Why is my skin so dry? 5 ways to deal with it.

How’s your skin?

It’s not a rhetorical question. Feel yourself up a little bit and think about the condition of your skin. Is it soft? Leathery? How’s the color? Is it dry?

That last one is a real stickler of a problem. No matter where you live, dry skin is a potential problem. It makes you itch. It’s not very attractive. It can lead to dandruff, and it’s uncomfortable and easily irritated.

You don’t want to live with dry skin, so MANSCAPED™ is here to help. We’re going to teach you all about dry skin and how to overcome it.

What causes dry skin?

If you want to stop itching, looking ashy, and suffering from dry skin all around, then the first step is learning. You need to know what is causing your dry skin so that you can fight the root of the problem.

The world’s a big place, and there are a lot of things that can sap moisture from your skin, but by and large, only a handful of issues are going to be the primary problem for most guys out there. So, we rounded up the usual suspects. Here’s what might be making your skin so dry.

Weather

It’s pretty simple stuff. If you live in the desert, high in the mountains, or any other kind of dry climate, it’s going to impact your skin. It’s just physics. Not much to see here.

Keep in mind, though, that weather can dry you out even when you live in a traditionally humid environment. If it’s hot enough to make you sweat a lot, you can get dehydrated, which can leave your skin dry regardless of humidity.

Likewise, cold weather can dry you out more than you might think, even in the snow.

Mostly, if you pay attention to how your body responds to the weather, you’ll know when you need to put more effort into skin care.

Work

This isn’t universal, but some work environments are hard on the skin. If you work somewhere with high heat or dry air, it’ll have an impact. If you work with chemicals or other kinds of harsh environments, your skin will turn ashy and itchy.

Ironically, if your job gets you outright wet all day long, that will probably dry out your skin too. Most water isn’t pure, and being submerged or soaked all day can be hard on the skin.

Once again, you know if your work environment causes dry skin. When that’s the case, take care of it.

Hot water

This surprises a lot of people who don’t really think about it, but hot showers will dry you out very quickly. It’s easy not to notice, but you actually will sweat in the shower, and your own sweat is full of salts and electrolytes and things that dry out the skin.

Also, sweat causes water to leave the body. Where do you think that water comes from? That’s right; it’s your skin.

While we’re on the topic of showers, it’s worth noting that hard water can also be brutal. This will depend on where you live and what kind of plumbing you have, but if your water is hard, pay attention. Even though you need to shower, your showers are having a detrimental impact on your skin health.

Skin conditions

This is another easy one. There are a lot of medical conditions in the world, and some of them can lead to or exacerbate dry skin.

Let’s list a few you may have heard of:

• Eczema
• Psoriasis
• Athlete’s foot
• Ringworm
• Other fungal infections

If you know of any others, feel free to share, but the point is simple. Medical conditions need treatment.

Medications

When was the last time you listened to all of the side effects listed at the end of a pharmaceutical ad? It’s getting scary these days. It seems like every new drug comes with a side-effect of death, and sometimes that’s not even the scariest thing on the list.

Dry skin might not be as bad as some of the other side effects, but it does pop up. One thing that a lot of people don’t know about is cancer treatments. They can cause some weird stuff with your skin, including dryness. It’s a small price to pay for beating cancer, but you’ll want some tools to help get your skin back to normal.

Soap

Soap is supposed to be good for your skin, right?

It actually depends on the soap.

A good soap (especially a good body wash) will hydrate your skin when you use it. In fact, it can even offset some of the effects of hard and hot water. A harsh soap will clean you very effectively, but it can dry out your skin and cause irritation. You don’t want to be red and itchy all over, so choose your soap carefully.

What can you do about dry skin?

When you think about what causes dry skin, a few solutions jump to mind. If hot showers make you dry, then maybe don’t take such hot showers. A lot of this is pretty easy.

Still, we like to be helpful around here, so we have five specific tips that can help you defeat dry skin.

Use moisturizer

This is everyone’s first step, right? You already use moisturizer, so if you still have dry skin, then you might need to consider an upgrade. There are different levels of moisturizers, and if the dry skin is bad enough, you can see a doctor and get some of that prescription stuff.

We’re not going to spend a lot of time on this. Lotions and other moisturizers are the obvious solution to dry skin. Glad we have that covered.

Shower better

Oh, you want more? Maybe get into the topic a little deeper?

Ok.

You can shower better. You already learned that hot water is a problem, so take showers that are at a nice, gentle warm temperature. You’ll see results within a day or two.

As for hard water, that’s a little trickier.

You can consider investing in a water softener if you own your place, but if you rent, that’s not always viable. There are also water softeners just for your shower or shower head. In theory those could work, but we can’t recommend any specific brands or models. We asked the razor engineers, and they said they don’t work on anything unless it’s pointy.

Lastly, we come to soap. You know where this is going. You want a gentle soap that hydrates your skin. Ultra Premium™ Body Wash gets the job done.

Use moisturizer

You wanted to go deeper into the topic, so here we are. If you have dry skin, use moisturizer.

Yep. It’s still that simple. For the vast majority of you, a daily application of lotion is all you need.

If you happen to be in one of those harsh climates or have a job that’s hard on your skin, you can apply lotion more than once a day. It turns out that lotion isn’t made out of addictive drugs. You can use it pretty much as often as you like (although twice a day will probably do the trick even under intense circumstances).

Drink more water

Ok, ok. We have more tips than just using lotion.

Another really easy thing you can do is drink more water. Seriously. A lot of dry skin is caused by perspiration. If you drink water, then your skin gets its moisture back in the easiest, most natural way possible.

Sometimes just an extra 16 oz glass of water a day can do wonders for your skin. If you’re someone who struggles with water, then drink an extra gallon!

Ok, not really. We were channeling an old high school coach for a minute there. But, there are a lot of things that can help you overcome a resistance to drinking water. You can use an app to nag you, put flavor in the water, or even get a water bottle that puts you in a water-drinking competition with other people. Do what it takes to stay hydrated.

Also, remember that there is such a thing as drinking too much water. Don’t drink water just to win a contest or to meet a quota. Drink it because you’re thirsty. That should do the trick.

Use protective coverings

This mostly applies to jobs and chores that are hard on the skin. If you know your skin is going to take a beating, use protection.

At minimum, you can wear pants and long sleeves that cover most of your body. You can also wear gloves for all kinds of things that are tough on your skin (including doing the dishes).

If you really need specialized protective gear, make the investment. It’s worth it.

Use a humidifier

Here’s your last tip. We promised you five and then said to use lotion twice. We don’t want you to feel cheated, so here’s the bonus tip.

Use a humidifier, especially when you sleep. It will add moisture to the bedroom, and it actually helps hydrate your skin overnight.

You can double down on the effect by using saline spray or gel in your nose at night, too. This will mitigate water loss as you snore through the night. You’ll actually wake up less dehydrated and probably get better sleep.