Ever been asked “How much water do you drink?” when you’ve had a facial?? It’s a common question, so we’re sure you have but have you ever had the reason why water is vital for healthy, happy skin explained?
Let us tell you why…
We all know water is vital for life but your skin needs proper hydration just as much as your body. “WHY!?” I hear you ask, well it’s simple. Your skin is actually an organ – the largest of the body in fact and requires adequate hydration to perform at its best.
There’s a lot of misconception about how we get water into the skin but the truth of the matter is that true hydration of the skin comes from actually drinking water – if plain water was able to penetration the skin from the outside every time we took a shower, a swim or even got caught in the rain we would swell up like a sponge! The fact that only 13% of the water we intake reaches our skin is alarming and if we add things like tea, coffee, alcohol and medications we need to be compensating by drinking even more water as they have a diuretic effect on the body.
So what skin types and conditions will improve with adequate water intake?
ALL OF THEM!!
Age management and vascular skin conditions are ones that first to come to mind. The reason for this is that the water we drink is drawn up into little sponges that support our collagen and elastin networks. If these sponges dehydrate and become deflated our collagen follows and ends up showing as a wrinkle on the skin. This area of the skin is also where our micro-circulation sits and with the thinning of this area it applies a downward pressure on our vessels triggering the body to make more. So water is an essential when you’re combatting lines wrinkles and redness and wanting that supple, plump skin.
For rough, flaky and sun damaged skins water activates our body’s own natural exfoliation process. The free water in your skin activates specialised enzymes to release redundant skin cells from the surface of your skin, relieving skin of dullness and tightness and giving back its luminosity.
Anytime we see blockages, blackheads or congestion in the skin we instantly know that there is a deficiency in free water levels. If you think of those oil plugs as candles in a bath – when the bath is full they rise to the surface and so it helps to purge the skin and evacuate those pores for clearer skin. Also skin that is oily but lacking in water will send signals to the glands to produce more oil as a defence mechanism of sorts – by keeping the skin well hydrated the skin becomes less oily and an rid itself of toxins which will in turn reduce inflammation and irritation.
With those things in mind – try this on for size – did you know that there’s a big difference between a hydrating product and a moisturising product?
Hydrating products are formulated to help increase the water content to the skin – leaving you with plumper appearance. Whereas moisturisers will help prevent the skin’s water content from evaporating into the air.
In saying that – for both of them to be effective you need to be drinking the water first!!
I personally like to think about the skin as an aquarium. When the aquarium is full of pure, fresh clean water everything is swaying, healthy, flowing and full. But when you have an aquarium with no water in it, everything is dead, broken down and there’s nothing living.
So make sure you do yourself and your skin a favour by drinking 8 glasses of water a day (more if you are on diuretics).
It’s so simple AND it’s FREE!!!
It will have a major impact on the health of your skin.
Just Magic Skin Care Clinic is the leading skin clinic in Mackay. We use technologically proven treatments and products to stimulate healthy, glowing skin. Our specialised facials, advanced high-tech treatments and body therapies are available to suit any skin type and problem. We also have a range of traditional grooming services to ensure you look as good as you feel. Glow from the inside out and book a consultation today.