Cosme

Moisture Maximum
While we complain about dry skin, but very few of us really take it seriously and think of it as a condition that needs a doctor’s attention. But you will be surprised to know that since 1970 scientists have reported a global rise in the dry skin condition. According to studies done by Unilever, which owns many popular moisturiser brands, the reason behind increasing complaints of dry skin condition is our tremendous exposure to various chemicals in day to day life. This has affected our skin in all the wrong possible ways.
Dry Skin Low Down
There is no standard definition of the dry skin condition. It can manifest itself through any of its symptoms be it tightness, scaling, fine lines, irritation, and itchiness. We get dry skin when there is disturbance in the natural balance of our skin’s outer most layer stratum corneum. The outer layer of our skin is made up of skin cells and lipids, which are fatty acids, ceramides and cholestrol. They together cushion our skin cells to stop cell’s natural water loss.
Now when there is a disturbance in the balance of lipids make-up, our skin loses water and the dead skin cells (which we generally shed off unnoticed) accumulate as white flakes and we get a condition called scaling.
There are various causes why this imbalance happens to our skin’s natural chemistry. First of all we tend to inherit a predisposal to this condition. Our genetic makeup is a major reason behind getting a dry skin. Then the stressful lifestyle that we follow can also lead to dry skin. Stress, excessive smoking, too much coffee or alcohol can all lead impaired metabolism and skin’s inability to heal itself and retain moisture.
As we age, drop in our estrogen levels also lowers our skin’s ability to heal itself. This loosens the lipid makeup of our skin leading to sagging. We also develop fine lines and dry patches as moisture starts vanishing from the outer layers.
Other outside influences include harsh winds, sunlight, central heating or airconditioning. All these successfully remove moisture from our skin, creating cracks and fissures on our skin’s surface that leads to dry skin allergies and severe itchiness. You may not be aware, but too many hot water baths or even long showers in cold water in a day with drying soaps can actually strip your skin of its natural oil and moisture.
Not only is dry skin itchy and painful, it is also very unappealing. And as the condition deteriorates due to negligence, skin becomes more vulnerable to bacteria, allergens, chemical and pollutants. This in turn worsens the problem causing the skin to relinquish more water and repair itself less effectively.
Moisture Makeup
For those with dry skin condition, using the moisturising cream or lotion becomes a must. Moisturisers today look at not just protecting your skin’s natural water loss, but these super rich, long lasting creams help your skin in healing itself by supplying the right ingredients.
The current heavy-duty moisturisers and creams in market are all based on three basic elements, namely the occlusives, humectants and emollients. Occlusives form a barrier on our skin to slow down water evaporation from the top layer. Humectant’s role is to pull water into the skin and emollients are lubricants that fill in the tiny crevices on our skin’s top layer to give it a smoother finish.
These three ingredients together in the moisturisers help our skin in repairing itself. Moisturisers cover the skin and maintain hydration. This gives a chance to the skin to restore itself by improving its lipid production and regain equilibrium.
Today’s moisturisers are combine ingredients which are in their original form are also great skin protector. The basis of most good rich moisturisers are petroleum jelly and glycerine. In their standalone format they are great at healing the skin. But their feel on skin when you first apply may not be pleasant enough. Both glycerine and petroleum jelly have sticky and gooey texture. So the cream formulators have actually refined and created sophisticated versions that retain the inherent goodness of the ingredients while having a better texture.
While these ingredients help creating a protective layer over our skin, the newer moisturisers aim at encouraging it to generate its own natural moisture. The recent breakthrough ingredient AHA (alpha hydroxy acids) is one such key ingredient. AHAs like glycolic acid and lactic acid actually help in sloughing off dead skin cells and stimulate the skin’s production of hyaluronic acid - its natural humectant. Other key ingredients include ceramides, vitamins A and E that are natural healers.
While both creams and lotions serve the purpose of protecting dry skin, but their usage depends on your skin’s state as well as climatic condition. Lotions are mostly water-based and have a lighter texture, they are good when the weather is warm or your skin is not severely dry. Body butters or creams are mostly oil-based and are good for cooler climes and if you suffer from chapped or cracked scaly skin and your skin needs emollients to heal.