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Hydration is your secret weapon in the pursuit of a healthy body, not to mention skin that performs to its full potential. But why is skin hydration important, and why does it become dehydrated?

Our expert insights and hydration hacks will unlock year-round hydration in your skin, helping you achieve a lastingly radiant, dewy and youthful complexion. (Hint: It involves a delicious sheet mask).

Why Is Skin Hydration Important?

The water in our bodies is important to help it perform all its vital functions. It helps to regulate our body temperature and keep the body in homeostasis – a stable balance that allows the body, its organs and cells to function properly.

When it comes to skin, hydration is not just about its looks. As our body’s largest organ, our skin is naturally affected by the body’s hydration levels. When we overheat, the water in our skin is released as perspiration to help our body cool down.

Of course, water’s also essential for maintaining skin health, function and beauty:

• When it’s in perfect homeostasis, skin cells are able to produce and maintain the essential elements vital for its health, including collagen and elastin, its firmness and elasticity building blocks.

• Hydrated skin is also better at maintaining cell turnover (the shedding of old dead skin cells to reveal fresh, smooth, plump skin beneath). In other words, it helps skin maintain its bouncy, firm, smooth, radiant and more youthful appearance.

• Think of your skin barrier as your body’s hydration guardian and homeostasis helper. When healthy, this fine layer of lipids (skin oils or fats like ceramides) and skin cells forms an invisible shield over the skin to protect it against external aggressors such as irritants or viruses, and it prevents moisture loss by stopping water escaping. But here's the catch – it's not invincible. Ageing, hormones and lifestyle choices can all take a toll on your skin's barrier, leaving you high and dry, literally.

• Hydration also plays an important role in regulating oil production, which can help alleviate acne and excess shine.

What Causes Skin Dehydration?

The first thing to understand is that any skin, even the oiliest, can become dehydrated.

The culprits that can contribute to skin dehydration by stripping skin of its natural moisture:

Ageing: The skin barrier can become compromised as we age and our hormones change. Less oestrogen = less oil production, resulting in drier skin and wrinkles.

Environmental factors like harsh weather conditions – hot summers, freezing winters with windchill.

Our lifestyle habits, including smoking, living with central heating or air conditioning, and hot showers.

Skincare practices like using harsh cleansers that strip our skin barrier, overuse or incorrect use of ingredients that can potentially irritate the skin, such as aggressive retinoids, exfoliating acids, benzoyl peroxide, and so on.

Our diet: drinking alcohol, too much caffeine, high-salt foods.

Seasonal hydration challenges: In autumn and winter, cold temperatures and low humidity levels can suck moisture from the skin, leading to dryness and flakiness. While summer heat and sun exposure can cause dehydration and sun damage.

By adjusting your skincare routine to accommodate seasonal changes, you can maintain optimal hydration year-round.

How can I tell if my skin is dehydrated?

When skin is healthy and hydrated, it looks smooth, plump and radiant, but the tell-tale signs of dehydration are not so pretty.

Skin looks dull, has fine lines and wrinkles, particularly around the eyes and mouth, and an ashy appearance.

It may also become tight and increasingly prone to irritation, redness, and itching.

Paradoxically, dehydrated skin may also produce more oil to compensate, leading to oily or combination skin.

Pores can become more visible.

And severe, long-term dehydration may affect skin elasticity, so it feels less supple, plump and firm than well-hydrated skin.

Dehydration vs. Dry Skin: Decoding the Difference

While dehydration and dryness are often confused, they are distinct skin concerns with different causes.

Dehydration refers to a lack of water in any skin.

Dry skin, on the other hand, is genetic. People who have dry skin don't produce enough of their own moisturising lipids and other factors.

Dry skin looks dull and feels tight, rough, flaky and itchy or sensitive. Eczema or atopic dermatitis are also caused by severe dryness.

The solution: It’s very important to keep this skin well moisturised so you don’t itch and scratch, which can cause infection. Look for nourishing, fragrance-free moisturisers to help, and see a skin doctor to help manage your skin.

The good news is that proper hydration can help alleviate both conditions, restoring moisture and balance to the skin.

What About Dehydration and Oily Skin?

As strange as it may seem, oily skin can still become dehydrated because it’s lacking water. And, often, this is caused by our attempts to control excess oil. It’s extremely tempting to use harsh treatments to remove every trace of oil that’s making it shiny and feel congested. Sure, it feels matte and fresh… for about five minutes. But, unfortunately, when you do this, you strip its protective barrier. This not only allows your skin to become dehydrated so it feels and looks tight and uncomfortable, it also causes it to produce even more oil to stop the dehydration. And it can trigger irritation or sensitisation.

