Skin Hydration Myth

Drinking water doesn’t really hydrate skin. It’s true that our trillions of cells require fluid to function and that hydrated vs dehydrated cells have different shapes/structures. Think grapes vs. raisins. When your body doesn’t have enough water outside of the cell, it will take water from inside the cell and make that “grape” cell shrivel to be more like a “raisin” cell. (Remember osmosis in Science class?) So drinking water seems a logical step to try to hydrate your skin cells, however when you drink water, it is absorbed into your intestines, your blood stream, your kidneys, and all the other cells along the path, which greatly reduces the change that it will reach the epidermis (your outer layer of skin). But don’t ditch the water bottle too fast! That water is flushing toxins and assisting your organs and tissue to function properly, which absolutely affects your appearance. If your goal is to plump up those raisin skin cells around your eyes and mouth to be more grape-like, then topical hydration is what want. Look for products with Hyaluronic Acid (the gold standard for holding water in the skin) and glycerin which both help retain moisture in the skin. Some of my favorite serums for hydration are Skin Script’s Ageless Skin Hydrating Serum and Cucumber Hydrating Toner, or Hale and Hush’s Soothe Serum. You’ll say goodbye to dryness, flakes, reduce the appearance of fine lines and be rewarded with plump, soft skin.