What's A Bigger Problem Than Having An Oily or Dry Skin?

It's having a dehydrated skin!

Our no-nonsense brochure at the Neutrogena event

Two nights ago at the Neutrogena event, I learned tons of skincare deets that will definitely equip me in my battle against dull, aging and problematic skin. We talked about the skin's hydration levels, and despite my skin hydration test results being in the normal range, I'm still a bit worried about the lack of ample moisture in my skin (40-90 is the normal range, my test result came out 47. <40 meant dehydration, while >90, overhydration. my number indicates that i'm 8 little steps away to skin dehydaration any minute).

Skin Hydration Tester. 0-40: Dehydrated; 40-90: Normal; 90 and up: Moist

THE PROBLEM WITH SKIN DEHYDRATION

...is that you begin to experience some or all the following on your skin: fine lines and wrinkles, roughness, lack of radiance and clarity, itching, flaking and scaling, and uncomfortable tightness.

Nobody needs to go through premature aging. All you need to do is identify what causes dehydration and match an antidote to each cause.

DAILY CONDITIONS THAT CAUSE SKIN DEHYDRATION

Whether you have oily or dry skin type, nobody's excused from skin dehydration. With the various conditions around us that can easily strip our skin off its moisture, no one's excused from not using a moisturizer. Let's look at the most common things that can dehydrate our skin:

Now that you have identified some of the common causes of skin dehydration, I bet you have means of addressing each of them. :) You may share tips that you swear by using the comment form.

SKINCARE MYTHS

The event was truly very enriching. We even busted some popular myths regarding skincare:

MYTH 1: Oily skin need not use moisturizers. Oiliness is all about OIL and moisture is all about hydration or WATER. Our skin has both of these components in it and it is vital that there is a balance between the two.

Putting on moisturizers DO NOT aggravate an oily-skin type. Rather, if you have oily skin and skip on moisturizers while exposing yourself to the numerous dehydrating conditions above, you'll oil up all the more because the lack of moisture signals the oil glands to produce more oil to compensate for the lack of water.

Moisturizers are a must even if you have oily skin. What you'll have to be keen on is the type of moisturizer that will not be too icky on your face (choose gel-type or water-based ones).

MYTH 2: Drinking 8 glasses of water a day (or even more, if you can) is a sure way of hydrating the skin. Nope, this isn't a foolproof way of getting your skin hydrated.The water you take in will first be utilized by the other (importantly functioning) body organs, and the skin, the largest organ in the body, is humble enough to receive it last. Topical hydration is still the best and surest way to ensure that your skin is not dehydrated.
  

A FOOLPROOF SKINCARE REGIMEN

And because I broke out real bad from my ex-HG Clinique DDMG (Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel), I'm in dire need of getting a good moisturizer. It's the best way to foolproof-ing anyone's skincare routine.

I'm currently using HHN Sunflower Beauty Oil mixed with my evening topicals, but I find that this product isn't the best bottle to use during the day. I've tried a couple of brands for everyday use but each one of them seem to be a bit on the heavy side for my sensitive and slowly exfoliating skin. 

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect day moisturizer so that my '47' skin hydration test result does not nosedive to a dehydrated level (less than 40) due to my prolonged exposure to airconditioning, coffee intake, sun exposure, mismanaging stressors and my lack of sleep!