Dealing With Dry Skin

I am very fortunate in that my skin is fairly 'normal' at the moment, yes it still gets dry patches and yes it is pretty spot-prone. But it is generally normal. This was not the case 2/3 years ago. My skin was painfully dry, it was tight and sore after washing and flaky throughout the day. At that time I wasn't hugely into skincare and definitely wouldn't buy expensive products for it, so I thought I would talk through the products that really helped me deal with my dry skin from the drugstore. 

First up is the E45 Emollient Wash Cream, which although it can be used as a body wash, it works amazingly as a face wash for dry skin, helping to ease the tightness after washing. It has a non-foaming formula and claims to not change the skin's normal PH level, so it is perfect for very sensitive, dry skin. It manages to pack in some serious hydration without leaving a greasy residue on the skin. 

Next up is the product that made the biggest difference in improving my skin's hydration levels. The Garnier Moisture Match Goodbye Dry is a seriously amazing moisturiser for extremely dry skin. It is very thick in texture, but isn't overly greasy. For a product with such a thick consistency, it sinks it rather quickly and doesn't feel heavy on the skin, so it is perfect as a night cream or under makeup in the day. As anyone with dry skin will know finding a foundation that doesn't cling and make the dry patches look worse is hard to find, but starting the day with this moisturiser definitely made makeup sit and look better. I would obviously recommend all of these products, but this one is a great place to start.

Finally, I couldn't do a post on combating dry skin without including a good hydrating mask. There are hydrating masks left, right and centre in the drugstore, but No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask is a real winner. It has a slightly more watery texture than you would expect, it is not thick and creamy by any stretch, but it's so hydrating. A little goes a long way, and you can leave it on for 3-10 minutes depending on the condition of your skin. But I used to leave it on overnight night for an intense treatment and it did my skin the world of good.

When keeping to this routine I saw noticeable changes to my skin in a relatively short space of time and I am now able to use products not aimed for dry skin on a regular basis. You can check out my morning and evening routines for more detail on that. I still use these products every so often when my skin needs a good hydration hit and actually repurchased the mask a few weeks ago. Do you have any tips for dry skin sufferers?