Dehydrated skin

[user18294]

Please please recommend me some good products for desperately dehydrated skin.
I'm 36 and my skin looks crepey and dry.

I already try and drink plenty of water and use a vitamin C serum (although it's off amazon so might not be the best) and use L'Oreal Extraordinary facial oil and Clinique's dramatically different moisturiser, at night I use a retinol and hyaluronic serum.

Please help!

Vaseline. It's a miracle worker.

Hyaluronic acid

Sorry just seen you already use this, do you apply your hyaluronic acid to a wet face? This is the best way as it absorbs better with the water

@optimisticpessimist01 ooh not on a wet face, no. Thank you for the tip 👍🏼

@Aquamarine1029 ok hadn't even considered Vaseline!

Vaseline is amazing, op. It's non-comedogenic and doesn't react with any other products you might be using.

Pixi glow tonic, then a serum with hylaurlonic acid and a moisturiser.

at this time of year i put bowls of water.on the radiator so the air isn't so dry.

@Aquamarine1029 thank you for the tip! Trying it tonight 

@loveisanopensore googling Pixi Glow tonic right now 👍🏼 thanks

All of the above, or a rose oil serum is lovely, too - there are some which aren't hugely expensive, like Judith Williams. Or have a look at The Ordinary - they have lots of options which can be used in combination or on their own with good results. They also have online consultants who can give you suggestions based on your current regime and issues.

The dark blue tub of Nivea is like drenching your face in moisture.

This sounds really obvious but I have found putting ok quite a lot more moisturiser at night has helped and I love the GlamGlow moisturising mask overnight. It smells of coconut and my skin really is moisturise and plump in a morning.

Are you applying moisturizer after using the HA?

I don't use it (yet), but can't retinol dry out your skin? Do you use it every night? Maybe cut back a bit?

Do you use a night cream with the HA? I don't find HA serums very moisturising, especially not on their own. M & S sleep cream is amazing for when my skin is feeling dry.

Hyaluronic acid is amazing. I'm going to try the wet face trick as my skin is dry and dehydrated on my forehead.

Make sure you aren't using vit c and retinol together, and make sure your cleanser isn't a foaming cleanser as they really dry out the skin! Clinique take the day off cleansing balm is lovely :) REN overnight recovery balm is also a bit of a miracle worker for dry skin!

i am not finding hyaluronic acid is doing anywhere near enough for my dehdryated skin. it feels like it pulls moisture out of it if anything. I do apply when skin is damp after cleansing and do moisturise on top but will try wetter skin and see how that goes.

OP otherwise i really like the Eucering 5% urea face cream or just some aveeno if things are to the point of soreness and i just need moisture that won't sting. oil cleansing also helps.

You need to layer hydration on your skin and use a more watery Korean style hydrating toner. '7 skins' is a Korean skincare method where you layer 7 coats of a hydrating toner on your skin, but you can just do 2/3, depending on how your skin reacts.

Neutrogena do a great cleanser called HydroBoost that has hyaluronic acid. I'd recommend a routine like this:

1. Take your make up off (I use an oil cleanser)
2. Cleanse your actual skin with HydroBoost
3. 2/3 layers of watery hydrating toner
4. A serum with HA
5. Your moisturiser mixed with a few drops of oil
6. (Night only) a thin layer of Vaseline to seal the moisture in

This has really helped my super dehydrated skin.

For the poster who says HA dries her skin; HA moves moisture from the 'damp side' to the 'dry side'. If your face is damp and the air is dry the HA will suck the moisture out of your face. You can avoid this by layering the HA with a watery toner then adding an occlusive layer, like Vaseline or Aquaphor so the moisture can't escape. Difficult if you want to wear make up though because it makes you shiny like a slug.

@FrancoBranco thank you for your in-depth advice! I'm going to give the layering ago, thanks