Top 10 Tips For Dry Acne Prone Skin

Battling dry skin, especially in the wintertime, is hard.

When your skin is also acne-prone and lots of products clog up your pores, it gets even more challenging!

How to get some relief?

First, you need to know the truth: dry skin is not just the surface problem, you need to take a close look at your diet, too. This is why I included tips for both your skincare and diet.

Our hormones and what we eat have more impact on our skin than what we apply on it, whether we like it or not.

Estrogen, for example, will help your skin be plumper and moisturized naturally.

All that said, let’s understand what causes dry and/or dehydrated skin first, so that we can fix these issues the best we can.

Trans Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL), or loss of water from your skin, is an ongoing process. Your skin loses a bit of water continuously, and it gets replaced by the water you eat and drink.

It is WATER that makes your skin feel moisturized. Lipids (oily substances in the skin) are there to lock in that moisture into your skin.

Healthy skin has its own mechanisms of slowing down this dreadful loss of water: A robust skin barrier and sebum.

Skin barrier is the surface layer of the skin, composed of layers of dead skin cells. They block not only water from escaping but also entry of unwanted substances into your skin (and bloodstream).

Sebum, a mix of waxy, oily substances is also there to slow down the evaporation of water from your skin into the environment.

However, when the air around us is dry (due to the harsh winter, air conditioning, etc), water molecules will naturally move from the place of their abundance (your skin) to where there is very few of them (the air around you).

This is why your skin gets dry during this time of year even though it otherwise isn’t!

Now let’s get straight into how to alleviate dry winter skin naturally!

1. LAYER MOISTURE, HUMECTANTS AND OCCLUSIVES

To counteract the excessive loss of water from your skin, you need to bring back lots of moisture (and humectants to hold it) into your skin and then LOCK IT IN with an effective occlusive. The job of occlusives is to form a breathable layer on your skin that trap the water inside, keeping your skin moisturized.

Humectants: Pure glycerin (if tolerated, use just one drop over damp skin for the entire face), aloe vera gel or hydrating toners are my faves. I also personally love rose water.

Occlusives: Pure, unrefined shea butter, squalane oil (great for acne-prone skin) or a soothing moisturizer are all good choices.

2. DRY ACNE PRONE SKIN ISN’T FRIENDS WITH HARSH CLEANSERS

Does your cleanser leave your skin tight? Like you have to immediately apply a moisturizer, otherwise, your skin gets itchy?

Does your cleanser foam excessively?

If the answer to any of the above was yes, picking a super gentle, pH-balanced cleanser can help your dry skin more than any moisturizer!

In my FREE online course, I give you very specific tips on how to pick the right cleanser for you.

Don’t skip this step, it is very important!

3. DON’T USE HIGH-LINOLEIC ACID OILS

Oils high in linoleic acid, such as rosehip oil, hemp oil and grapeseed oil are NOT suitable for dry and dehydrated skin.

This is another common mistake I encounter. But I get it, there is so much info on the internet on how moisturizing they are. They can be totally fine when within a moisturizing product, but not on their own.

Linoleic acid in those oils emulsifies the sebum, which can dry out your skin. It also acts as a weak DHT blocker, which can further reduce sebum production.

Obviously, this is awesome if your skin tolerates oils and you have oily to combination skin! However, stay away if your skin is dry.

4. USE A COLD WATER HUMIDIFIER

Remember how I said the dry air around you sucks the moisture from your skin?

One great way to remedy this is to bring back more moisture into the air, which slows down the TEWL.

Cold water humidifier keeps the optimal moisture in the air and can make such a difference in your skin, especially during the cold winter months.

This works better than you may think!

I often put it on for one hour before bedtime, with lavender essential oil. If the air is really dry, you can even set it to 6 hours in your bedroom, and wake up with beautiful dewy skin!

If you can’t get the humidifier, here are a few alternatives:

• Place a bowl of water next to a source of heat. This is great to do when you are at work, too!
• Use a spray bottle – mix water with 5-6 drops of essential oil of choice (I love lavender) and spray around the room to instantly boost the moisture in the air. Plus, it will smell amazing!

5. GET EXTRA HELP FROM PHYSIOLOGICAL LIPIDS

Layering an insane amount of moisture and humectants under a good occlusive doesn’t help your dry skin?

Following my other dietary tips for at least a month doesn’t help either?

Cue in the physiologic lipids.

These are molecules like ceramides and cholesterol, natural to our own skin.

When applied to the skin, they don’t just sit there, forming a film on the surface like other occlusives (not that this is a bad thing).

Instead, they penetrate through the stratum corneum (surface layer of our skin), where they are taken up by the living epidermal cells and packaged into a secretory vesicle (the lamellar body).

The contents of these vesicles are then secreted back into the stratum corneum to form the lamellar membranes that surround the cells of the stratum corneum.

It is these lamellar membranes that help repair the stratum corneum, establishing a strong skin barrier and alleviating dry skin.

