Hydration From The Inside-Out

People love using moisturizer. People love using lotion. People climb out of the bath or shower, and the first thing they do is start on the moisturizing regimen. They are so focused on making their skin no longer dry that they don’t think about why their skin is dry. Focusing on the ‘why’ will help permanently heal your skin so it will no longer be scaly or rough. Understanding the ‘how’ of lotions might help. We all use them, but how do they work? But, targeting lotions and moisturizers isn’t the point of this article. It’s not even the focus. It’s the ‘why’ our skin is dehydrated in the first place. 

‘Dehydrated’? Yes, because that, for the most part, is why our skin is dry. 

There are many key reasons for dry skin. It could be the weather. Cold air and wind are great at battering out moisture and drying out the skin. It could be the products your using. Much of the time, products end up doing the direct opposite of what they’re supposed to do, kind of like the issue behind chapstick. It could also be the main focus of this article: you’re dehydrated, and you’re not allowing your body to moisturize itself from the inside-out because you’re not drinking enough water. 

Think about what water does. Our bodies are filled with mostly water, which lives inside our body tissue, our skin, our brains, and most other places. Even our bones need water to keep them porous. If our bodies need water that badly, then what if this is the reason behind our dry skin?

Moisturizers only sit on the outer layers of the dermis, not penetrating deep enough to correct the root of the problem, rather, they mask the problem. They might make your skin feel softer and smoother, but they’re actually sitting on top of your skin and acting like chapstick, but for the rest of your body. 

Your body isn’t becoming hydrated from liquid coming out of a bottle because it isn’t drinking water, it’s using moisturizers, lotions, chapsticks, and many other ways the industry uses to make you buy their products. Those products sit on top of your skin. Meanwhile, you wonder why your skin is becoming less and less supple, and more and more dry. If you’re covering the problem rather than solving the problem, then the issue isn’t being addressed. Instead, you’re ignoring the actual issue, treating moisturizers and lotions like medicine. But, they’re not medicine. Drinking water would be medicine if you drank more water. Protecting your hands from the cold by wearing gloves would also protect the skin from drying out and cracking.

The one true way for your body to be hydrated, truly hydrated, is by drinking enough fluids, namely water. If you drink enough and protect your skin from the elements, all of the dryness will go away on its own.

Treat the problem using ways that actually solve it.

One of the most important ways to protect your skin is by wearing gloves in the winter. They will protect your hands by keeping them safe from cold, dry air and wind. If you’re drinking enough water on top of protecting them, they will not be dry. Your skin is mostly made up of water and tissue. It’s why your skin is supple, and it’s what gives it its elasticity. If you don’t drink enough fluids, the elasticity could lessen and your skin will appear deadened and scaly. Filling your body with fluids will also fill those tissues with moisture, moisturizing yourself inside-out. 

Your face is much harder to protect, but the same idea fits here as well. Your face is made from the same skin as the rest of your body. This one is a lot harder to prove because of the widespread acceptance of facial moisturizer, but would your body really be worse off without it? 

And, would your body be worse off without water?

To one of them, you could say ‘maybe’. To the other, you would die without it.

If your body is mostly made of the same seven layers of dermis, then who’s to say lotions and moisturizers aren’t exactly like chapstick or lip balm?

If you think about how these products work, then you know they’re only covering up the problem.

If you want soft and healthy skin, then you have to get really good at drinking water.