If you have dry skin then you might have flaky, tight, itchy skin. Dry skin can be wrinkled, sallow and has very small pores. This skin type is very prone to aging quickly and irritation. Treating your dry skin and making it normal, is not hard if you follow a few guidelines.
First and foremost, drink a lot. Drinking water that is. Aim for 8 to 12 glasses of water a day. This will moisturize your skin from the inside out. If this is too much water for you at first, slowly build up to it. Another important thing is to not wash your face more than twice a day, and do so with a mild facial cleaner designed for dry skin. These cleaners have the right moisturizers built into them to not dry your skin out.
As much as a long leisurely shower or bath sounds good, you need to try to keep your bathing to the shortest amount of time possible, and with warm not hot water. Also, unless absolutely necessary, do not bathe more than once a day. While not recommended often, if you do decide to take a bath, add a few drops of olive or lavender oil to the water to help prevent your skin from getting too dry. Limit your soap usage to the groin and underarm area. For the rest of the body, use a body wash designed for dry skin. You should not use a towel and rub your skin dry, instead pat it. This will dry you off but at the same time leave some moisture on your skin to help not dry it out.
While you are still damp, you should moisturize your body with a lotion or cream. When you buy a moisturizer look for a few key ingredients. Look for ingredients such as glycerin, alpha hydroxy acids, urea and lactic acids (binders), combined with petrolatum, lanolin or silicone derivatives (barriers). The barriers will keep moisture in the skin and the binders pull water from deep in the skin and bring it up to the top layer. You can seek professional help to find the right moisturizer for you , though trial and error is your best bet.
The last piece of advice is to try to keep a balanc eof humidity in the air around you. Air that is too dry or too hot will dry your skin out quickly. It may be easy to keep the air balanced at home but if you work in an office, then it may be harder. At work, drink a lot of water and keep some moisturizer close by and apply as needed.
Following the above suggestions closely should bring your skin closer to a normal balance.
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