Dry or
dehydrated skin
Dry skin makes too little oil; dehydrated skin holds on to too little water. Those are two different things, and you can have both at once.
We treat both with hydrating treatments and a care schedule. At the intake we establish which of the two is at play in your case.
Oil and water
Oil and water are two separate axes. The skin therapist assesses both, because oily skin can be dehydrated at the same time.
- Oil
- This axis is about what your skin makes itself. That is largely predisposition and changes slowly.
- Water
- This axis is about how much moisture sits in the top layer. That varies with the season, with your routine and with how often you wash.
Dry and dehydrated
impaired barrier function
- How you recognise this
- Rough and tight, quick to redden, and you tolerate fewer products than you used to.
- Where it comes from
- The barrier leaks water and lacks the oil to hold it in. There is often a driver: cold weather, showering too hot, or a routine that has become too harsh.
- What needs to happen then
- Here leaving things out gives more than adding. Making your routine smaller costs you nothing and gives the barrier room to repair.
Torn between two boxes? Look at the season. The water axis moves with the winter, the oil axis hardly at all.
This is what we hear
most often.
All three come from the idea that oil and water sit on one scale. They do not.
My skin shines and feels tight. Is that possible?
Yes, and that is why these two axes stand apart. Oily skin can be dehydrated. Reach for a mattifying cleanser then and you make it worse.
It is much worse in winter. Has my skin type changed?
No. You are dropping on the water axis. Cold air holds less moisture and indoors the heating is on, and together those dry you out. In spring you slide back on your own.
I have used a rich cream for years and it does not help.
Then you are probably in the dehydrated quadrant and not the dry one. Rubbing oil on holds in water that is not there.
Does your skin tolerate fewer and fewer products and redden quickly? Then dry skin is often the effect and not the cause, and the story starts somewhere else.
To sensitive skinWhat helps and what we advise against
Using more products because it is not getting better does the most damage.
This works
- Knowing which quadrant you are in before you buy anything. That saves years of products solving the wrong problem.
- Shower briefly and with lukewarm water, because hot water can dry the skin further.
- Cleansing that does not leave your skin squeaky clean. Squeaky clean means oil you needed has gone too.
- When in doubt, strip back: everything gone except cleansing and one care product, for two weeks. Then you see what it really is.
- Accepting that the oil axis is largely predisposition and that the water axis can be steered.
We advise against this
- Stacking more actives because it is not getting better. With a leaking barrier that is the fastest route to worse.
- Scrubbing against flakes. You remove the layer that was still holding the water in.
- Trying something new every week. A skin needs weeks, so you keep measuring the previous product.
- Seeing drinking water as the solution for dehydrated skin. It helps your body; it does not top up the top layer of skin.
- Booking a treatment while your barrier is damaged. Your skin then reacts more sharply and the same treatment gives less.
Two axes, so two measurements.
Your skin feels different one day from the next, so a feeling is not a good starting point. That is why we measure both axes separately instead of asking whether your skin feels dry.
That also shows which axis moves as soon as you change something. Usually it is the water axis within a few weeks, and that tells you straight away where you were.
More about the skin analysisWhat we measure here
- Oil
- How much the skin makes itself
- Water
- How much moisture sits in the top layer
- Leakage
- How quickly that moisture disappears again
Every axis is measured again at each check-up, under the same lighting. That way a difference later is something you see rather than something you have to take on faith.
What we use for this
HydraFacial
€ 170Cleansing, exfoliation and hydration. In one pass, visible straight away and with no recovery time.
OxyGeneo glow
€ 150Exfoliating and bringing oxygen into the skin, in one treatment.
Dermaplaning
€ 150Dead skin cells and fine hairs removed with a blade. Works without acids, so it suits sensitive skin too.
RRS Hyalift
€ 175Bringing hyaluronic acid and vitamins into the skin. For firmness and moisture, not for volume.
Frequently asked questions
So what is the difference between dry and dehydrated?
Dry is about oil and is largely predisposition. Dehydrated is about water and is a state that comes and goes. They both feel uncomfortable and ask for opposite things, and that is why people buy the wrong thing for years.
Does drinking a lot of water help?
For your body, yes; for the top layer of skin, hardly. It gets its moisture mostly from what you put on it and from how well your barrier stops leakage.
I also have red patches and itching. Does that belong with this?
It can, but with persistent itching, cracks or patches that do not go away a GP should take a look. It could be eczema, and that asks for something other than dry skin.
How soon do I notice a difference?
On the water axis often within two weeks, on the oil axis much more slowly because there you are working against your predisposition. Count on six to eight weeks before you establish anything on that second axis. That difference in pace is itself the best test of where you were.
What does this cost?
The measurement costs fifty euros and that is the whole consultation. What follows depends on what comes out of it and is listed per treatment on the price page. If the measurement shows you are in balance, our advice is to do nothing and it stops there.
First know which box you are in.
We measure oil and water separately, and tell you which axis moves in your case. If you are in balance, our advice is to do nothing and it stops there.
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