To want a better solution to my dry skin?

[FairTurtle]

My skin is so dry. Not really my face, but my body. I think it's worse at the moment due to winter. After showering I literally spend like 25 minutes just moisturising everywhere, and basically end up using half of those little eucerin cream tubs! Not sustainable obviously. I also exfoliate in the shower once a week or so with one of those brushes. It does all help but I'm so sick of spending like 40 minutes a day just on my skin! Is there another solution?!

I'm not convinced it's anything sinister; it's always been like this on and off, plus I'm just dark-skinned and it seems like darker skin is more prone to this, but I'm sooo fed up. I can't ever just have a 5-minute shower and done. Because I literally have to lather on moisturiser for ages after to get it to an acceptable level.

Please help

What do you wash with? I use aqueous cream so washing kind of combines with moisturising which speeds things up a bit!

Cocoa butter body lotion is absolutely brilliant.....get the good stuff it lasts for ages. Keeps my skin soft for days. Also vitamin e body lotion from super drug is really good too

At the end of my shower before I get out, I smooth peach kernel oil all over. I leave it a few moments in the steam, then get out and pat dry as minimally as possible. It seems to really help. Other than that moisturisers containing urea are helpful but I find they always have a sticky texture so prefer to use less.

Oh wow I've never heard of this?! So it's like a moisturising body wash?

Try an oil massaged into damp skin, clarins do some lovely ones. I don’t like eucerin lotion, see if you can find the cream I find it much better, or cerave.

Have you tried something like this? You slather it in in the shower, rinse it off and it leaves oil on your skin.

https://www.nivea.co.uk/products/body/cleansing

Could you be over exfoliating? It sounds irritating

L’Octaine do any amazing smelling shower oil, that also works brilliant for moisturising in the shower like others have suggested.
i use soap for pits etc but shower oil for body then pat dry, even putting baby oil on at the end of the shower and patting dry will help.

Also as another pp, palmers coco butter is amazing

Presuming you live in UK, if you are coming to France (or Spain, and maybe other countries but I have no personal knowledge), go to a big pharmacy and ask for recommendations for shower help and skin cream for super dry skin; you should be able to sample some. Ask them to explain the % of active ingredients (or look on the packaging). I hope you find a suitable solution.

And my skin massively changes with diet, so up fish oils, Brazil nuts etc

I was recommended to try collagen for my joints. Did absolutely nothing for my joints but my very dry skin is hugely improved!!

I have this too.. never had a quick shower in my life! Recently switched to using a very natural seaweed soap and a bar shampoo I get in my local health food shop. It has made a huge difference, using these same products has also completely cured my 13 yr old son’s eczema ! I moisturise with Aveeno dermxa.

Don't wash with soap

Wash with aqueous cream as if you have excema

If you have a bath, add oil. I use apricot kernel, almond oil and jojoba. I just shake some in. But 1l bottles from Amazon.

Been doing this for years and my skin is always really soft. And it's so easy. I cba with rubbing moisturiser all over my skin!

Bathe in milk at least once a week. Bathtub full of water, at least 4 pints full-fat milk. Pat dry, don't rub. Wash yourself with water only the rest of the time. Don't exfoliate. Use the blue Nivea cream or similar simple, oil-based creams - nothing scented. Moisturise from the inside, too - drink enough water, little to no alcohol, don't smoke, plenty of leafy greens and nuts.

I've suffered from dry skin all my life - some of the above I've done since childhood and it's made a huge difference.

I have really dry skin, and I can't use a lot of face creams etc as they irritate my eyes. After years of trying stuff out I have a routine which works really well for me.

I use any old soap or shower gel that I like the smell of in the shower every morning. Then I put Cetraben cream on my face, and Cetraben ointment all over my body. If my face is feeling particularly dry I put Cetraben ointment on it instead of the cream. Takes me less than five minutes now as I'm so used to it. I'm not that careful about it, mostly just slap it on and get the job done.

Before I go to bed every night I put 50:50 ointment on all over, including my face. It's a bit heavier than the Cetraben ointment, and is a bit like a thin Vaseline. Again, takes me less than five minutes.

I now have really nice skin, which is comfortable. I don't get the skin infections I used to get because my skin no longer cracks or damages so easily. I have absolutely no hard skin on my feet because of all the moisturiser! So it works.

You can get oily emollient washes (Cetraben does one, Alpha Keri is fabulous if you like taking baths, baby oil probably works just as well as the emollient washes) but I find they make the shower floor very slippy and so long as I use my creams and ointments I don't need them.

Definitely cocoa butter. I got a Garnier one from Tesco for very dry skin and it's excellent. Maybe the cream you're using isn't good enough if it's taking so long to apply what your skin needs

The aveeno body wash with the blue lid is good.

Standing in the shower under hot water for too long can be bad as well. It can help if you turn the water off, lather up and then rinse.

Yes! I started using it because most shower gels etc irritated my eczema, but the happy side effect is that it's really good for locking in moisture so I wash, rinse, but not very vigorously on my arms and legs, then pat dry (or stand around on MN until the job is done). I use classic nivea on my face too in an attempt to protect against this weather!

Eucerin lotion 10% Urea is amazing. So much better than moisturisers like Cetraben or Diprobase. And lasts way longer than the little Eucerin pots. Try it, it's excellent.

Could you try an oil instead? I find them much more moisturising and keep skin hydrated for much longer than lotions/creams