Hydration vs Moisturizing & Why Both Are Important To Achieving Optimal Skin Health

A known skincare fact is that the largest organ of our body is the skin. In order for your skin to be healthy and stay looking youthful, it requires lots of water. For years, when most of us saw the words hydration and moisturizing we assumed they meant the same thing, and boyyyyy were we wrong. And don’t feel bad, in the skincare and makeup world, those two words are often used interchangeably so it is very easy for many of us to not realize the difference. They have different roles in our skincare routine.

Our skin has a natural lipid barrier that protects itself from damage and water loss. Hydration is in reference to the amount of water in your skin. If you suffer from dry skin (like I do), that means your skin isn’t producing enough lipid cells to form a protective barrier, which prevents it from locking in moisture. This is where hydration and moisturizing really make the difference. Hydrators are products that are formulated with ingredients like humectants that increase water content by pulling moisture from the air in to your skin’s many layers. Hydration products contain less than 5% lipid ingredients. These kinds of products usually are clear or like a gel or jelly like serums, toner, etc. Then you have moisturizers. They seal in the natural oils and lipids on the surface of your skin, which prevents water from evaporating and maintaining a moisture balance and reducing transepidermal water loss. Moisturizing products contain up to 25% of lipids, which stay on top of your skin instead of being absorbed. These products look white or creamy. Body or face oils are nourishing and contain less than 1% of hydrating ingredients, like jojoba oil, shea butter, etc. They are used to create a film out of your skin or mimic your sebum to protect and prevent water loss. They look like oils or balms.

So now that that is settled, now you will be able to identify the difference between dehydrated and dry skin. Dehydrated skin lacks water, so it requires hydration. Dry skin lacks oil and needs moisturizers.