When water makes up roughly 60% of an adult human, losing as much as 2% in body fluids can lead to a physical decline in performance. Losing anywhere between 3-5% of water means you’re more likely to suffer from irritability, loss of appetite, skin flushes and headaches, while losing more than 5% of water weight can be life threatening. Dehydration can be easily avoided by drinking plenty of water throughout the day to keep us energised and in good physical health.
Of course, water isn’t just great for our physicality, it’s also fantastic for our skin. A common misconception around skin health leads many consumers to believe that dry skin is the result of less moisture. In fact, it’s dehydrated skin that lacks moisture content, with dry skin lacking oil instead. While both dehydrated and dry skin share common characteristics, including itchy and red or blotchy skin, the similarities tend to stop there.
Although you are more likely to suffer from dehydrated skin during the summer months when the heat is more abrasive, issues can strike at any time. Between dull-looking skin to an increase in visible fine lines, wrinkles and shadows around the eyes or nose, dehydrated skin can be resolved in a matter of weeks. Hydration at home has never been easier with our three tips to get you started:
1/ Incorporate foods with high water content into your diet
There’s a reason why we use cucumber slices on our eyes; their cooling and soothing effect helps to decrease inflammation and alleviate the symptoms of sunburn. But they are also made up of 95% water, which makes them an incredible source of water when eaten and digested. According to a Live Science article, a cup of cucumber slices is nearly as thirst-quenching as a glass of water.
Aside from cucumbers, it’s well worth incorporating more tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, watermelon, strawberries and bananas into your diet. These fruits and vegetables are full of water, antioxidant-boosting properties, alongside Vitamin C, E and beta-carotene to vastly improve the appearance of skin and deliver a healthy glow. Perfect for the summer months!
2/ Get creative with DIY hydrating masks
If you’re anything like us at Cornelius, you are likely to have an assortment of ingredients in the kitchen at home that can be used to help rejuvenate your skin. From avocado to oatmeal, honey and banana, getting creative with homemade hydrating masks doesn’t mean you have to get messy or spend huge amounts of money.
For a soothing, hydrated and silky finish, try mixing avocado, cocoa powder and honey together in a bowl and apply the mask to clean, dry skin, leaving it to soak in for ten minutes as per this Marie Claire recipe. Between the anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of honey, to the skin-soothing cocoa, this mask is a sure-fire way to achieving ultimate skin hydration.
If you have yet to try making your own hydrating masks and fancy something with more simplicity, try looking for AlgoGel™ VFM. Simply add water to an AlgoGel mask for beautiful rejuvenating skin in either 5, 7 or 11 minutes.
3/ Get into routine with a skincare regime
An excellent skincare regime is the ideal way to rehydrate your skin. We all have long and tiring days that leave our skin feeling tighter and prone to breakouts. As such, it’s worth getting into the habit of using a three-step routine every morning and evening to feel long-lasting hydrating effects.
At Cornelius, we recommend using a cleanser & toner, an eye serum and a hydrating moisturiser to refresh skin both day and night. Moisturisers which contain the ingredient Aquaphyline®, an active botanical rich in oligosaccharides from wild pansies, helps to regulate the process of epidermal hydration and enhance the skin’s water binding ability. Its intense moisturisation capabilities help to preserve the skin’s suppleness and prevents the appearance of wrinkles.
So, while we know dehydration is easily avoidable by drinking lots of water, these three tips will hopefully help to rehydrate the skin, replenishing skin cells to deliver a healthy glow with minimal effort. Perhaps that’s why hydration at home is easy, especially when you know how.