The solution: Find a good, gentle skincare range that helps to normalise your skin’s oil production without stripping the barrier.

Please use a moisturiser to help maintain good hydration – just make sure it is oil-free and absorbs excess oil.

Your Good Hydration Hacks

Maintaining ideal skin hydration requires a multi-faceted approach.

It is important to hydrate the body from the inside out – through your diet. It’s equally important to hydrate skin from the outside in – through the right skincare.

Maintaining Hydration from Within

We all know that hydration helps to keep skin plump and moisturised, but how much is enough? That’s up for debate, and much depends on your sex, pregnancy, illness, the climate, whether you’re exercising and perspiring heavily (when you need more), and so on. 

Most medical experts believe that women need to take in between 6 to 9 cups of fluid a day. For active men, it’s about 13 cups. 

Remember, this recommended intake includes not only drinking water, but should also factor in hydrating foods rich in water content, such as fruits, vegetables and soups. So drink (and eat) enough of the right fluids: water, caffeine-free tea, antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruit, broth.

If you’re feeling thirsty, then you’re probably already dehydrated. But it can also be dangerous to over-hydrate, which can cause its own health issues. If you’re unsure about what’s right for you, speak to your doctor.

Take a good-quality omega-3 oil supplement, preferably fish oil, to help boost those essential fatty acids that build the skin barrier.

Outside-In Hydration

Invest in skincare products tailored to your skin type and concerns with ingredients that stop moisture evaporating from your skin.

You need humectant ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid, glycerine and lactic acid, which absorb many times their own body weight of water and trap it in your skin.

You also need emollient ingredients, including plant oils like avocado and squalene, which form a protective layer on the skin to seal in moisture.

Look for the words ‘hydrating’, ‘moisturising’ and ‘nourishing' on skincare products. Study their ingredients to find the best one for you. Besides the humectants and emollients, look out for

peptides and antioxidants, which can help protect and repair the skin from free-radical damage and improve skin elasticity.

Always use a gentle, non-stripping cleanser. It can have a mild exfoliating action with fruit acids, as long as it has other ingredients that protect the skin barrier.

Our recommendation:  Youth Activating Cream Cleanser

Light moisturising emulsions. Their lighter fluid textures offer good hydration for daytime use, for oily, normal-to-combination and young skins. And they are ideal in warmer weather, spring and summer.

Our recommendation:  Youth Activating Microemulsion

VS

Richer cream moisturisers. Their richer textures are excellent for night-time, for those with drier skin or mature skin, and for harsh, cold and windy climates and winter. They offer intense hydration, nourishment, protection and comfort as they tackle your skin ageing concerns.

Our recommendation:  Youth Activating Cream Concentrate

Use a hydration specialist

Hydrating serums and facial masks are the super-hydration specialists, giving skin an intensive moisture injection. They can be used several times a week, at change of season, and whenever your skin needs a deep moisture boost.

We’re proud of our specialist hydration magician. As the ultimate hero of our hydration story, SuperNAD Youth Activating Facial Sheet Mask is the year-round game-changer for restoring moisture, radiance and vitality to your skin.

What makes SuperNAD Youth Activating Facial Sheet Mask different to other facial sheet masks?

This is not your simple, average instant-gratification facial mask. Think of it as a high-tech spa day in a packet. Its highly effective blend of active ingredients have serious skincare benefits for lasting skin transformation:

• A potent blend of humectants (starring sodium hyaluronate, the salt form of hyaluronic acid) and hydrating ingredients like prickly pear extract and tamarind seed gum work in harmony to attract and retain moisture, boosting skin hydration by 194% in just 15 minutes.

• The biodegradable banana-fiber sheet masks ensure maximum moisture retention over a long time.

• Innovative NAD technology boosts cellular energy, with intense repair and renewal effects.

• Antioxidants and other plant extracts help to rejuvenate the skin, leaving it plump, radiant, and revitalised.

Who’s it for?

It is ideal for all skin types, all seasons and all climates. If you have tired-looking, dull, mature, dry or dehydrated skin, and want to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while boosting skin radiance and plumpness, this deliciously nourishing and pampering sheet mask is for you.

Your Glow Up Secret, Inside and Out

There you have it – with this insider knowledge, you'll be well on your way to a complexion that glows with health and beautiful hydration. Here’s to looking fabulous!