For most of my life, dry skin wasn't something I thought much about.
I grew up in the South, where humidity was practically a permanent resident. Then I moved to Alaska.
Well, shit.
Apparently, my skin had been enjoying that Southern humidity more than I realized. Suddenly, my face felt like sandpaper. I'd moisturize, feel good about it, and an hour later wonder where the hell all that moisture had gone.
At the time, I was already making soaps and body butters, so I decided to try making face oils.
Holy crap, I fell in love with them.
They softened my skin and made my face feel more comfortable. But as I learned more about formulation, I realized there was another piece to the puzzle: hydration.
People use hydration and moisture interchangeably, but there's a difference. Hydration is about water in the skin. Moisturizing helps soften skin and reduce water loss. And if your skin isn't holding onto enough water, adding more oil doesn't necessarily solve the whole problem.
That's what led me to develop a hyaluronic acid serum to use underneath my face oils. Hyaluronic acid helps attract and hold water, while the oils help soften skin and reduce moisture loss.
Pretty straightforward, right?
You'd never know it from the skincare industry, which has somehow convinced us we need twelve products, three different acids, and a chemistry degree just to take care of our damn faces.
No thanks.
And here's something else I learned: dry skin isn't always about the weather. As we get older, our skin can become less efficient at retaining moisture. Throw in cold temperatures and dry indoor heat, and suddenly that moisturizer you've used for years isn't cutting it anymore.
That doesn't mean you need to replace everything in your bathroom cabinet. Sometimes a simple adjustment makes more sense than buying five more products.
Here's what I took away from all of this: sometimes the product you've been using for years isn't the problem. Your skin has changed, and nobody bothered to tell you the rules had changed with it.
So before you spend another small fortune on something promising to fix your dry skin, figure out whether you're actually giving it what it needs.
Because putting more of the same stuff on your face and hoping for a different result isn't a skincare routine. It's an expensive exercise in frustration.
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