Help - very dry skin

[wowfudge]

The skin on my face is very dry and flaky. My arms and legs are very dry too, but it's bothering me on my face. I'm mid forties. Other than the dry skin, I get the odd hormonal spot around my period. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do to improve it? I do use moisturiser, I've got a pricey Decleor one at the moment, and have tried different things to get rid of the horrible dry stuff over time without success - Nip & Fab pads, No 7 microdermabrasion. I've tried cleansing with micellar water, with face wash and with an Emma Hardie balm, but nothing has really changed things.

CeraVe wash and cream in the tube not tub. Ditch everything else.

Nip and fab pads make my dry skin worse.
I use a oil cleanser which Its put on a dry face massaged in then rinses off, its fab. Then I use Hyaluronic Acid, rose hip oil then snow mushroom or hemp moisturiser. Leaves my skin a little oily when I go to bed but it works. ( the inky list for most of that)

Get rid of the expensive cream and get a big cheap one. Use up to 4 times a day. Was with warm, not hot, water

I have very dry skin. I use palmers cocoa butter for my body and the body shop hemp face cream. Best face cream I've ever used! Keeps my face moisturised all day.

www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/face/moisturisers/hemp-heavy-duty-face-protector/p/p000892

Everyone is different. I use Norwegian Formula moisturising lotion on my arms, neck and chest (or Doublebase cream is very similar), Hydromol on my legs, and lots of plain old fashioned Nivea on my face. I have very dry skin. Anything else is just too light.

I use Aldi’s lacura hot cloth cleanser. I use it properly as instructed, it’s a cream and a muslin cloth, and find the cloth really keeps the skin exfoliated. It’s a cheap version of liz Earle hot cloth cleanser. But well under half the price at about £3

I also use the cream without the cloth as a moisturiser on my really dry hands and lower legs. Just rub it in like moisturiser and don’t bother with the cloth.

Cheap and does the job.

I also like SBC products, available on qvc U.K. their collagen gel is instantly absorbed and really cooling.

Ditch all these products and let Your skin rest. You shouldn’t be exfoliating. It strips all the moisture from your skin. Get a big old Dark blue pot of Nivea and slather it on a few times a day, especially after a shower when your skin is still damp. I have rosacea and it’s the only thing I can use apart from olive oil.

Thank you for the suggestions. Putting moisturiser on several times in normal circumstances isn't a solution as I wear make up at work.

Although I have tried different things, I'm not using them all at the same time and have really pared things back. Also, as you age what worked fine for you then stops being effective and it's trial and error to find something else. As Oldie says, we're all different.

I suffer from very dry skin on my face and use E45 cream, you can get it in tubes and tubs. I have used it for years and apply it several times a day. I also agree try nivea cream.

I've always had dry skin and it flaked on my nose, I'd say it looked like parched earth in the summer. I've always used balm cleansers and moisturisers but the thing that stopped the flakiness was last year when i started using a glycolic toner, The ordinary buffet and the ordinary hyaluronic acid. I still use a balm cleanser and moisturiser after, but my nose is no longer a desert.

My skin had a flare up a couple of years ago - only thing I could use was body shop hemp. I buy it with a money off code.

@Elieza I didn't know you could use the Aldi hot cloth cleanser as a moisturiser! I am also a big fan, if I use the cleanser a few times a week my skin is so much smoother.

@wineymummy yeah it does seem to do the job. It’s not got any spf factor or any of the things I want for my face like retinol, but it totally works on my dry legs that never see the light of day! I started trying it after I watched a liz Earle demo that said you could use her stuff as a face mask! So I thought I’d try the Aldi one as something else it wasn’t advertised for too and it works.

The lacura pink clay hot cloth cleanser works as moisturiser on my hands and legs too but I don’t like the smell as much as the regular one.

You’ve already had some good tips but I may as well share what works for me. I tend to cleanse with a cream or milk cleanser (as they are less stripping than eg foaming cleansers), then exfoliate with a gentle lactic acid toner a few times a week, and follow up with a moisturiser. My go-to if my skin is really dry and flaky is the Eucerin 5% urea one, it’s fab but affordable and easy to get hold of (under normal circumstances!). I also use a facial oil, usually at night.

If you think your skin is dehydrated (lacking water) instead of or as well as dry (lacking oil) then you could try adding a hydrating toner or mist and a hyaluronic acid serum under your moisturiser. www.carolinehirons.com/2011/11/dry-or-dehydrated-cheat-sheet.html