The Hydration Series: Part One: Hydration is Important for Skin Health
In this 8-part Hydration blog series, we will explore the importance of hydration in maintaining the optimal function and balance of the body's largest organ, the skin.
Beyond that, dehydrated skin simply doesn’t look healthy. When hydration levels are compromised the skin can appear dry, tight, red, and irritated. Last but not least, dehydrated skin is often uncomfortable and lacks glow. In other words, it’s bad news all around. If you’ve ever been dehydrated, you know just how awful it can feel and how it affects your energy levels. Similarly, because your skin is active, living tissue, it works the same way as the rest of your body.
When the epidermis is depleted and dehydrated, it isn’t able to properly perform at its full potential. It becomes sluggish and struggles to complete important processes, including the production of new cells and other hydrating substances within the tissue, which are necessary for optimal skin health. Dehydrated skin also has trouble shedding old, dead skin cells (a process known as desquamation) meaning it easily becomes dull, congested and even more breakout prone.
Skin immunity also becomes compromised in dehydrated skin, making it more vulnerable to environmental damage, air pollutants, chemicals, water hardness, ultraviolet light radiation, allergens, temperature, humidity, climate factors, bacteria and other harmful microorganisms.
Beyond that, dehydrated skin simply doesn’t look healthy. When hydration levels are compromised the skin can appear dry, tight, red, and irritated. Last but not least, dehydrated skin is often uncomfortable and lacks glow. In other words, it’s bad news all around. If you’ve ever been dehydrated, you know just how awful it can feel and how it affects your energy levels. Similarly, because your skin is active, living tissue, it works the same way as the rest of your body.
The good news is that with proper care and by restoring moisture levels, the skin has the incredible ability to heal itself and can quickly begin to function optimally. Or even better than ever. Healthy, hydrated skin is able to effectively desquamate because water activates the enzymes that facilitate the process, meaning the skin is able to rejuvenate itself at a more youthful rate.
Oil and water composition is able to balance itself naturally in hydrated skin, creating a protective barrier of the skin that is at full strength. Healthy barrier function protects the skin against excess water loss and other damage from everyday environmental stressors. It also makes for a more luminous complexion that is soft, smooth and supple.
Read the previous post in our 8-part Hydration blog series, "Introduction".
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our series, “The Signs and Symptoms of Dehydrated Skin”.