Note that our skin contains several types of ceramides, and each plays its role. Often, you will find just one type in skincare products.

Furthermore, such precious substances don’t act in isolation in our skin, it is the mix of them that creates magic!

Specifically, the mix of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids (ratio is about 3:1:1) keeps the skin barrier strong and your skin moisturized.

This is why it is imperative that you keep as much as possbile of your own ceramides (by avoiding harsh cleansers, over-exfoliating, hot water, etc) and other molecules that naturally moisturize your skin, and not just rely on skincare products.

They cannot really replace what mother nature is giving you for free!

If your skin is too alkaline, the production of ceramides slows down (it works optimally only when the skin’s ph is ~5).

6. USE MANUKA HONEY TO HYDRATE THE UPPER LAYERS OF YOUR SKIN

Manuka honey is not just super anti-inflammatory, helping to calm down inflammation and regulate acne bacteria, but it is also a great humectant!

This means that when you use it as a mask, it will pull water molecues from the air and deeper layers of your skin to the surface, which is where you need them to reduce the dryness!

Apply it on a dry face, leave on for several minutes, then rinse and continue with your usual skincare routine.

Instead of a manuka honey, you can also try smooth, raw honey (it is also gentler to start with)!

7. DON’T USE HOT WATER ON YOUR FACE

Water on your skin, as opposed to inside your body, is very drying. Especially heavily chlorinated, hot water.

When you are showering, don’t let the water stream pour directly on your face. This is too harsh on your skin, causing micro-tears and dryness.

Avoid getting your face wet in the bath or a shower and using too much water on your face in general.  I achieved this by not washing my face in the mornings, which has helped my skin be naturally moisturized more than anything else!

I also love to use rose water toner on a cotton pad whenever I can instead of splashing water on my face.

Related: 5 Reasons Why I Don’t Wash My Face In The Morning

8. EXFOLIATE GENTLY TO REMOVE THE DRY SKIN LAYERS

When the skin is dry and flaky, it can be a good idea to exfoliate VERY gently to remove those dead skin cells that make the surface of your skin so flaky.

But when I say gentle, I mean it!

What I suggest may not even appear as exfoliation to some of you, but I urge you to try it. It is exfoliation with ground oats (oat flour).

Simply buy oat flour (or grind some oats in a coffee grinder), then take a tsp of it and apply directly onto wet face. Massage in circular motions all over for a minute.

The oats will turn into a mushy paste and that’s ok. Leave them on as a mask for several minutes after you are done exfoliating, then rinse with lukewarm water and continue with your usual evening routine.

9. EAT PLENTY OF HEALTHY FATS AND PROTEIN

If you aren’t doing this, it’s almost like you aren’t doing anything at all.

Yup, hard truth.

Heathy (emphasis on healthy!) fats provide building blocks for your hormones, cell membranes, and help to lubricate your skin from the inside.

Getting enough protein ensures you have enough building blocks to create collagen, elastin and other proteins in your skin that help to keep it plump and moisturized. Protein named filaggrin, for instance, gives Natural Moisturizing Factors (NMFs), when degraded.

I recommend starting your day with a meal high in protein (preferably 20g) instead of processed carbs like bread or cereals. This will also help to stabilize your blood sugar levels.

When it comes to fats, essential fatty acids (EFAs) are especially important because they cannot be made by the body, so we need to obtain them through diet. They play a major role in keeping the moisture in your skin, particularly omega-3s!

10. DITCH COFFEE, ALCOHOL AND PROCESSED CARBS

Diuretics such as caffeine and alcohol draw the water out of your body, and that includes your skin.

I will not go into other detrimental effects of both alcohol and coffee on your skin, but they are real, so try to limit your consumption.

I have personally tried to quit several times, just because I like the taste so much. Unfortunately, the difference in my skin was so obvious after a couple of weeks of drinking it daily (cystic acne included) that I just had to choose between good skin and coffee.

The best natural coffee substitute that helps me stay away from coffee, gluten-free and caffeine-free is Dandy Blend.

FINALLY, HYDRATE!

As you lose more water from your skin, you need to keep yourself hydrated to replenish the moisture in your skin!

Keep water or herbal tea by your side at all times, and reach for them whenever you feel like snacking!

Related: 10 Teas For Clearer And More Radiant Skin

When the snack urge comes, we are simply often thirsty, not hungry, so when you get that urge to snack, so this can be a handy reminder to drink more water.

Hope you liked these tips, and if you have any of your own (or products that helped you), please share in the comments!

P.S. Some of the above links are affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Are you in your 20s or 30s, and tired of still struggling with acne and breakouts? There is so much misinformation about the right skincare for getting clear skin, and caring for sensitive acne-prone skin. This is why I made a FREE online course where you will find little-known skin healing secrets you won’t usually hear from the skincare industry or dermatologists. And yet, they WORK.

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About Sara

Hi there! My name is Sara. I am a molecular biologist who has spent 15 years figuring out the perfect skin care for sensitive, acne-prone skin and now I want to teach you all about it!