According To A Dermatologist, This Kind Of Product Makes Dry Skin Even Drier
If you’ve got dry skin, you probably already know that you should be slathering on hydrating ingredients, like hyaluronic acid and ceramides, to help keep it quenched. What you may not realize, though, is that even the most moisturizing routine can be rendered obsolete if it’s got even a single skin-drying product in it. Which is why if you’re dealing with dryness, board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, is begging you to stay far, far away from botanical exfoliants.
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In the latest episode of Dear Derm, Dr. Gohara reviews one Well+Good reader’s go-to dry skin regimen—and there’s one type of product in particular that she says isn’t worth the shelf space it takes up. “I don’t like botanical scrubs,” she says after finding out that the reader uses one three times a week as an exfoliant. “I don’t like scrubs and I don’t like anything botanical, because both of those things can dry out your skin, independently. And when you use them together it’s like a one-way ticket to dry-ville.”
Exfoliation is the key to remove the dead layer of cells from your skin so other products that you use will able to nourish the skin in a better way by going deep into the skin, however, rather than using a scrub, Dr. Gohara recommends using some chemical exfoliants like alpha- and beta-hydroxy acids. If a person has dry skin then exfoliation shouldn’t be done more than once a week. “If you want an extra step after your cleanser, you can use a salicylic acid toner, but since salicylic acid is an exfoliant and also helps cut through the oils in your skin, it will probably dry things out a little bit,” she says. A light AH, for example, lactic or malic acid, is less irritating than other acids on dry skin. On the night when you didn’t use any exfoliant, apply some hyaluronic acid serum on your skin which acts as a humectant to lock moisture in your skin by attracting it- for some extra hydration.
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To see what other products Dr. Gohara suggests for dry skin (and which ones she wants you to promise never to use again), press play on the video above.
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Featured Image by cottonbro via Pexels
