Water is essential for keeping your skin healthy, smooth, and radiant. So it’s no surprise that every skin care aisle is lined with products that claim to hydrate and moisturize skin. However, many of us may be unaware that, though the terms are often used interchangeably, moisturizing and hydration are not the same. Actually, both are important in providing much-needed nourishment to the skin. But understanding the differences between hydrator vs. moisturizer can help you make the right decision when targeting your skin’s specific needs.
What’s The Difference Between Hydrator Vs. Moisturizer?
Understanding the science behind what the skin requires and why it requires it will provide you with the knowledge you need to balance the skin. Finally, you’ll have vibrant, healthy skin that’s both hydrated and moisturized.
1. Hydrating
Hydration is often connected with the amount of water we drink. Similarly, hydrating the skin refers to maintaining the water levels up within the skin. However, hydrated skin is achieved in a different way than drinking water. Yes, drinking water helps. But that is not the only thing we need to do to keep water levels in our skin cells.
The Importance Of Hydrated Skin
When skin cells are well hydrated, they swell and become plump, bouncy, and good at reflecting light. If water flows out from the cells, they become dehydrated and shrivel up, leading to dull skin.
Think your skin cells are mini water balloons. They are full of water, firm, bouncy, plump, and reflect light in their healthiest condition.
Now think that these mini balloons have a slow leak where the water is slowly escaping. What happens to the balloon? It loses its rounded, plump shape, becomes less bouncy, shrivels up, and becomes dull, looking as the water level drops.
Even if we find the leak and repair it, the skin will still require a fresh infusion of water to refill what has been lost. It also requires support to hold onto the water.
This Is Where Skin Hydrators Come In
Ingredients That Hydrate The Skin
Increasing the moisture in the air around you is a simple and obvious option. A humidifier, mister, or steamer can help you increase the amount of water in the air around you. This is especially critical in the winter months.
It is important to remember that if the skin is in bad condition, it will have a tough time holding onto pure water. And you will quickly become dehydrated again. Humectants come and help the skin hold onto water.
What Are Humectants?
Humectants are substances that extract water from the air or the skin’s underlying layers and draw those molecules to the skin’s surface. This helps the skin to retain moisture and can boost the effectiveness of some topical skincare ingredients. Aloe, honey, and hyaluronic acid are examples of natural humectants.
According to one study, hyaluronic acid is special because it can retain 1,000 times its weight in water, effectively plumping the skin and helping in the maintenance of water levels in the skin cells. Hyaluronic is already present in your skin. But its levels deplete with sun exposure and age. For optimal skin quality, it’s important to replenish this water-loving element.
It is critical to include the above in your everyday skin care routine if you want to achieve well-hydrated skin. Keep reading to find out how to incorporate these ingredients into your everyday routine easily.
3 Ways To Hydrate Your Skin
Drink More Water If You Consume Coffee Or Alcohol
We have found that you need an app to help you keep track of your water consumption. Tracking your drinking and getting little reminders during the day has significantly increased the amount of water you consume.
If you’re having problems, try using a water tracking app. Many of them are also free.
Mist Your Skin
Carry a little bottle of hydrosol with you to spray your face during the day. For the best overall skin pick-me-up, look for an aloe hydrosol mist with floral or herbal infusions.
Avoid any alcohol-containing mists. This can cause the skin to dry out, defeating the purpose of the hydration boost. If misting yourself in public makes you feel self-conscious, you can always use it in the bathroom as a final refresher after washing your hands.
Use serums regularly, especially ones containing hyaluronic acid. Use this in the morning to support your skin during the day or when it requires the most help staying hydrated. Try never to miss this step.
If you’re in a hurry and need to shorten your schedule, find some way to cut time in your morning prep and make this step non-negotiable. Your skin will reward you now and in the future.
2. Moisturizing
If you drink water daily and follow the hydration tips mentioned above, and If you still have dry, flaky, tight, or dull skin, you may need to increase your moisturizer use.
Dry, dull, and stressed skin indicates that the skin isn’t producing enough lipid cells on its own. Remember those small water balloons that slowly leak? Those leaks happen when the moisture levels in the skin’s oil are not optimal.
What Are Moisturizers?
Moisturizers are the tools that can fix leaks and keep your skin from losing water in the first place. Moisturizing effectively locks in moisture and also strengthening the skin’s protective layer. This prevents water and, as a result, makes the skin soft and smooth.
All comes down to preventing water loss and refilling water levels – after all, depending on age, weight, and muscle mass, our bodies are made up of 50-75 percent water. So maintaining water levels is important to our health.
Choosing The Right Moisturizer
You most certainly already have a moisturizer in your home. If this isn’t working, it may be because the amount of nourishment you need isn’t there. Dependent on your skin condition, the following oils are recommended. The different oils have different sized molecules that will help your skin rebuild its lipid barrier by providing the moisture it needs.
Use a blended formulation of oils as a moisturizer for the best texture and overall absorption experience. Also, apply the oil in 5 dots (forehead, cheeks x2, nose, chin) and working through the skin inward and upward for an even application.
Moisturizing Oils by Skin Type
- Oil moisturizers for oily skin include grapeseed, argan, buckthorn, kukui, and rosehip.
- Normal/sensitive skin oil moisturizers are grapeseed, Tamanu Oil, Hemp Seed, Coconut
- Sesame, Olive, Avocado, Sunflower, and Jojoba oils are excellent moisturizers for dry skin.
Hydrator vs. Moisturizer?
As you can see, natural moisturizers and hydrators play the same fundamental role in skin care. They both aim to keep the water levels in the skin at their optimum level. They do this in very different ways, but both are essential.
When moisturizer is used in combination with hydration regularly, the skin can maintain a plump, bouncy texture that pulls water into your skin cells and creates a strong protective barrier to seal it in. When all of these support the skin, it has a radiant glow, and, most importantly, healthy skin function is the result.
Bottom Line
Despite the fact that the words hydrator vs. moisturizer are mostly used interchangeably, they specifically refer to very different skin conditions. So, before assuming you have dry or dehydrated skin, it’s best to analyze your skin to ensure you’re using the right products and ingredients.
