Your Fine Lines May be Caused by Dehydrated Skin

Have you been noticing fine lines start to pop up? Don’t worry—fine lines have a grace period before they become wrinkles. And often the culprit is dehydrated skin. 

In this article:

 

Symptoms of Dehydrated Skin 

Close up of a young freckled woman's eye area with fine lines
  1. Fine lines - When your skin is dehydrated, it can lose volume that was keeping everything smooth. This may show up as tiny creases and fine lines in the skin; they are not always caused by facial movement!
  2. Loss of elasticity - Without proper hydration, the skin can feel looser or sag. If you are concerned about your skin elasticity, try “the pinch test” by giving your face a gentle pinch. Hydrated skin should bounce right back, whereas dehydrated skin might retain the imprint a bit longer.
  3. Clogged Pores and Blackheads- Our skin is always trying to help us balance. When the skin is dehydrated, your body will respond with overproducing oils to triage the situation. This can lead to blackheads if the dehydration isn’t addressed in a different way!
  4. Under-eye circles - Loss of elasticity can be more apparent in our under-eye skin, which is naturally thinner and more delicate. Dark circles can also appear with lack of healthy circulation, which your body needs hydration for. If your eyes look tired or have more pronounced under-eye circles than normal, consider if dehydration is the culprit.
  5. Product Absorbs Too Quickly - If you notice that your skin has started to need a larger amount of product than usual, it might be trying to lap up that extra moisture. Think about a dried out plant when the water runs right through the soil!
  6. Dullness or itchiness - Though this can also happen with dry skin too, dullness and itchiness are signs of dehydration.

What's the difference between dehydrated skin and dry skin, and why does it matter? 

What is Dehydrated Skin?

Dehydrated skin is caused by a lack of water in the skin, and it can happen to anyone with any skin type. This means that even if you consider your skin to be oily, it can still become dehydrated in some conditions. Dehydrated skin can be caused by dehydration throughout the body or by skincare practices.

What is Dry Skin?

Dry skin, on the other hand, is a skin type (versus a skin state). It usually refers to a consistent state of lack of lipids in your skin barrier. These lipids, or natural oils, are the part of your skin barrier that prevents water from evaporating off the surface of your skin. Without enough lipids, the water evaporates into the air, leaving your skin flaky, red, lackluster, and irritated. Both dry skin and dehydrated skin can contribute to the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, but fine lines are more likely to be caused by dehydration than by your skin type. 

How to tell if you have dry or dehydrated skin

To test if you have dry skin, cleanse your face and leave it bare for about an hour; if your skin feels tight, looks flaky, or shows rough patches during this time, you likely have dry skin.  

To test if your skin is dehydrated, gently pinch a small area of your skin and observe how quickly it returns to its normal state—if it stays pinched or takes a while to smooth out, your skin might be dehydrated. Additionally, dehydrated skin often appears dull, may show fine lines and other symptoms listed above.

To note, you can have both dry skin and dehydrated skin. Read on to learn how to restore your skin to its happy, hydrated state!

What causes my dehydrated skin? 

Lifestyle Habits

If you are aware of some health habits that might be contributing to your skin’s dehydration, look to these first since you may need hydration in other places too! Here are a few examples of dehydrating habits:

  • Not drinking enough water: This one is obvious, and that’s why we are reminding you. It’s so easy to overlook the obvious solutions because we’ve heard it so many times! Water-rich foods like watermelon and soup can also count towards your water intake, as well as other watery beverages. 
  • Alcohol consumption: Alcohol uses up water when your body breaks it down, but did you know it also suppresses the hormone you need to rehydrate (vasopressin)? Be conscious of consumption if hydration is your goal.
  • Sodium and sugar: These ingredients use extra water to break down, so hydrate more when you have a big serving.
  • Sun exposure: This can cause both body and skin dehydration, so use SPF and stay hydrated!

Skincare Habits

Once you assess your water intake, next look to skincare habits that might be causing this. Keeping your skin barrier intact is essential for having hydrated skin. Watch out for the following:

  • Over-cleansing or using the wrong cleanser: That tight, “squeaky clean” feeling is not necessary for your skin to be clean. If your cleanser strips every bit of moisture and oil from your skin, it will not have the ability to protect its water content from evaporating, leading to trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). That's why we avoid harsh detergents in our products. 
  • Harsh exfoliation: The best exfoliating habits are to use gentle exfoliators on a consistent basis, rather than to let your skin accrue build-up until you scrub it raw. Exfoliation should not sting or leave you red for hours! Regular use of gentle chemical exfoliants with 2-3x a week of gentle physical exfoliation is a sweet spot. 
  • Using the wrong products or wrong routine for your skin: Some active ingredients complement each other, whereas others cause irritation when combined. Take a second look at your routine to make sure you aren’t stacking too many strong ingredients together. 

