Tips for Dry Skin

Hey you, how's it hangin? I'm currently pretty sick so I've not been able to do as many looks and what not. However, as I'm all laid up in bed I can still talk about makeup, which is why we're here anyway right? So a little while ago I did a post on tips for oily skin. Now I want to cover tips for dry skin. I'm on the dry side myself. Right now it's more normal, but I definitely tend to get dry. 

What I've found with having good skin is: consistency, and not changing the important things up as often. If it isn't broke then don't fix it. So I rarely change facial cleansers or moisturizers. I do try different masks more often than not. I do change up my makeup remover wipes from time to time as well. I try to have the simplest routine possible without skimping on what my skin really needs. I just really hate taking my makeup off and doing the whole regimen more so at night so I try to do as little as I can at night. Which usually calls for products that can do multiple things.

Now I don't have very sensitive skin. So I can't really speak for those that do. So definitely take that into consideration if you have that issue.

• First thing is hydration on the inside. So drink plenty of water. Water really plumps your skin up and helps even out your complexion as well as flushes out toxins and ridding the skin of impurities.  
  
• Hydration on the outside.Starting with lighter hydration first. I don't like going over board before I put my makeup on and what not. So here's some products that are great for lighter hydration: Caudalie Grape Water (this is good for sensitive skin as well.) This is a toner mist. It's a moisturizing toner actually in a aerosol spray. So you just spray it on the skin after cleansing and I usually do it before my night creams, you could possibly use this and go to bed since it moisturizes and tones but I don't do that. Another good hydration that's in a mist is the Evian Facial Sprays. This is just mineral water, I don't feel like it's a toner or anything but it's great to hydrate the face before makeup or just refresh the face through out the day. Another good spray is MAC Fix +. This is a cult favorite. It smells amazing and it can be used as a prep spray or finishing spray but it will make you very dewy. It has vitamins in it which is so wonderful for your skin. It's also great to spray on your foundation brush to make texture issues, that are more noticeable with foundation, less noticeable.
  
