5 things you can do to relieve dry skin.

So your skin’s flakier than a coupled-up friend on a rainy night? Skin tighter than Jimmy Fallon’s tighty whiteys? Well, I’ve got some good news. Dry skin is temporary. It can be fixed.

Read on to find out what you can do to relieve dry skin.

1. MOISTURISE.

First up, there is a difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin. Drinking more water and balancing out the three skim lattes you had today will benefit dehydrated skin, but not dry skin.

To fix dry skin, there’ll be no more ‘it’s too cold to moisturise’ after a long, hot shower. Wait, there’ll be no more long hot showers, sorry (see below).

To help repair dry skin you need a moisturiser with skin-repairing and water-retaining ingredients. Look for ingredients like emollients, glycerin, peptides and vitamin C and E.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Dove. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words.

2. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate.

It seems counterintuitive to exfoliate dry skin, but healthy skin needs to turn over to function properly. If you’re skin is too dry (and/or sun damaged) it will need some help with that.

Look for chemical exfoliants containing alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) or beta hydroxy acid (BHA) over the granular ones.

If you have a cleansing device like a Clarisonic, you may be using it too often. Drop it back to once a week and see if your skin improves.

3. Avoid soap.

Take a quick look in your shower, what do you wash your body with? Harsh body scrubs or cakes of soap? Bin ‘em. You’re damaging the outer layers of skin.

Over-scrubbing tears into the skin’s surface damaging its barrier, stripping the moisture from your skin. Swap them for a moisturising body wash like Dove’s Triple Moisturising Deeply Nourishing Body Wash. It contains NutriumMoisture®, which is proven to hydrate and nourish skin.

4. Drop the irritating ingredients.

So far we’ve dropped the hot showers, harsh scrubs and soaps but skin irritants can be hiding in other skincare products.

Toners and astringents containing alcohol should also be avoided. Same goes for face masks with alcohol and fragrant essential oils. Take a look at the ingredient list on the back of your bottles, if they contain any of the following list, chances are they’re drying out your skin: SD Alcohol or denatured alcohol, Benzyl alcohol, essential oils, Phenol, TEA-lauryl sulfate, and witch hazel.

5. Long hot showers.

I know, I know. Long, hot showers are one of the only payoffs for having to take all your clothes off come wintertime BUT they’re drying and irritating to the skin.

Limit yourself to five minutes in a warm, but not hot shower. And once out, pat the skin dry with your towel and apply a moisturiser when the skin is still slightly damp.

Some simple things to remember when it comes to skin care:

 If you have dry skin, how do you try to improve it?

During winter your skin might start to feel dry, scaly and rough, and  the use of some body washes can strip the moisture from your skin rather the rejuvenate. Dove is different. With breakthrough Nutrium Moisture®, it’s proven to hydrate and nourish skin deep down* and maintain its beauty. Dove Triple Moisturising Body Wash is a rich creamy formulation, featuring a breakthrough blend of moisturisers enriched with skin natural lipids that can deeply absorb within the skin’s surface to nourish deep down* when you shower. Dove leaves your skin feeling soft and supple, giving a touch of pampering nourishment in the shower. That’s the Dove Difference!

*In the skin’s surface layers.