Skin hydration: How to quench thirsty skin

You’ve made countless attempts to improve your skin hydration. You feel that you have tried everything, but instead of smooth skin you still see rough skin in the mirror. Perhaps your skin feels dry – thirsty – but it doesn’t help that you drink lots of water. Sound familiar? We’re here to let you know why your skin feels so thirsty and why it’s so difficult to quench that thirst. Plus, read on for our top tips on how to quench thirsty skin once and for all.

Why does our skin get so thirsty?

Our skin is not adapted to our modern-day environment. Dry indoor climates, soaps, detergents, frequent hot showers, excessive UV radiation, pollution, stress, unhealthy diet – there are indeed many factors that have a negative impact on our skin.

Our skin is a barrier that protects our bodies from the outside world, but if this barrier is damaged, your skin will not work as it is supposed to.

There are three components in the skin that preserve skin hydration and, when in decent supply and condition, will ensure that you have smooth skin, that looks radiant and healthy. These components are:

• Collagen: an important fibrous protein that provides structure and support
• Elastin: an equally important substance that makes the skin elastic
• Hyaluronic acid: a substance that binds huge amounts of water and thereby preserves skin hydration

When these components of the skin break down, either due to natural aging or due to the external factors listed above, your skin might age prematurely. You might end up with rough skin that feels dry and maybe you will see lines and wrinkles appear.^1,2

How do you know if your skin is thirsty?

If your skin feels tight and dry and if you think it looks dull and tired, you are probably lacking skin hydration. Also, if you have rough skin, or flaky skin, this can also be a sign of insufficient skin hydration.

We need to go below the skin surface to improve skin hydration

Moisturizing creams can help improving skin hydration on the surface, but for some of us, it can feel like no matter how much cream we apply, we soon end up with dry and rough skin again. This can point to an underlying problem, and just treating the skin surface might not be enough to get back to radiant and smooth skin. If deeper skin layers are affected (the collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid mentioned above) you might benefit from other treatments, that do not target the skin surface, but instead improve skin hydration from within.

The key to smooth skin is improving skin hydration from within

If you feel that you have tried “everything”, maybe it is time to skip the surface and go deeper. As explained above, there is something that is called hyaluronic acid in the skin, that binds huge amounts of water. Many creams contain hyaluronic acid. However, hyaluronic acid cannot only bind huge amounts of water, it’s also a huge molecule. Applied on the skin surface, it simply cannot penetrate into deeper skin layers where it is really needed to improve skin hydration. So what can you do to increase the amount of hyaluronic acid below the skin surface?

There is actually a proven treatment for improving deep skin hydration with hyaluronic acid and that is Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™. Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™ is a great treatment that uses the ability of hyaluronic acid to restore the natural composition of the skin, boost hydration and improve elasticity.^3-5 But more precisely – how does it work?

The science of skin hydration from within

Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™ is an injectable treatment that contains hyaluronic acid, but not just any hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid in our bodies degrades very quickly and if you would inject that into the skin, it would disappear almost immediately. The hyaluronic acid in Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™ has been stabilized, that is, slightly modified, to last much longer, for many months. This stabilized hyaluronic acid is injected in microdroplets over a large area, such as your face, neck, back of the hands or décolletage. These tiny droplets integrate below the skin surface to form a layer of hydration to provide skin hydration from within for a long time. When Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™ is injected, not only is skin hydration improved but collagen reserves are also replenished^6-8 and there is an improvement in skin elasticity.⁵ 

Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™ has been tested in many scientific studies and the treatment has been shown to give participants radiant and smooth skin⁹ with really long-lasting results – up to 12 months after the initial treatment^3,10. And not to forget, your skin becomes more glowing¹¹ – amazing!

The optimal treatment program

So there is a lot of scientific data that proves that the treatment really works. But how do you optimize the results? That has also been thoroughly tested and this is the recommendation from the experts.

The aim of the optimal treatment program is to make sure you get visibly hydrated, radiant and smooth skin that also lasts for a long time, so that you don’t have to bother with dry and rough skin all of the time. You do this by starting out with 3 initial treatment sessions, 2-4 weeks apart. These initial sessions will restore your skin hydration to a healthy level. Then you just have to maintain that level with a single session every 4-6 months.^3,5,10-15

In other words, since you start out with dehydrated skin, you have to give your skin a bit extra love in the beginning. Then you just have to maintain your radiant and smooth skin with very little effort.

For some people it might be enough with only 2 initial treatment sessions, but if your skin is in a bad condition, it will need a little extra time and care.

Say goodbye to thirsty skin once and for all

If you want to quench the thirst of your skin once and for all, Restylane^® SKINBOOSTERS™ could be the solution. Remember to always consult a qualified healthcare practitioner to learn what treatment is best for you.

References:

1. Finn CJ et al. Dermatol Surg 2003;29(5):450–455.
2. Matsubara et al. Skin Res Technol 2012;18(1):29–35
3. Gubanova EI et al. Poster presented at IMCAS 2015.
4. Distante F et al. Dermatol Surg 2009;35(S1):389–93.
5. Gubanova EI et al. J Drugs Dermatol 2015;14(3):288–98.
6. Turlier V et al. J Dermatol Sci 2013;69:187–94.
7. Wang F et al. Arch Dermatol 2007;143:155–63.
8. Landau M and Fagien S. Plast Reconstr Surg 2015;136(5 Suppl):188S–195S.
9. Lee BM et al. Arch Plast Surg 2015;42(3):282–287.
10. Gubanova EI et al. Aesthet Med 2010;1:94–98.
11. Dierickx C et al. Dermatol Surg 2018;44 Suppl 1:S10-S18.
12. Williams S et al. J Cosmetic Derm 2009;8:216–225.
13. Kerscher M et al. Dermatol Surg 2008;34:1–7.
14. Streker M et al. J Drugs Dermatol 2013;12(9):990–994.
15. Data on File (MA-33059).