Dry skin is something that we associate with the winter months when the air is dry and the weather is cold. Dry skin can actually happen at any time of the year.
Dry skin can have a lot of impact on your daily life. There’s a link between skincare and self-confidence that can’t be ignored.
The fact is that while it can be challenging to live with dry skin every day, there are somethings that you can do about it.
Read on to find out how to tell if you have dry skin and what you can do to control it and maintain your confidence.
How to Tell If You Have Dry Skin
There are a number of ways you can tell if you have dry skin or not. You don’t have to wait until you see flakes falling or on your shirts to tell. Here are some of the top ways you can tell
Check Your Makeup
The first step in how to tell if you have dry skin starts by looking in the mirror. If your makeup looks cracked instead of smooth, it’s a sign that you have dry skin.
You’re Irritable
This doesn’t mean that your personality is irritable, though that can sometimes happen with dry skin. Your skin is very itchy and irritable, especially if you spend time outside. Extreme heat or dry cold can dry out your skin fast.
Your Skin Feels Tight
There are times when your skin will feel very tight, like trying to fit into your skinny jeans on a bad day. If this is the case, you’ll want to make sure that you’re taking good care of your skin. If your skin feels tight, it’s a sign of dry skin.
Is it Dry Skin or Something Else?
If you find that you have dry skin, you want to make sure that it’s not a sign of something more serious. About 10% of the population have a skin condition called eczema. It’s a topical disease where the skin can become red, patchy, inflamed, or even blister.
There are different types of eczema, and a number of these conditions start with dry skin. If you suspect that you have eczema, you’ll want to pay a visit to your dermatologist to find out for sure.
Another skin disease that can cause dry skin is psoriasis. This is a condition where the life cycle of skin cells is faster than normal. This speeding up of the process leads to a build-up of skin cells, which can appear like scales or red patches.
Psoriasis is commonly found on the scalp, knees, and elbows. If your skin is red, flaky, and inflamed, you should get it checked out by a physician.
What to Do About Dry Skin
Is it possible to do anything about dry and flaky skin? If you suspect that you’re just dealing with everyday dry skin and something that’s not serious, there’s plenty you can do about it. Here are a few great tips that you can apply immediately.
Manage Your Lifestyle
Have you ever seen someone who looks 45 and is really 35? It might come across as a little harsh, but your lifestyle can cause dry skin and age you faster than anything else.
Dry and flaky skin could be a sign that you’re not taking care of yourself. You want to make sure that you’re doing things like managing stress, not smoking, and getting enough sleep.
When you’re emotionally out of balance, you’ll see that be reflected externally. In many cases, that will show up as dry and flaky skin.
Here’s how stress impacts the body. When you’re under pressure, your body releases two hormones – cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are essentially what make up your fight or flight response in the body.
What these hormones do is cause your heart rate to jump and your body to sweat a little more than you normally would. If you don’t replace those fluids in the body, you’re going to have dry skin.
Quitting smoking is something else that you can do to manage dry skin. One of the effects of smoking is that it reduces blood flow to the rest of your body, skin included. This lack of blood flow can result in skin that’s dry and flaky. That’s why smokers tend to age faster than nonsmokers.
Check Your Kitchen Cabinets
You want to check your kitchen cabinets for two reasons. The first is that you could be eating something that is causing dry skin.
People who are sensitive to gluten have reported that they have dry or irritated skin. If you think that this could be the cause of your dry skin, try eliminating gluten from your diet for a couple of weeks and see if you notice a difference.
The other reason why you want to check your kitchen cabinets is that you may have natural moisturizers there. Natural oils like olive oil and coconut oil can be great moisturizers that you can apply to dry skin.
Read this more a more in-depth look at how to fix flaky skin.
Stay Confident with Dry Skin
One of the most damaging things about dry and flaky skin isn’t the fact that you have dry skin, it’s that it can impact self-esteem.
One of the best ways to do that is by making self-care a priority. That means managing stress and making changes to your lifestyle. When you start taking care of yourself, you’ll have a more positive outlook, not to mention clearing up your skin as well.
Repair Your Dry Skin
It’s not fun to have dry or flaky skin. It can be uncomfortable and make you self-conscious. There are things that you can do to repair your skin.
You have to start by knowing how to tell if you have dry skin. You then need to know if it’s normal or a sign of something more serious. You can then take an honest look at your lifestyle to see if there’s something you’re doing to cause dry skin.
Smoking, drinking, lack of sleep, and a lot of stress can have a negative impact on your skin and make you look older. If you want to fix your skin, start by addressing your lifestyle.
Do you want more great lifestyle tips? Come back to the blog for more great beauty and lifestyle articles.
