Everything you need to know about Moisturizers: Dry skin in Colorado

You know what is SOOO WILD is that there are like a billion moisturizers, moisturizing serums, mists and potions, and yet 9/10 of my clients struggle with dry and dehydrated skin... so what gives? I will break down what you need to look for in moisturizers, what they do, and hopefully give you light at the end of the heckin dry tunnel.

Basically hydrated skin = happy skin. Keeping our skin hydrated helps our skin barrier keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. Without our barrier working properly all the other fancy serums and creams you are using probably are just being wasted.

The main component to healthy skin barrier function is natural moisturizing factors (NMFs). This makes up 20-30% of your stratum corneum (if you are lost, make sure to take a peek at my skin biology blog post). NMFs are water based molecules that bind water to the skin, and are key to healthy cell turnover.

When stressors like uv rays, pollution, allergens, weather changes all take a toll on your barrier function. Those external irritants lead to water loss, which creates dehydrated and irritated skin. Uncorrected, this can lead to itchy flaky skin, which in turn causes accelerated aging (lines and wrinkle formation!) So keeping your skin hydrated can be one of the absolute best things you can do for your skin!

Of course, internal factors play a key role in the health of your skin, but today I am just going to talk about topical products to help your skin. (internal info will stay in the queue.)

This is my preferred way to layer products on my skin (as somebody with dry acne pigmented skin in Colorado) and this way I am hitting all 3 categories of hydration topically.

1. Humectants - these are ingredients that bind water to the skin. These are glycerin, hyaluronic acid, beta glucan, and silver ear mushroom. Just to name a few. These are my favorites though!

2. Emollients - These are oil based substances like jojoba oil, rose hip seed oil, avocado oil, squalane, and ceramides. In our dry Colorado climate, THIS IS A MUST! I find too many people use too many humectants in their routine and don't also have emollients or occlusives.

3. Occlusives - These are heavy, fatty ingredients that hold in all the good stuff in your skin. These are your balms, salves, petrolatum, and silicones. This is what I like to apply last in my routine in the evening, especially in winter. '

How I layer my products in this order for the morning:

1. Serum that focuses on acne or pigment.

   
   

2. Humectant serum (LOVE face reality hydraremedy serum or lira clinicals bio hydra infusion)

   
   

3. Moisturizer - this typically has glycerin, jojoba oil, shea butter. It will be a mixture of humectants and emollients. I stay away from super heavy humectant moisturizers because I rarely seem them work well in a dry climate. I want it to be creamy more than a gel. (I love Lira Clinicals Bio Lift creme, michele corleys calming moisture cream, and face reality's barrier care gel cream)

   
   

4. Oil - I WOULD DIE WITHOUT AN OIL. Even in the summer I use 2 drops of Liras iluminating beauty oil. Growing up with acne, I was obviously scared to use oil, and it's one of the first things I would grab to help an acne client. Our air is to dry, sun is harsh, and these fires also take a toll on our skin.

   
   

5. SPF - We will dive into this another time, but Love all of Lira Clinicals SPF's and Tizos SPF's. They feel sooo good.

How I layer my products in the evening:

1. Serum, retinol, or peel pad

2. If my retinol or serum is lightweight and NOT creamy, I will add in a moisturizer here.

3. Oil - Again, 2-4 drops of an oil. If you are extremely dry, go to step 4

4. Occlusive balm - Anfisa balm is a top pick for me, but also I love Tizo's soothing skin protectant and Lira Clinicals Balm, and also if it suits your fancy you could just use a vaseline type balm as well!

My body and lips are DRY AF, PLEASE HELP!

First and foremost, I always think we should be getting enough fatty acids internally. (Fish oil, omega 3's , krill oil, flax seed oil) It also makes a world of difference in my dogs skin and coat. He will be so itchy if I didn't give him an omega supplement. Your lips don't have oil glands, so literally you need to make sure you are getting the nutrients internally to keep them from being dry and crusty...sorry to break it to you...

On the body, this is what I find helps the most!

1. Dry brush - get all that dead skin off! I swear scrubs just do not do enough.

   
   

2. You can also use body peels pads that contain glycolic and lactic acids.

   
   

3. Use a moisturizer AND oil. (Occlusives can be difficult to use on the body because they are thick and goopy) but I mix a plain jojoba oil in with my body lotion (opt for fragrance and dye free lotion). Also, I love olive oil and avocado oil during the winter months.

   
   

4. Bonus: Stop using harsh sudsy soapy soaps to clean your whole body. They can be very stripping and cause excess dryness, especially in those hot, steamy showers. I like gentle oat soap bars, and I use a mandelic wash in my arm pits or places that need a little bit more of a clean.

I probably need to make a cheat sheet and dive even deeper into this in the future, but I hope for now this will help you understand some of the ingredients you see and how to best layer moisturizers. We are all just dry lil lizards out here in Colorado!