How can I treat fine lines and other signs of dehydration?

To address dehydration in your skincare routine, it's important to focus on incorporating ingredients that provide hydration, which differs from moisturizing. Hydrating ingredients, known as humectants, draw water into the skin, while moisturizing ingredients, called occlusives, create a barrier to lock in moisture.

Many moisturizing products contain a blend of both hydrating and moisturizing ingredients, which can be beneficial. However, for targeted relief, it's best to use hydrating ingredients to address dehydration and moisturizing ingredients to combat dryness or repair a compromised skin barrier.

If you're using both types of products in your skincare routine, apply the hydrating product first. This allows the hydrating ingredients to draw moisture into the skin before you apply the moisturizer, which then locks in that moisture, providing optimal hydration.

Tip for Fine Lines: Rehydrating your skin can help diminish signs of dehydration, including fine lines. Additionally, incorporating gentle exfoliation into your routine can enhance skin texture and further reduce the appearance of fine lines.

What's the difference between hydrating and moisturizing ingredients?

Humectants (hydrators) attract and retain water from the atmosphere or from deeper layers of your skin, effectively adding moisture. In contrast, occlusives form a protective seal on the skin's surface to retain moisture by preventing water loss. Depending on your skin's overall needs, you may benefit from layering a hydrating product beneath a moisturizing one to maximize hydration and moisture retention.

At Apoterra, we prioritize using safe, organic, plant-based, and cruelty-free ingredients in our products. Here are some examples of effective hydrating and moisturizing ingredients to consider incorporating into your routine.

Hydrating Ingredients:

Hyaluronic acid 🌈
Honey 🐝
Aloe 🌿 🌍
Glycerin 🌈
Trehalose 🌈
Beet Extract 🌿🌍
Hydrosols  🌿🌍
Sodium PCA  🌿🌍

 

Moisturizing Ingredients:

Plant oils (like jojoba) 🌿 🌍
Plants butters (like shea) 🌿 🌍
Waxes (like beeswax) 🌿/🐝 
Squalane 🌈
Lecithin 🌈

 

Key: 🌿 = derived from plants  🐝 = derived from bees  🌍 = vegan  🌈 = derived from multiple sources*

*These ingredients can be derived from plants, animals, or fungus. Apoterra derives these ingredients from vegan sources. 

 Practice Picking Hydrating Products! 

A variety of skincare products on a windowsill

Check out the hydrating and moisturizing ingredients across these products—which skin condition would they help you treat? 

Example 1

Vitamin C Regenerative Balm

Vitamin C Regenerative Balm, containing shea butter, jojoba oil, rosehip oil, and beeswax

Q: Hydrating or moisturizing? 

A: This product would be moisturizing because it is rich in plant oils, butters, and waxes. Shea butter additionally has emollient properties, so it acts as a softener as well as a moisturizer. This balm would form a great protective barrier for nighttime moisture retention, especially in dry skin.

Example 2

Rose Essential Hydration Mist, containing several natural humectants- trehalose, hyaluronic acid, Sodium PCA, beet root extract - as well as hydrating aloe, rose hydrasol, and skin barrier soothing niacinamide.

Q: Hydrating or moisturizing?

A: This product would be a strong hydrator due to its humectant ingredients that will absorb water and add it to your skin. Use a humectant product to draw moisture into your skin when it is dehydrated.

Example 3 

Vetiver Illuminating Oil Cleanser

Vetiver Illuminating Oil Cleanser, containing meadowfoam oil, tamanu oil, vetiver essential oil, and black cumin seed oil

Q: Hydrating or moisturizing?

A: This product would be a good cleanser to preserve your moisture levels, since it contains plentiful plant oils. Meadowfoam oil and black cumin seed oil also have emollient properties, which means they can form a protective layer on the skin to hold moisture inside. Use a gentle cleanser to prevent stripping your skin barrier.

Now go out there and treat your dehydrated skin to push back against fine lines and other signs of dehydration!

 

Written by: Brianna Riggio

Reviewed by: Licensed Esthetician Hayley Wood

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