• Another great thing for hydration that's a little heavier is oils. So Argan Oil obviously is great to moisturize with at night. Seaberry Oil from Fresh is another good one. Also adding a drop of Almond Oil of Jojoba Oil into a pump of your foundation onto the back of your hand is really useful too. Argan Oil is the heaviest of all of them but it's the game changer. I recommend it even to oily people because I was oily and gave it a shot and I credit it to making my skin more normal than oily. There is also a "Light" version of it that isn't so heavy as well as an Argan Milk.
• Creams for hydration. I'm going to specifically talk about hydrating creams right now and then we'll get into good everyday moisturizers for day and night. So specifically for mega hydration is Glam Glow Thirsty Mud. Now you can leave this on the skin for however long and rinse it off or you can just rub it in at night and sleep in it and not wash it off. I use this if I'm incredibly dry and I don't wash it off. This is an AMAZING product for those of your who are supppperrrrrr dry. Give it a shot. I'm pretty sure they sell it in a small size and the big size, it's also in a lot of Sephora skin care sets so you get more bang for your buck that way. Another one is Clinique Moisture Surge Intense. It's marketed for dry to very dry skin. So both of these would be excellent options if you're the driest of dry.
• Moisturizers for night: for nightly use I really love Origins Night-A-Mins its very thick and feels incredible smells like oranges and has lots of vitamins and goodness for the skin. I also love L'Occitane Precious Cream. They have it in a night cream formula but the original one is quite thick itself so I use it at night. It smells so good and it feels great on my skin. Very calming. Those are the two that I go back and forth with depending on my mood. Like I said I don't change moisturizers up that often so therefore there is only two that I would talk about.
• Moisturizers for day time: An old favorite of mine and for summer is Olay Anti Wrinkle moisturizer. The original version not the new ones with the yellow on it. I like the old school one which can be hard to find but my Walgreens usually has it. It has SPF 15 in it which you need to use SPF daily and it just smells great to me. I don't use it as much now because I have other things but I always have a bottle on stand by. Right now I like Origins Ginzing moisturizer paired with the Evian Spray. On it's own it's not gonna be moisturizing enough for super dry skin. It's good for oily, combination, and normal but when I'm super dry it absorbs too fast and doesn't do enough so I use it with a spray because I do like how light it is on the skin. In the summer I use things with higher SPF. I reach for Peter Thomas Roth Max Sheer All Day Moisture Defense Lotion (such a long name) it has SPF 30 in it. It's heavier and I don't like the smell really but I do appreciate the protection it gives and that it's the perfect amount of hydration for the skin.
• BB Creams: If you are very dry BB Creams are very beneficial if you're oily maybe I would skip this. A really good one is Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm. It has SPF 25 in it. It's specifically made for hydrating the skin. I also like their Black Label Detox BB cream too, but for very dry skin I would use the Water Fuse. BB Creams can also take the place of your moisturizer in the morning as well. So if you want a little more coverage you can use a BB Cream which blurs imperfections before you use your foundation. If you don't necessarily want a foundation the Smashbox BB Cream works well as a foundation by itself. Most BB Creams provide some form of coverage to smooth and even out skin tone.
• Foundations: Foundations are tricky for dry skin just as they are for oily skin. So look for ones that say "luminizing" or "hydrating" or "Moisturizing" so on so forth. The ones that have a dewy finish are the ones that are going to be the most hydrating and work best on dry skin. It may not make dry skin very luminous but it would be better than using a matte finish foundation that clings to your dry patches. So some good ones are Laura Mercier Silk Cream Moisturizing, Laura Mercier Moisture Supreme, Loreal True Match Lumi, NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation (for more normal to slightly dry skin), Revlon Colorstay for Normal to Dry skin, etc. I know that's a lot of foundation but there really is a bigger variety of foundation formulas for dry skin than there is for oily skin. 
• Eye Cream: If you have a dry eye area (like myself) than it makes you look much older than you are and it's incredibly noticeable so you have to moisturize that area morning and night. I use Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm at night because it's thicker and in the mornings I use Origins Ginzing Refreshing Eye Cream because it's thinner but also has a pink tint in it to help mask under eye circles. Another important thing is you can moisturize the eye area as many times as you need to before applying makeup. Each time you moisturize it your just making it more plump and filling in those lines to make you look younger and makes your concealer and corrector go on so much easier and they won't settle in fine lines as easy. I wouldn't recommend that to those who are oily or don't have problems with the under eye like I do but if you're in that boat with me it really does help. Always moisturize your lid as well. If you don't want to do it before makeup because it may cause the makeup to crease then do it at night for sure.
• Toner: A lot of dry skin people skip toner because they think it drys the skin out more, but toner is necessary for really getting the dirt out of pores and evening out your skin tone along with keeping it from looking dull. I personally like stronger toners that you use a cotton pad with but there are also sprays you can use like the Caudalie Grape Water or the Beauty Elixir. I am currently using the old school Sea Breeze astringent for sensitive skin, really inexpensive but very strong and makes me feel incredibly clean. I also love the Clinique Step 2 Clarifying Lotion ( I hate that they call it lotion. It's liquid people.) for Normal to Dry Skin. It's probably my favorite and I actually feel like it's the best on the market. The Caudalie has the more comfortable moisturized feeling but the Clinique  gives you that really "clean" fresh feeling without drying you out.
• Exfoliating: You may not have to but I do exfoliate. I use Neutrogena Black Head Eliminating scrub and I also use Peter Thomas Roth Exfoliating Gel Peel which is now called Firmx Peeling Gel. None the less the Peeling Gel makes your skin feel so soft. So if you're really having a texture issue along with your dry skin try, this because it makes my skin so soft and gets rid of all the dead skin (it literally rolls off the face as you rub). Where as scrubs are good to get into the pores and clear them out.
• Last but not least Cleansers: I prefer my cleansers to have salicylic acid in it, I just like it for my skin so I use Peter Thomas Roth Anti Aging Cleanser. If you're super dry GlamGlo also has a Thirsty Mud Cleanser that is supposed to go hand in hand with their Thirsty Mud mask/lotion. 

So there you go I know it's a lot of information but that's good because there are a lot of options out there for dry skin. I didn't include makeup removing things just because I wanted to focus more on the skin and how to make it look better and feel better. Dry skin can look rough and feel very tight and uncomfortable, just as dry lips can crack and hurt. So my best advice is water to rid the skin of impurities and help balance it and then work out a regimen especially at night that works best for you. Its gonna take a while to figure out what is and isn't enough but it's worth it in the long run because we can change our makeup but we can't change our skin. Good skin is the key to flawless makeup and you have to take care of it, not just for looks but for aging and to protect it against the sun and risks of sun damage and skin cancer. It starts with you and your willingness to commit to it. Which I encourage you to do more than anything else.