DO YOU HAVE DRY SKIN OR DEHYDRATED SKIN?

Hi guys!

If you’ve been following me or reading the blog for a while (THANK YOU), you’ve seen me post about dry skin. For years, this is what I believed. I had pretty much all of the symptoms of dry skin and always chose my products based on that. However, early last year, I started to experience breakouts on my forehead (I always break out on my forehead when I’m stressed) and I thought “hmm people with dry skin don’t usually experience breakouts”. Earlier this year, I then started getting hormonal breakouts on my chin (a story for another day) and again, I thought “if I have dry skin, why am I breaking out?”. I just added salicylic acid to my routine to kill the breakouts and glycolic acid to fade the dark marks left by pimples.

In July this year, I decided to go for a facial because my skin was in terrible shape and, quite frankly, I felt super self conscious. I got a deep cleansing facial, which was a gamechanger for my skin. However, while I was asking the aesthetician questions about my skin, I mentioned having dry skin. And she says “no you don’t. You actually have oily skin, it is just dehydrated”. When I tell you I was stunned, that is an understatement. It was like WOAH! But it also explained soooo much! It explained how I could have a dry face but still have pimples. The aesthetician recommended I continue using the salicylic acid and glycolic acid and that I should just make sure to keep the skin hydrated. And that’s what I’ve been doing! It seems to be working. I don’t have that dryness like I used to. In fact, sometimes. my forehead actually gets a little oily!

So how do you know if your skin is dry or dehydrated??? Well for starters, if you’re like me. Your skin looks and feels dry but you’re breaking out! This chart below will also help:

In summary, here are the products I use now (of course, I alternate between products depending on the state of my skin that particular week/day but here’s an overview):

Cleanser:

• Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm (oil cleanser – I use this every night before other cleansers)
• Sukin Cream Cleanser (regular cleanser)
• The Body Shop Vitamin E Gentle Face Wash (when I wear make up)
• Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser (every 2/3 days before my mask)

Toner:

• The Body Shop Vitamin E Hydrating Toner (morning & night)
• Pixi Skintreats Vitamin C Tonic (morning)
• Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (salicylic acid – night)
• Pixi Skintreats Glycolic Acid Tonic (night)

Serum:

• Kiehl’s Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate
• The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5′

Eye Cream:

• Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado

Moisturiser:

• Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream
• Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Lotion Exfoliant (when my breakouts are really bad)

That’s it guys! Learning the difference between dry and dehydrated skin was a game changer for me and it might just be a game changer for you too!

Love,

Tara xXx