Which Moisturizer?!

Moisturizers for Dry Skin

Moisturizers are a category of skin care products that contain varying proportions of 3 different types of active ingredients.

1) Humectants - these act to pull moisture out of the environment and put into your skin. Examples of humectants are vitamin B5, hyaluronic acid, and urea.

2) Emollients - these act to help restore the barrier function of your skin. Examples would be anything fat containing, like olive oil, or colloidal oat meal. These can be important to repair from astringent toners, overly aggressive cleaning, or harsh winter weather.

3) Occlusives - these occlude your skin from the environment sealing in moisture and protecting from the environment irritation and water loss. Examples are silicone, mineral oil, and petroleum jelly.

Because moisturizers have varying proportions of those ingredients, you need to both pick a moisturizer for your skin type, but also change your moisturizer through out the year. The weather impacts your skin and therefore impacts which moisturizer you need to use. Even oily skin requires a moisturizer, because oil production and moisture content are distinct aspects of your skin.

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