These days there are so many articles, gurus and influencers telling you how to take care of your skin – with so much information out there it’s hard to tell fact from fiction, whether it is being told eating chocolate directly links to breakouts, or having to drink three litres of water every day to hydrate dry skin.

Well, eat your chocolate-loving hearts out, because we investigated what your skin type really needs to achieve that healthy glow!

Dry Skin versus Dehydrated Skin

It is often believed dry skin is a result of not drinking enough water, that drinking more water will help trap the moisture in your skin. But this misconception does not relate to dry skin!

In fact, you may just have dehydrated skin, which is a condition affecting all skin types and bodies due to lack of water, not to be confused with dry skin, caused by a lack of oil.

How do you know if you have dry skin or dehydrated skin?

When looking at your skin, if it looks dull and feels tight, you may have dry skin, usually aggravated by poor skincare products or an inconsistent routine. Dehydrated skin, on the other hand, will look patchy, and confusingly, may even look oily!

So what can you do?

While you don’t need to drink a million litres of water a day, staying hydrated will help the effects of dehydrated skin and your body in general… but it also may be time to upgrade your moisturiser. For both dry and dehydrated skin, it is important to look for moisturisers with words like ‘nourishing’ and, you guessed it, ‘hydrating’.

Our Deep Nourishing Repair Crème is clinically proven to increase skin hydration, reduce pore size and fine lines, to reveal a replenished complexion.

So how is this moisturiser different from any others? Well, our Deep Nourishing Repair Crème contains hyaluronic acid, a powerful gel-like water-binding molecule which helps retain moisture, helping keep skin plump and hydrated. It is actually something our bodies produce naturally, but incorporating more of this little powerhouse into your skincare routine will seriously help the hydration along.

Oily Skin

We now know dry skin needs hydration but does that mean oily skin needs the opposite?
Not at all! In fact, oily skin needs hydration too!

Oily Skin Misconceptions

The most common oily-skin misconception is that to control oil build up we must strip our skin by using harsh drying products, filled with chemicals. This actually has the opposite effect and instead causes overproduction of oil to replace what is lost.

While eating chocolate doesn’t directly cause breakouts, indulging too often in high sugar products can cause an excess build-up of sebum (Sebum is an oily, waxy substance produced in skin). But this does not mean you have to stop eating chocolate! To control excess sebum production, simply switch high sugar chocolate for chocolate that has a higher percentage of cacao, as cacao contains antioxidants that have been proven to have great little benefits for your skin!

How to control Oily Skin

When it comes to controlling oil production in your skin, it is all about balance and understanding that hydration is a friend of oily skin. Using a lightweight moisturiser and hydrating serum will help balance out oil production. Our Active Antioxidant Day Crème is perfectly lightweight while hydrating, firming and handy for improving skin elasticity. This crème also has the added benefit of containing green tea extract, its calming properties help to reduce sebum production, keeping oils at bay.

If we have learnt anything, it is that Hydration is everything no matter the skin-type.

Our tips:

1.Always look at the ingredients in your products, keep an eye out for harsh chemicals and other nasties that will strip your skin of moisture
2. Moisturise, Moisturise, Moisturise

3. Remember to keep hydrated, your skin will thank you for it!