Skip to content

Dry Or Dehydrated Skin? What’s The Difference?

The fact that we’re calling out dry and dehydrated skin separate, itself seems like an irony, no? What might seem like potato-potahto, couldn’t be more different in reality. But we get it, with so many similar characteristics, who is to tell which one is what? That will be us! So, if your skin is feeling rough, itchy or scaly lately, keep scrolling to know where does your skin belongs.

In This Article:

What Is Dry Skin?

How To Know If You Have Dry Skin?

What Is Dry Skin?

Dry skin is one of the five primary types of skin, others being: oily, combination, sensitive and normal. As it's true with every skin type, having dry skin is mostly genetic. It’s when the sebaceous glands consistently produce less sebum, your skin’s lipids (natural fats that strengthen your skin’s barrier) do not get enough moisture. This leads to your skin feeling dry and rough.

Certain external factors like age, lifestyle and skincare choices can alter your skin type to make it dry.

How To Know If You Have Dry Skin?

If your skin feels tight, rough to touch or prone to cracking, you most definitely have dry skin. Check out if you also have any of the below indicative signs to identify your skin better:

  • Dullness: Due to the clear lack of moisture, your skin might look grey or dull most of the time.

  • Redness: Having dry skin = lipids not in optimum health = your skin’s barrier is weak. This makes your skin prone to irritation and redness.

  • Scaly Texture: you notice a lot of dry patches and your skin looks flaky when dry, that is a clear telltale.

  • Fine Lines: Your skin easily shrivels up due to the lack of moisture, leading to more pronounced fine lines around the eyes, mouth and forehead.

What Is Dehydrated Skin?

Just like how you feel during those hot summer afternoons, dehydrated skin is more or less the same. It starts feeling parched, tight and dull. But unlike dry skin, dehydrated skin is a condition caused by lack of water (hydration) in the skin. The most common ones are: a compromised skin barrier, extreme changes in weather (both hot and cold) and lack of sufficient water intake.

How To Know If You Have Dehydrated Skin?

The funny part about dehydrated skin is that it can feel both oily and dry at the same time. This is because your skin’s sebaceous glands are working overtime to make up for the lack of water. Along with this, you might also notice exaggerated fine lines, pronounced under-eye circles and a visible lack of bounce in skin.

The table below sums up the differences and similarities between dry and dehydrated skin.

Characteristics  Dry Skin Dehydrated Skin
Appearance Looks rough, tight or flaky. Looks dull, sunken and shows pronounced fine lines.
Touch Feels scaly to touch. Feels tight, especially after cleansing.
Sensitivity Prone to conditions like eczema.  Sensitive, but positively reacts to skincare products.
Pores Minimum visibility of pores. Pronounced pores due to lack of moisture.
Hydration Lacks oil and needs to be moisturised. Lacks water, needs to be hydrated.
Causes Mostly genetics or environmental factors. Not consuming enough water or high intake of caffeine/alcohol.

Skincare Products That Help With Dry And Dehydrated Skin

While you cannot change your skin type, learning how to manage it is surely something you can do.

1. Load Up On Moisture

Dry skin needs moisture, agreed. But more than that, it needs something that can attract moisture, nourish your skin and trap it in your skin for long. Which is why there couldn’t be a better pick than our Replenishing Rich Moisturiser. It is infused with Pro Vitamin B5 and Glycerin that help strengthen your barrier and keep your skin hydrated throughout the day.

On the other hand, dehydrated skin needs a hydrating hero. Open the flood gates with our Hydrating Gel Creme that contains 11% hydrating actives, Pentavitin and Glycerin. It’s perfect to replump dull and raisin-looking skin. And we can say that for a fact, as 94% consumers said that it left their skin smooth and soft.

2. Protect The Barrier

Why miss the chance to replenish moisture for 8 hours straight and wake up with dewy, plump skin? While you sway away in your sweet dreams, our Skin Quench Sleeping Crème will work extra hard to repair, strengthen and protect your skin barrier. Something that is of high importance for both dry and dehydrated skin. A healthy barrier will keep dry skin from feeling rough or tight. Whereas, it helps fuel up the low-running hydration level for folks with dehydrated skin.

Skin Quench Sleeping Crème

Moreover, if you need to revive the Ceramide levels in your skin, take a good look at our barrier care range. These products help restore damaged skin barrier with Ceramide Boosters.

Barrier care range

3. Not Without A Serum

Not including a hyaluronic serum in your routine would be a crime! Our Simple Booster Serum 3% Hyaluronic Acid + Vit B5 is free from 2000+ baddies, provides deep hydration, improves skin texture, calms irritated skin, and is the way towards healthy, glowing skin. It is the shortest route to plump skin, as 3 out of 4 users agreed that their skin instantly felt hydrated post-use.

Simple Skincare 3 Hyaluronic Acid Vit B5 Booster Serum

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:1 Can you have dry skin and dehydrated skin at the same time?

A. Yes, this can happen. Unlike dry skin, having dehydrated skin is a condition that can happen due to lack of sufficient water intake, having a compromised skin barrier or consuming a lot of caffeine/alcohol. Hence, although temporary, your dry skin can also feel dehydrated at the same time.

Q:2 How does ageing affect the skin's dryness and hydration levels?

A. As a person ages, dry skin becomes inevitable, especially after 40. With age, your skin loses its ability to retain moisture and the skin’s barrier weakens as a result. This ultimately leads to dry skin.

Q:3 Are there lifestyle factors that can lead to dehydrated skin?

A. Yes! Dehydration is the result of losing more water than taking in. So naturally having an insufficient amount of water, taking long hot showers, and consuming high amounts of caffeine or alcohol all contribute to the sin.

Rhea Shah
Written by Rhea Shah on Jan 19, 2024
Rhea has banked on her passion for writing and beauty to be where she is today. When she isn't looking up fancy synonyms for simple words aka working, she is either traveling, making travel plans, or exploring a new restaurant.
Previous article The Only Skincare Routine Order You Need To Follow
Next article What Is Normal Skin Type? Let’s Talk About It
Order details X
Your cart is empty
empty cart
Successfully
Successfully Subscribed
We will message you when this product is back in stock.
Coupons & Offers

No Matched Products For Applicable

Coupons

SCRUB25

Get 25% off on all scrubs

Apply
Order details X

Have a coupon ? Apply next step

Coupons & Offers

Apply now and save extra!

Grand Total
Checkout