As the temperatures drop, it’s important to use a moisturizer to keep skin healthy and vibrant throughout the winter months. On a daily basis, we see advertisements touting the hydrating capability of various lotions and creams. The options can be confusing. Angela J. Lamb, MD, Director of the Westside Mount Sinai Dermatology Faculty Practice, explains why moisturizing is key for skin health and what type of products are the most beneficial.
What causes dry skin?
Your skin is a barrier that protects our body from diseases and infections. Skin can become dry, scaly, or ashy due to cold temperatures, low humidity, wind, heating and air conditioning, as well as washing with harsh soaps and not moisturizing. Contrary to popular belief, dry skin does not lack oil. In fact, skin becomes dry when it fails to retain water.
Dry, cracked skin may lead to an infection. It can also lead to an exacerbation of eczema—typically a winter skin condition that causes itching and rash.
What is the best way to keep my skin hydrated?
The best way to hydrate skin is to help it retain water. One way to do this is by avoiding long, hot showers as they will cause your skin to dry out. Try taking a brief shower with lukewarm water, avoid scrubbing your skin or using harsh soaps, and follow with a moisturizer.
Look for soaps that have moisturizing properties, like glycerin or almond oil, embedded. Avoid antibacterial soaps which can be very drying.
What is in a moisturizer?
People typically think that lotions or creams put moisture into the skin; however moisturizers actually work by coating the skin, thereby preventing water loss. Most moisturizers combine both occlusive and humectant agents.
Occlusive agents are heavy moisturizers that are oily. They prevent water loss from the skin by blocking or sealing the skin surface, thereby restoring moisture to it. The best occlusive moisturizer is petrolatum jelly which reduces water loss by 99 percent. It contains no water and is best applied while the skin is still damp. Most patients do not like using solely petroleum as it is sticky and stains clothing. Other examples in this group include mineral oil, silicon, vegetable oils, and wax esters (like beeswax and vegetable waxes).
Humectant agents attract moisture. A popular ingredient for moisturizers is hyaluronic acid, which is also used in injectable fillers for wrinkles instead of the traditional collagen. Hyaluronic acid helps improve the appearance of the skin by causing the skin cells to swell and be less scaly. Other humectants include sodium lactate, urea, propylene glycol, glycerin, and some vitamins and proteins. Humectants work best at high humidity, greater than 70 percent.
What should you look for in a moisturizer?
Moisturizers that include glycerin or hyaluronic acid are great at trapping moisture in and preventing your skin from feeling dried out. Avoid purely oil based moisturizers. While they make your skin feel good at the time, they do not do a very good job of trapping in water. If you like using oils, I encourage you to layer a thicker moisturizer on top during the winter to prevent skin from feeling dry.
In addition to using an excellent moisturizer to hydrate your skin, humidifiers are a great defender against dryness. Humidifiers raise the moisture level in the environment and prevent evaporation of water from across the skin surface. If neither a moisturizer nor a humidifier has helped your dry skin or you start to develop a rash with redness and itching, you may need to consult a dermatologist.
Angela J. Lamb, MD, is the Director of the Westside Mount Sinai Dermatology Faculty Practice and Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Lamb welcomes patients of all ages and has great expertise in the treatment of acne, eczema, and skin cancer detection. She is intent on partnering with her patients to determine the best course of treatment and ongoing care. She wants her patients to be actively involved in their medical treatment and feels that education is the key to healthy skin.
What is the difference between cream and lotion?
Creams are thick mixtures of grease in water or other liquids. Patients tend to prefer creams over ointments, as they contain less grease.
Lotions are mixtures of oil and water, with water as the predominant ingredient. Most lotions are not the best moisturizers for people with dry skin conditions, mainly because the water in lotion evaporates quickly.
