Dry skin relief

[Rionach aka Spec K]

What's the best remedy for this. Lately, I've been having kind of patchey problem dry skin on my face. You can't really see it if you look at me, but I can feel it when I touch my face.

[Nevrmore]

are you drinking enough water? how's your vitamin e intake?

[Rionach aka Spec K]

I'd say I am drinking enough water - I drink a 2 liter bottle at the gym nearly every night - in addition to what I drink during the day. I don't take any type of vitamin supplement. Would taking Vit E help?

[Mama Kel]

Exfoliation!! I have horribly dry skin everywhere. I exfoliate every other day & then moisturize. It helps. Maybe I should try vitamin E?

[georgi]

That Vaseline intensive care cream is good. :thumbup:

[Rionach aka Spec K]

hmmmm. I do exfoliate quite a bit - maybe I should try every other day.

anyone ever used something called bio oil?

[sure-ur-rightdancer]

dry skin can be caused by a few things......
diet - may sure you are getting enough omega -3 and 6 these can contribute to skin conditions -certain fish and some veg oils (flax, hemp etc) contain a good amount -there are also supplements
hydration - drink water of course but don't forget exercise, caffeine etc will all counter act that (ie cause you to lose water via sweat or pee)
hereditary/ race - some people just produce more/ less oil than others
medication - some medicines (especially hormonal type stuff) will change the amount of oil you produce
age - especially in women due to hormonal changes (ie menopause)
weather - cold, wet weather with wind are especially harsh on the skin - when water evaporates off the skin it actually takes additional moisture with it which is why licking your lips is really bad for them

what can you do?
there are a lot of ways to protect skin -
you can use a synthetic (ie mineral oil, petrolatum etc) this generally make a barrier over the skin and seal in any moisture you do have - they are considered "occlusive" agents
another synthetic option is silicones (dimethicone, etc) which will actually fill in the grooves and ridges in the skin making the surface feel smoother but like the synthetic oils its doubtful that it will actually heal the skin (kind of the same idea as a band aid - it coats skin to protect it but it doesn't actually fix the issue)

you can use a natural oil/ fat/ butter (basically all the same- named different based on the melting point) - these will actually contain the same or similar fatty acids that are on your skin and will help to rebuild the skins own protective layer - depending on what oil you use (and its processing) there can also be other additional benefits besides the fatty acids (ie oil) such as vitamin and antioxidant content which helps to heal skin - also omega 3 and 6 are essential to skin (ie your body doesn't make them - you have to eat or apply them) so make sure you are either getting these in your diet (real food is the best source as they are very unstable) or applying to skin

however just using moisturizers on its own may not be enough also look at your body washes / soap - these strip the skin of moisture and cause weaknesses in your skins barrier than allows out moisture
also exfoliation - if you have a lot of dead skin cells at the top of the skin the moisturizers can not reach the "living" layers and make a difference (this is especially true on areas like elbows/ heels etc where dead skin can build up)

[sure-ur-rightdancer]

also another note on exfoliators ..... over exfoliation can cause micro tears in the skin - this will allow mouisture to escape -- so there is a point where it goes from helping to hurting - basically you should get the dead skin off but don't go overboard (I would say 2-3 times a week is enough unless you have a particular problem area)


(oh and in case you wanted a recomendation from me .... its defintiely shea butter containing products.... shea is the best! but then again I am a little biased - but most important thing is to READ THE LABEL!)

if you have any products you want me to look at I would be happy to do that too

[irie]

Aquafor is a really great moisturizer for moisturizing the from the outside and Omega 3's are great for moisturizing from the inside

[Rionach aka Spec K]

thanks sure-ur - that is quite informative. I change my body washes all the time - I should realy take a look at them.

I keep seeing commercials for a product called Bio Oil here.

[sure-ur-rightdancer]

Looking at the product and its ingreidnts - its mainly mineral oil (Paraffinum Liquidum) also the form of vitamin E and C that they use are not the naturally occuring forms therefore they are less useful to the skin b/c they need to be converted by enzymes in the skin - as for all the extracts and natural oils - not bad but I would say that it is a very small % (probably about 1 % each) BHT is an antioxidant to preserve the oils in the formula and the remaining ingredients are fragrance and color (which for the record many are on the EU's 26 allergan list... this should be clearly noted on the box in EU http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/chemicals/legislation/detergents/legislation/allergenic_subst.pdf)


Paraffinum Liquidum
Triisononanoin
Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate
Isopropyl Myristate
Retinyl Palmitate
Tocopheryl Acetate
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil
Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil
Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil
BHT
Bisabolol
Parfum
Amyl Cinnamal
Benzyl Salicylate
Citronellol
Coumarin
Eugenol
Geraniol
Hydroxycitronellal
Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde
Limonene
Linalool
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
CI 26100

I don't think its terrible (though personally I try to avoid paraffin based products) but its basically baby oil with a few natural extracts and some perfume in it........

[Rionach aka Spec K]

ok - so shea butter products are what I should be looking for. ...and pay more attention to labels, etc.

We had a particularly cold, wet and very windy winter here - I'm sure that is the culprit to my patchy areas.

Would spending a lot of time in the steam room and/or sauna add to it?

I don't know if I heard this somewhere or what but I thought people who live in warm and dry climates have better skin than those who live in mild and wet climates. (something to do with sweating and releasing natural oils vs. water constantly evaporating off skin). Seems to make sense, but it could all just be BS. (don't know where I heard this - I could have dreamed it for all I know). :)

[Jersey Thug]

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

[Rionach aka Spec K]

fantastic, JT!