Top tips for relieving dry skin

“Why is your skin so dull?”

“I own dry skin. It’s not oily at all. Hence it is not glowing or shining. That’s why my face appears dull.”

“Your face and neck have white patches.”

“It’s because my skin is dry. Condition of my hands and legs are miserable than this”.

Yes, it’s a common problem among dry skinned people; such a sad conversation too. Some people may say straight at your face which can often make you feel bad or demotivating. But now the beauty care has advanced so much and there are instant remedies, that too in multiple ways to address all skin problems. If you have a little time to spend for yourself, a little money too, you can also achieve a glowing and youthful skin.

You have to follow a strict discipline and clear-cut steps to get desired results. Through this column, I shall briefly explain some of the common skin care techniques for dry skin, how to do it and when.

Daily skin care for dry skin

1. The first and the most important thing to do is to use moisturizer regularly, especially when you have dry skin. Only when moisture is retained in skin, you can protect your skin from dryness. You should definitely use moisturizer twice a day, morning and night, and you need to choose your product which best suits your skin and won’t give you allergy reactions. If dryness is excess, you may need to apply moisturizer 4 or 5 times a day. It depends on the type of your skin.

2. Moisturizer gives the best result when you apply it soon after bath. By following this way, the moisture present in your skin soon after bath is also retained. On other times, especially as a part of nightcare, you can wash your hands and legs before applying moisturizer.

3. Avoid soap as much as possible because soaps make your skin more dry. Excess use of soap destroys the natural oil of the skin and also reduces the moisture content. Use mild soaps. Gel type body wash is a better option, though not the best.

4. Every morning you can gently massage your face using some oil. It has three advantages. When massage is done sebaceous cells of face skin are stimulated which improves the oil production. Wrinkles can easily appear if you have dry skin, and you can appear more aged than your real age. Oil massage reduces wrinkles and gives a youthful appearance to skin. Oil keeps dryness at bay.

5. Make hyaluronic serum a part of your skin care. You can use it along with the moisturizer. Hyaluronic face cream is also available.

6. If lips are dry, it affects your looks. Attractive lips make you more attractive. Skin of lips can appear dry or peel off because of dryness. Apply lip balm twice a day to overcome this. UV rays of sunlight not only affects your skin, but also your lips. So, during day time you can apply a lip balm which has SPF content. Before you go to sleep use some lip balm with moisturizer content.

7. To give instant hydration to dry and dull skin, face mist is a good option. You can choose a product which best suits your skin and address your skin issues better. Here is a homemade face mist. Remove the skin of a cucumber and cut into pieces. Add some water and boil it for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow it to cool and strain it. Store it in a spray bottle in refrigerator. Occasionally you can spray it on face and get refreshed.

Do these procedures twice a week for skin care for dry skin

1. Dryness is not limited only to hands and feet. It can affect scalp and hair also.  twice a week you can do oil massage for scalp and hair. After half an hour, you can wash it off. You can choose the hair oil which you regularly use.

2. You can buy plain sheet masks readily available in market. Some kitchen ingredients also well suite your dry skin. Milk, cucumber juice, green tea, hibiscus tea, watermelon juice, coconut milk etc are some of the natural products which can be used for skin care. You can dip sheet masks in anyone of these and place on your face. You can remove it after 15 minutes and wash your face.

3. Take a big spoon of glycerine and the lime juice and mix well. Apply this mixture on knees, elbows, neck and under arm. It can help to reduce dark shade of these areas, and also helps in reducing wrinkles and dryness.

4. Make a mixture of beetroot juice and butter and apply on dry lips before you go to sleep. When you use this, there is no need to apply lip balm. You can also use a mixture of juice extracted from coriander leaves and ghee, which can improve colour of your lips.

Weekly skin care for dry skin

1. Once a week you can do an oil massage for full body and bath as usual. It can control skin dryness a lot. You can choose coconut oil, olive oil or almond oil. After 15 minutes you can wash using gram flour or green gram powder.

2. You can use body scrub suiting your skin type once a week. Scrub help you to remove dead cells and stimulate new cell growth. Make a fine powder of 3/4 cup oats in a mixer and add honey and coconut oil two big spoons each. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes and then apply on your body. Massage it well and wash it off.

3. Dry feet is quite common in people with dry skin. Take half cup Epsom salt, quarter cup coconut oil and 10 drops of peppermint essential oil, and mix together. Apply it on feet and gently massage. Put the remaining scrub in lukewarm water and dip your feet for 15 minutes. Wash it off in lukewarm water, remove moisture and apply moisturizer.

4. Almond oil can be used as lip scrub for dry skin. Take 2 spoons of brown sugar and dried orange skin powder each along with 10 to 12 drops of almond oil. Mix them together and apply on lips. It can remove dead cells and improves lip colour.

5. If your scalp is dry you can use hair pack once a week. Take one ripen avocado, an egg, one small spoon each olive oil and honey, and mix all ingredients together to prepare the hair pack. Apply it on hair and scalp, and wash it off after 20 minutes using some mild shampoo.

6. Keep milk skin in refrigerator. You can use it as face pack. After 10 minutes wash off the pack using rice flour. You can also mix ground flour with milk skin to make this pack. It’s good for getting soft skin.

7. You can remove body hair once a week. If you have dry skin use hair removing cream or wax instead of razor. It removes dead cells and dry skin.

Monthly skin care for dry skin

1. Once a month you can do a full body spa and a hair spa. It adds extra glow to skin and your hair becomes more soft and shiny.

2. You can do a pedicure and a manicure once in a month. It adds extra beauty to your hands and legs, and removes dead cells too. If you do it regularly you will get good results.

How to care your dry hands and feet?

1. If your hands and feet have excess dryness, apply hand- foot cream before you go to sleep. Also wear socks to retained the moisture. It also prevents the excess dryness of your hands and feet because of cold temperature.

2. If your elbows and knees are dry and dark in shade, you can apply cocoa butter which is oily and gives a moisturizer effect too.

3. In some people, marks can appear on skin and body parts because of exhaust dryness. It’s mostly seen just below the knees. A mixture of rose water and glycerine is a quick remedy. Take glycerine and rose water in the proportion 1:2.

Things to be noted in diet

While you are doing a lot of things for skin care and external beauty, you should also know that beauty comes from inside. When you bring positive changes in your food and lifestyle, it reflects on your face and skin, and gives you more confidence too. It will keep diseases at bay and give you a healthy life. To retain moisture in skin and make it appear glowing, some nutrients can help you a lot. In short you can achieve beauty naturally, which is more reliable too.

1. Vitamin E is known as beauty vitamin. Along with Vitamin E, vitamin A, Vitamin C and good fats are needed for a healthy skin. Include food items in your daily diet which have all the essentials.

2. Vitamin E is largely found in nuts like almonds and brazilnuts, seeds like chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds and sunflower seeds, butter fruit, olive oil and sea food like sardine, tuna and mackerel. If you include these food items regularly in your diet, it makes your skin soft, free of wrinkles also thus delaying aging process. Sweet potato, papaya, carrot and pumpkin contain vitamin A in plenty. Make them a part of your diet.

3. Vegetables and fruits are abundant in vitamin C. Citrus fruits like lemon and orange have Vitamin C in plenty. Gooseberry and broccoli can also be included.

4. Leafy vegetables and salads can help you to retain moisture in your skin. Drink a lot of water. Avoid junk food, fried food items and food with excess spices. Salt and sugar should also be kept at minimum.

Image source: Pixabay