Dehydrated vs Dry Skin – What’s the Difference?

It’s easy to bundle dry and dehydrated skin together into the same basket. The truth is, they’re two completely different skin issues!

While dry and dehydrated skin can share some overlapping similarities in how your skin looks and feels, understanding what drives both is key to getting that glowing, nourished, healthy skin feeling.

We’ve rounded up the Sothys New Zealand team’s expert knowledge on everything you need to know about your skin — plus, we’ve gathered our top product and ingredient picks, tricks and tips on how to get that hydration back into your skin and say au-revoir to dehydration.

What’s the difference between dry and Dehydrated skin?
The best way to look at it, is seeing dry skin as a skin type — a baseline for how your skin just so happens to be. On the other hand, dehydrated skin is simply a state, something that your skin experiences for a time—even though at times it can feel like it’s constantly dehydrated!

Dry skin lacks oil. Dehydrated skin lacks moisture and hydration. So even if you have incredibly oily skin, or your skin is ultra-dry to begin with, dehydration can still very easily take hold over your skin. The good news is that it can be just as easy and exquisite to get under control with some superb products.

So, how can I tell if my skin is dehydrated?
There are plenty of tell-tale signs of whether or not your skin is dehydrated – the tricky thing here is that they can often overlap with dry skin symptoms. Some of the most common signs of dehydration are:

• Irritation and redness
• Fine lines looking deeper than normal
• Dark circles looking more prominent than usual
• Skin feeling uncharacteristically tight, especially around the forehead

So what actually dehydrates my skin?
Spoiler alert: there are plenty of dehydrated skin triggers. In fact, the reasons our skin gets dehydrated are as vast as the signs of dehydration itself!

Seasonal changes are one of the biggest game changers for skin dehydrating: Winter is notorious for stripping skin of its hydration. Not only that, some of our favourite kiwi winter pastimes like skiing – where our skin is directly out and exposed to the brisk cold – can really take their toll. Of course, taking flights can be incredibly draining on our skin, even short ones!

As for Summertime activities? They do their fair share of dehydrating too! Direct sunlight, salt water and the higher temperatures all add up to take the moisture right out of your skin.

Which products are best for when your skin is dehydrated?
In the world of beauty, there are so many beautiful ingredients for each and every skin product, type, concern and treatment. We know, this wonderful world can get quite overwhelming! So, we’ll keep it simple for you with our Sothys New Zealand’s trainers top picks.

Our holy grail for all things rehydration is none other than our Hydra3Ha range. Aptly named, we’ve designed this cream in two textures, so that it can be tailored to each skin types:

• There’s the Hydrating Comfort Youth Cream: An onctuous, rich, velvety formula that’s ideal for dry skin or those whose skin needs a spruce during Winter. For those with oily skin, or who want something lighter on the skin.

• The Hydrating Youth Cream is your light-to-touch, barely-there, hydrating best friend.

Which products are best for dry skin types?
If you have dry skin, we’ve got you covered too! The Nutritive Replenishing Rich and Ultra Rich Creams are the ultimate answer to a daily moisturising and keeping dryness at bay. But don’t just take our word for it, it’s one of our best-selling products for dry skin here in New Zealand!

Fancy taking the moisturising up a notch? Our sumptuous Ultra Lipid SOS Elixir is the most luxurious addition to your routine. We call it the ‘SOS skincare oil’ for dry skin, because it encourages the production of ceramides to protect the skin from dehydration. Made with organic argan oil and echium oil, this beautifully luminescent oil is as soothing as it is beautiful.

Which ingredients are best to hydrate your skin?
Hyaluronic Acid is a key ingredient in giving your skin the hydration it deserves – on both the upper and lower layers of your skin.

While it’s been super popular in the beauty world recently (and with good reason, it’s a great ingredient!) it’s important to look out for serums where the acid is used in a low molecular size. That way, you can be sure the serum it targets deep into the skin. Our Hydra3Ha Serum does just that and is designed to target the deep layers of your skin cells. Better yet, it goes superbly under any moisturiser making it ideal for morning and or night use!

For an extra dose of hydration, a mask is a great idea. Our Hydra3Ha Hydra Smoothing Mask is designed to bathe the skin with all the goodness it needs to stay hydrated: it’s made with both hyaluronic acid as well components of the skin’s natural hydrating system for thorough hydration. Not only that, it’s cream and gel-like texture is impossibly luxurious to wear and gives you an immediate plumping and hydration sensation!