Tips For Hydrating Skin: Why Hydrating Your Skin Is Important

“Did you drink your 8 cups today?” 

Drinking water—it’s a pillar in all our wellness aspirations. Staying hydrated is crucial for our overall health, but did you know it’s just as important for your skin? As we age, we need more hydration for our skin in order for it to stay healthy and firm. You can typically get away with requiring fewer hydration products when you’re younger, but as your skin matures and gets less resilient, incorporating hydrating products like a serum can be a game changer for maintaining youthful skin integrity. So, whether in your 20s or 60s, keeping your skin hydrated is essential for maintaining a firm and radiant complexion. 

In this article, we’ll explore what skin hydration is, tips for hydrating skin, the benefits of hydrating skin and ways you can hydrate your skin naturally. We also briefly cover the difference between hydration and moisturization—terms often mistakenly used interchangeably—so that you know exactly what to use for dehydration, as well as know what are good products for dry skin (you can see this detailed in our sample skin care routine in the “How Do You Hydrate Your Skin Overnight” section). 

What Is Skin Hydration?

Hydration is the process of replenishing the water content in your skin. This helps to plump the skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Think of your skin this way—a raisin is dehydrated, and its wrinkles are more pronounced, while a grape is full of water, plump and juicy. Similarly, when your skin is dehydrated, it loses its plumpness, and the look of fine lines and wrinkles become more prominent. 

Also, it’s essential to understand that there are differences between hydration and moisturization, as they are not the same. Both are crucial for maintaining healthy skin, but they do different things for your skin. Hydration addresses dehydrated skin, and moisturization addresses dry skin. So, while hydration replenishes your skin’s water content, moisturization provides the skin with nourishing oils and lipids (which can also aid in locking hydration into your skin, but more on that later).

Why Hydrating Your Skin Is Important?

Hydrating your skin gives you a more plump, firm and tightened look for that youthful glow. When the skin is dehydrated, it loses its plumpness, and the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines can become more pronounced. With proper hydration, imagine filling out the valleys of fine lines and wrinkles with water for that plump, bouncy look we love. 

Additionally, hydration is vital for maintaining youthful skin integrity as we mature. It helps protect and keep your skin barrier healthy-looking and strong. The skin’s natural ability to retain moisture decreases with age, so topically applying humectants (ingredients that draw water to the skin) become increasingly important to replenish some of the hydration that’s naturally lost. And when your skin is dehydrated, it can become more prone to appearing dull, shadowed, lined and textured. 

What Are the Benefits of Hydrating Skin?

Hydrating your skin is a simple yet effective way to achieve a radiant and rejuvenated complexion. It can also help combat various skin concerns and boost the effectiveness of your anti-aging routine by enhancing the absorption of your products into your skin. 

Here are some wonderful benefits of hydrating skin to help you achieve a healthy and youthful glow:

• Plumps up your skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Firms, tightens and tones the look of your skin
• Improves the effectiveness of your skin care products, like applying serums and moisturizers to damp skin after you’ve misted your face with a toner, which aids in more effective absorption
• Smooths and evens out the look of your complexion for a radiant glow
• Helps to depuff and reduce the look of darkened under-eye areas, refreshing and reviving your look
• Balances your skin’s look for a healthy, youthful complexion
• Addresses the look of dullness, for a more revitalized appearance

How To Hydrate Your Skin Naturally and Tips for Hydrating Skin

One of the best tips for hydrating skin naturally is using humectants from natural sources. Humectants, or hydrating ingredients, increase the skin’s hydration by attracting water from the environment to your skin. They also draw water from the deeper layers of your skin (the dermis) and bring it to the outermost layer of the skin (the epidermis), visually creating a plumped effect.

Some of the best natural humectants include:

• Hyaluronic acid (from a non-GMO vegetable source): This naturally occurring substance in your body can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, making it an excellent ingredient for hydrating skin. You can find this powerful humectant in our bestselling Anti-Aging Serum, Citrus Stem Cell Serum and Hydrate Concentrated Boosting Elixir. 
• Honey: Honey helps lock in moisture and soothe and calm skin. It also purifies, cleanses and balances, improving your skin’s overall health.
• Aloe vera: Known for its soothing and hydrating properties, it lessens the appearance of temporary redness and combats temporary discomfort on your skin. Aloe vera can also help to firm and tone the look of your skin.
• Saccharide isomerate: This skin-identical ingredient is similar to the natural sugars found in your skin, which help to attract and retain moisture. A natural complex derived from carbohydrates, it’s highly effective in providing long-lasting hydration, leaving your skin supple, smooth, calm and refreshed. Experience its hydrating benefits in our Citrus Stem Cell Serum, Wild Fruit Serum and Illuminating Pearl Mask.
• Oats: With hydrating and soothing properties, oats can also help reduce temporary redness and discomfort in your skin.
• Glycerin: Look for versions made from a non-GMO vegetable source. Glycerin is another excellent natural humectant that can help to draw water to the skin and lock in moisture.

