex network of supporting tissue, nerve endings, blood vessels, and a protective support structure. It requires some maintenance to stay young, blemish-free, and healthy.
It’s made up of three main layers: the epidermis (outer layer), dermis (in between layer), and hypodermis (inner layer). Your skin’s main functions include keeping moisture in, pushing waste and toxins out, and protecting you from the outside elements.
It must maintain hydration in order to function as it should. The skin is made up of 64% water. (Drink up, friends!)
The very outermost layer of the epidermis is the stratum corneum. It’s made up of corneocytes which hold large amounts of water, and a mesh of fatty acids and other lipids that serve to protect the rest of the skin, retaining its moisture.
How Does Skin Lose Moisture?
Skin loses moisture through a process known as transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Trans, meaning across; so across the outer skin layer. Things like stress, dry climate, and chemicals or pollutants can contribute to a larger TEWL. That means that things like your health and the external environment will have an impact.
As moisture is lost through TEWL, the skin cells dehydrate. Once that happens you notice cracks in the stratum corneum, which creates even more moisture loss. When your skin is dehydrated, it tries to rectify the situation by creating more sebum (oil). This can actually block, the pores and cause acne.
What Does Moisturizing Do?
The obvious answer to that question is that it keeps your skin from getting dry. But there are many other reasons that using a moisturizer twice daily can prove to be beneficial for you in the long run. Preventing dry skin is a definite reason to moisturize, but it’s far from the only one. There are many reasons that your skin will benefit from a moisturizer, including cutting down on the number of wrinkles you develop later in life.
- Moisturizing Helps Your Skin Stay Young – The skin on your face, ears, neck, and chest are very sensitive to environmental changes and are the most common areas of the body known to develop skin cancer. These areas of skin also shed cells more rapidly than other parts of the body and therefore need moisture to repair themselves, which allows for younger skin cells to rise to the surface. Also, the massaging effect that is used when applying lotion helps stimulate blood circulation and new cell generation.
- Moisturizing Reduces Skin Problems – Moisturizing every day can reduce the chance of developing extreme dryness or oiliness. Both extremes are harmful for skin and cause common skin conditions like acne.
- Moisturizing Conceals Other Skin Blemishes – Using a daily moisturizer ensures that the skin’s blemishes are camouflaged. That is because moisturizing tends to give the skin a slight sheen, and those with any tint or self-tanner can even out different skin tones.
How to Prevent TEWL
You can help or correct the situation completely by using a moisturizer, which will trap water in the epidermis before it has a chance to evaporate, effectively moderating sebum production. Moisturizers will also add water back into the dehydrated skin cells.
Web MD advises that choosing a moisturizer is a must, no matter what kind of skin you have – oily, dry, or a combination of both. “Everyone needs moisture, but the texture of your moisturizer will differ depending on your skin type,” notes New York City esthetician Jordana Mattioli.
They come in the form of creams, gels, lotions, oils, and ointments, but basically can all be broadly classified into three categories.
- Occlusives will form a barrier on the surface of the skin that water can’t penetrate, locking moisture inside the skin, making them effective in keeping skin hydrated for a while. They sit on the surface, preventing water from leaving. Petroleum jelly is an occlusive. If you have dry, itchy skin, you’ll want to lock in moisture with a thick ointment.
- Emollients make skin feel smoother by working to fill the spaces between the cells where the skin is missing fatty acids and lipids. They fill in the cracks and are found in lotions that contain oils and fatty acids.
- Humectants attract moisture from the environment and help the skin retain it inside. Most lotions will contain humectants.
Enhancing the Effects of Your Moisturizer
Sciadonic acid, derived from the seeds of a conifer tree, is an actual cosmetic and health breakthrough. It has the ability to reduce inflammation from the inside out. Incorporated as the main ingredient in DELTA-5 oil and used topically, it can aid in alleviating dry skin, rash or irritation, burns, or acne. It’s also great for scars, wrinkle prevention, and as a lip enhancer.
Mix one to three drops with your regular moisturizer to enhance its effects. Scientific research, case studies, and testimonials show it’s effective in the following ways:
- Help to guard your skin against the impacts of pollution and UV radiation and can repair damage caused by the environment
- Prevent fine lines and wrinkles and reverse signs of aging
- Provide anti-inflammatory benefits and can reduce the effects of rosacea and acne
- Reduce skin redness and make it less dry and flaky
- Help your complexion and give your skin a beautiful glow
