A common problem in summer is dehydrated skin.  Here our skin therapist Carrie talks about dehydration and how to cure it in your skin.

Your question:  How can I cure my dehydrated skin?

Carrie:  If you don’t pay enough attention to hydrating your skin in summer it can easily become dehydrated by sun exposure, air conditioning, travel or the additional alcohol you consumed on holiday.  All of these things can leave your skin feeling taught, rough and with more fine lines than normal.  Dehydrated skin is characterised by a lack of moisture (water).  It is not caused by low oil production as often thought and even very oily skin can be dehydrated. 

Remedying dehydrated skin is quite straightforward.  Put simply, your skin is thirsty….. and you need to give it a drink!  First off check your diet.  If you think your skin may be dehydrated, lay off the coffee and tea, fizzy drinks and alcohol.  Instead make sure you drink 8 glasses of water a day and introduce lots of wonderful, water-rich foods such as watermelon, apples, grapes, broccoli and blueberries.  This will quench your skin’s thirst from the inside, but you also need to add moisture from the outside.

The trick with dehydrated skin is to add moisture regularly.  In hot weather any moisture you put onto your skin is quickly soaked up so you need to keep re-applying.  Add into your daily routine a fast-absorbing hydrating fluid.  We recommend using Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster underneath your normal moisturiser or moisturising sunscreen.  This will help retain critical moisture levels in your skin. 

A hydrating facial spray will be your skin’s best friend in summer.  For optimum hydration you should spritz your face several times throughout the day.  Multi-Active Toner comes in a handy 50ml size, perfect for throwing into your handbag or rucksack for regular spritzing on the go. 

Finally we recommend you treat your skin to a hydrating masque 2-3 times a week.  Our top pick is Skin Hydrating Masque which will restore moisture to leave your skin more plump and supple and reduce the appearance of fine lines.     

Follow these simple steps and you should quickly see the effects of dehydration disappear, leaving behind plumper, more supple and youthful looking skin.