[imagesource:here]

We can feel that winter is on its way here in the Southern Hemisphere.

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, and our skin is getting drier.

If it’s not because of the coming of winter, perhaps your skin is feeling a little dehydrated after those long summer days spent in the sun.

Either way, this is the perfect time to talk about how to make your skin feel hydrated and look plump again.

But first, it is a good idea to establish if your skin is naturally dry, or if it is actually dehydrated.

While dehydrated skin lacks water, dry skin lacks natural oils, also called sebum. Also, dry skin is a skin type, while dehydration is considered a condition.

While dry skin isn’t a choice, dehydrated skin is usually due to multiple factors that you can alter, including the weather and environment (hello there, air conditioner) you’re exposed to, and diet.

Any skin therapists or doctors at Skin Renewal would be able to make this diagnosis, but you can also spot the signs yourself.

Ask yourself these questions, and if you say yes to most, chances are your skin could do with a serious dose of hydration:

• Is your skin covered with fine lines that haven’t always been there?
• Are your dark circles looking darker than usual?
• Is your complexion looking dull and lacklustre?

Luckily, with the right products and treatments, dry and dehydrated skin is pretty easy to fix.

Drinking more water seems like the obvious solution to dehydrated skin, and while it should help, it is not the be-all and end-all.

Your skin needs a little help from the outside in when it comes to hydration.

This could come in the form of a hydrating skincare solution that contains mega-moisturising actives like hyaluronic acid, also known as HA.

Despite what the name suggests, HA isn’t acid at all, but a rather useful liquid substance that occurs naturally in your body. Its superpower is that it acts like a “water magnet”, drawing in as much moisture as possible and then holding it within your skin to hydrate and plumpen it.

At-home treatments

Skin Renewal offers several brilliant medical-grade skincare brands, and unlike many drugstore brands that make big promises about HA content, Skin Renewal brands deliver.

For example, Lamelle HA Corrective HA+ Serum contains five types of hyaluronic acid and is also the first product in its category to make use of hyaluronidase inhibitors.

Hyaluronidase is a family of enzymes that break down the HA in your skin, so Lamelle’s inhibitors are designed to decrease this enzyme’s activity to protect your skin’s HA content.

In short, it’s a next-gen HA serum that anyone with dehydrated skin is sure to adore.

Quick treatments from professionals

Otherwise, there is a quick and painless ‘lunch break’ treatment for a mega-dose of moisture.

The Skin Booster treatment is done at Skin Renewal and involves injecting HA into your skin, which will help improve fine lines caused by dehydration and make your skin look and feel instantly quenched.

Afterwards, the sodium succinate gets to work, stimulating your skin’s production of collagen and elastin to give it some extra zhoosh.

Another way, if you’re having a ‘dry skin day’, is a pampering quick fix that could get you back to looking juicy within an hour.

The HydraTouch facial begins with a hydra-dermabrasion session that involves running a jet stream of hydrogenated water across your face.

Next, a very light peel infusion will help rid your skin of dry and dead cells, after which a transdermal mesotherapy session uses gentle electrical pulses to deliver an ultra-hydrating serum deep into your skin.

Your therapist will also use a rollerball-like faradic device to perform a mini skin-tightening session before finishing up with a hydrating face mask.

The result? Intensely hydrated, plump-looking skin, all within an hour!

Ultimately, if it feels like your skin needs a “drink”, make an appointment with a Skin Renewal doctor who will happily quench your skin’s thirst.