Try These Dry Skin Savers

An inside-out guide to nourishing and softening your skin

- Emily A. Kane

Your cuticles are dry, your skin feels parched. In most cases dry skin is caused by environmental factors that remove moisture from the skin — heat, hot showers, harsh soaps, and dry climates. But there’s a lot you can do to address dry skin and restore moisture.

For one thing, fats are key to keeping your skin healthy. Skin’s thin outer layer is your largest organ of elimination, and it also provides a protective barrier to the outside world. Skin cells turn over quite quickly—completely new skin is formed every three weeks or so, unless you have a hyper-proliferation condition such as psoriasis.

DRY BRUSHING & CLEANSING

Almost all skin care salons help your skin by expediting exfoliation. You can do this much less expensively, and daily, in the comfort of your home with dry skin brushing. I highly recommend this pleasurable ritual as part of your self-care routine. I use a fairly stiff long-handled brush first thing in the morning. Brush the belly clockwise and up the limbs, front and back, toward the heart. Use the handle to scrub down the back. I like to use a softer brush for my face and neck— brush upward on the face.