Natural hydrating ingredients can be effectively incorporated into various skin care formulations like toners, serums and masks.

Toning mists are an essential step to help absorb the products in the rest of your skin care routine. This includes serums, which are typically more complex formulas, and teeming with activated ingredients that are especially effective in delivering deep hydration to the skin in a more targeted approach. Also, incorporating masks with ingredients like a high quality honey into your skin care routine is another great tip for hydrating skin naturally. Our Illuminating Pearl Mask, infused with wildflower mountain honey, brightens and hydrates all skin types, while our Coconut Honey Mask is especially wonderful for dry or mature skin types. These masks provide a potent dose of hydration and nourishment for a healthy, dewy radiance.

Ensure your hydration efforts are sustained by locking it all in with a moisturizer, like a facial oil or balm. By using natural humectants, emollients and occlusives in your skin care routine, you can hydrate and moisturize your skin naturally for happier, healthier skin at any age.

How Do You Hydrate Your Skin Overnight?

Properly hydrating your skin overnight begins with a solid skin care routine. So what are good products for dehydrated skin?

• Make sure your skin is properly cleansed with a pH-balanced cleanser before going to bed to remove any dirt and impurities that can block the absorption of your hydrating ingredients. Avoid hot water, as it can strip your skin’s natural oils. You can even use a cleanser that features hydrating ingredients (like aloe vera), so you’re incorporating hydration in multiple steps.
• Use a toning mist like our Neroli Toning Mist to refresh and hydrate your skin, which also helps to prep your skin to better absorb the rest of your routine.
• Apply a deeply hydrating serum like our Anti-Aging Serum, Probiotic Serum with Tremella or Wild Fruit Serum, that’s specifically formulated to provide intense hydration and nourishment to your skin while you sleep.
• Provide an intense hydration boost for your skin with just a few drops (no more than 3) of our Hydrate Concentrated Boosting Elixir—featuring hyaluronic acid and vegan collagen prepeptides—mixed with your serum.
• Finally, apply a facial oil or moisturizer to help drive your serum deeper into your skin, provide ample nourishment and lock in the moisture, allowing your skin to stay hydrated and moisturized throughout the night. This step is also crucial for helping with dryness, as moisturizing balances out the skin’s natural oils and lipids.

By layering these steps and incorporating these tips for hydrating skin into your skin care routine, you can provide the incredible hydration your skin needs overnight for a refreshed, radiant appearance in the morning.

Hydration Tips for Summer

Make sure your skin receives plenty of hydration in the summer by:

• Drinking plenty of water: Stay hydrated from the inside out to maintain your healthy, hydrated skin. Shoot for at least 8 glasses of water a day, and more if you spend time outdoors in the heat.
• Using products formulated with hydrating ingredients: Natural humectants like aloe vera, honey or hyaluronic acid can help keep your skin hydrated and happy.
• Misting your face: A face mist can help to refresh and hydrate your skin throughout the day. Keep one in your bag and spritz it on your face whenever you feel hot and sticky or just need a pick-me-up!
• Applying a serum: Regularly use a serum formulated with hydrating ingredients for your skin in the morning and evening. This is an essential skin care step, especially as we grow older.
• Incorporating hydrating masks: Incorporating a face mask into your skin care routine a few times throughout the week can provide a powerful boost of hydration to your skin. Look for masks formulated with honey, aloe vera or oats, or DIY your own!

In addition to these tips for hydrating skin above, ensure that your skin retains this moisture and prevents water loss too. Use the following tips on how to balance and support your skin’s natural oils with effective moisturization that’ll keep your skin hydrated and healthy:

• Using a pH-balanced cleanser: A gentle, non-drying cleanser like our hydrating Phytonutrient Cleanser is important for cleansing but not stripping your skin.
• Applying a facial oil or moisturizer and a body moisturizer: Effectively lock and seal moisture in your skin with the ideal moisturizer for your skin type after you’ve applied your hydrating product.
• Wearing sunscreen: Protect your skin from environmental stressors by putting on sunscreen daily. Our natural, chemical and toxic free Sun Love Everyday Sheer Sunscreen not only protects your skin with non-nano zinc oxide but richly moisturizes with buriti fruit and pumpkin seed oil.
• Avoiding hot showers: Hot showers can strip your skin of its natural oils and leave you feeling dry and tight. Instead, opt for lukewarm water when cleansing your skin.

Following these tips can help your skin stay hydrated and healthy all summer long!

Conclusion

Hydration is essential for achieving healthy and youthful looking skin at any age. From simply drinking water to incorporating a natural serum into your routine, we hope these tips for hydrating skin will help you maintain beautiful, glowing skin, whatever age you are.