Surprising Causes of Dry Skin

Does your skin tighten, itch, flake, crack, scale, peel, turn red, or turn gray/ashy? Dry skin comes mainly from insufficient skin moisture, but that’s not the only culprit.

Air
Dry skin is worse in wintertime where cold air forces us to turn on the HVAC. The cold, outdoor air dries out our already-dry skin, and indoor heaters do the same for dry skin. It warms our bodies up, yet makes the skin itch. Two solutions to counteract HVAC heat is a humidifier and a cream with 1 percent hydrocortisone.

Aging
In some cases, dry skin runs in the family. If mom or dad suffers from dry skin, then it is genetic. Since there’s no control over it, use hydrating creams containing ceramides and lipids as ingredients to moisturize and soothe dry skin.

Fragrance
The fragrance ingredient in lotion, creams, deodorants, facial products, and skin products irritate skin. Look at ingredients in all skin care products (face and body) for an ingredient called “fragrance.” Toss out skin products with fragrance listed. Instead, purchase products containing honey, vanilla, shea butter, and/or cocoa butter. These products hydrate the skin without drying it out.

Water
Tap water comes in soft form and hard form. Hard water is the water that dries the skin. Hard water minerals such as lead, zinc, and magnesium create a barrier clogging pores so moisture won’t reach the skin. Stop hard water by installing a filtration system containing vitamin A and C to soften the water.To determine if tap water is soft or hard, fill a bottle up with water, add 10 drops of liquid soap, cover the bottle with a lid, and shake it. If the water contains suds after shaking, the water is soft. If suds don’t show up, add 10 more drops of water and shake it. Continue this step until suds do show up. Unfortunately, the longer it takes to create suds, the harder the water.

Additionally, continued use of hot water dries out skin. Use lukewarm or cold water to wash skin instead.

Soap
Body wash and soap dries out skin faster than anything previously listed. Select body wash, body soap, and facial soap carefully. A good idea is to follow the solution listed under ‘fragrance.’ Selecting products containing natural, gentle ingredients instead of acidic products and harsh detergents will ease the skin’s dryness.Due to seasonal, hereditary, or negligent factors, skin dries out easily. Luckily, these factors show us that dryness comes from various sources. Research and determine the culprit of dry skin.