5 Natural Dry Face Skin Remedies

5 Natural Dry Face Skin Remedies & Treatments for Facial Skin Dryness

Reasons for dry skin include a variety of conditions such as too much sun, windburn, harsh soaps and cleansers, aging and even diet. Insufficient water can dry your skin overnight. Start working on dry skin problems by increasing your water intake.

Take These Vitamins and Natural Oils to Help Dry Skin

Drinking lots of water is one remedy for dry skin, but if your skin is very dry, you may need additional help. You may have noticed that many skin care creams contain vitamins: although Vitamin E has been shown to work externally to correct dry skin, most other vitamins don't have a noticeable effect. Look for Vitamin E enriched skin creams, and increase its effects by also taking Vitamin E capsules, which help strengthen skin from the inside.

Another benefit of taking Vitamin E is that it works on the skin all over your body—hands, feet, face and everything in between. Other natural remedies for dry skin include Evening Primrose oil, flaxseed oil or Omega 3 oils derived from fish. All of these nutritional supplements have been shown to increase skin's elasticity, its rebuilding capacity and its moisture. You can get these treatments at any health food store, and most pharmacies carry them too.

Make These Diet and Nutritional Changes to Improve Skin’s Appearance

Support the health of your skin by eating plenty of fresh fish (providing you with Omega 3). Adding a tablespoon of flax seeds to your morning cereal tastes good and increases your essential fatty acid intake. These nutritional steps do more than fix your dry skin: they're also natural cures for everything from stomach problems to heart disease.

Use These Products, Lotions and Skin Care to Keep

Skin Hydrated If you've recently started using an antiaging lotion or cream, you may suddenly develop dry skin. Creams that contain retinol, alpha lipoic acid, or either alpha or beta hydroxyl acids work by chemically exfoliating (breaking down) upper layers of skin. If you experience peeling, redness, scaly skin or a rash, stop using your new cream and try something with milder ingredients or a lessened concentration of the main ingredients. Some people have gotten contact dermatitis from the very skin creams that were supposed to solve their dry skin problems!

The best products for your complexion are usually the simplest: look for creams that have not been tested on animals and whose main ingredients are natural. Read the ingredients list on the back of the label! Consider ingredients like beeswax, plant oils, herbal extracts and basic ingredients such as glycerin and water.

Acne treatment can lead to peeling or dry skin; especially over the counter products containing salicylic acid or peroxide. Allergies to menthol, camphor and eucalyptus can also cause scaly, irritated skin, so if you're using a Noxzema type product or a nice-smelling toner, you might want to switch to something that doesn't contain those ingredients.

For Extreme Dry Skin Treatment and Relief

Extreme dry skin can get relief through intensive therapy by way of daytime moisturizer lotion, night creams and increased home humidity. If you suffer from dry facial skin or dry skin all over your body, especially in winter, it may be because the heat in your house is drying you out. Try putting a cool mist humidifier in your bedroom at night, and you may see a difference in a few days. A popular home remedy for dryness is the moisturizing facial mask. Use a half of a ripe avocado, pureed. Rinse your face with lukewarm water and apply the mask while your face is still damp. Leave on for 15 minutes, then rinse off with lukewarm water and pat dry. Apply your favorite moisture lotion.

Skin Conditions that Lead to Scaly, Itchy Skin

Eczema starts out looking and feeling like extremely dry skin, with itching and redness increasing until you may have scaly patches, clear, fluid filled bubbles , or welts on your arms, legs, face, eyelids or body. Eczema isn't dry skin, however: it's your body's allergic response to causes in the environment, and it can be worsened by stress. If you think you have eczema, talk with your doctor to find out about treatments: although dry skin remedies may be part of controlling eczema, you may also need treatment with corticosteroids, antihistamines, a special ointment for relief of itching, or other prescription drug therapy.

Overview of Tips for Fixing Your Dry Skin

• Avoid too much sun, wind and harsh, over perfumed facial soaps.
• Drink more water.
• Try facial creams with Vitamin E and/or take a Vitamin E supplement.
• Add Omega 3s to your diet. Salmon and flax are great sources.
• Check the labels of your anti-aging creams for skin drying ingredients.
• Try a cool mist humidifier in your bedroom while you sleep.
• Prepare a moisturizing homemade avocado mask.
• Check with your dermatologist or doctor if you think you may have Eczema.  

USEFUL TIPS

• Try using a softer shampoo. During an interview, several barbers have said that the cause is often a harsh shampoo which kills or dries out the skin.
• Another possible remedy consists of pouring a generous amount of table salt into your hand before showering and covering your scalp in it. Gently rub it in, covering your whole scalp. Rinse it out in the shower, and shampoo normally.
• It's best to get your vitamins from food, rather than nutritional supplements. A quick Internet search will turn up foods you can integrate into your diet that are rich in zinc, Omega-3s, and B-vitamins.
• If anti-dandruff shampoos aren't working, or if you notice redness on the scalp or silvery or yellow flakes, you may not have dandruff at all. A number of other conditions can lead to flaking skin and itchy scalp. See your primary care physician or dermatologist.
• A quick internet search will turn up all kinds of home remedies for dandruff. While some of these may indeed work, anti-dandruff shampoos are inexpensive enough to be adequate for most people.
• Wear light-colored clothing (especially tops) while you have dandruff. Most people won't even notice.
• If you have hay fever, eczema, or other skin or respiratory allergies, your dandruff may be caused in part by an allergic reaction. In this situation, you may find it helpful to shampoo LESS frequently, so the natural oils that protect your scalp aren't stripped away. Allergic people may also react to dandruff shampoos by generating more dandruff. If you think this may be the case for you, try washing your hair with conditioner only, or washing less frequently.
• Try the condition only treatment first during a vacation or a time when you will be less publicly visible, since your scalp will be very oily at first. It will take two weeks to a month for the balance of oils on your hair and scalp to adjust itself.
• Rinsing your scalp with a rinse of 1/4 cup white vinegar to 3/4 cup water may help the problem. The natural acids will help loosen any sebum (dead skin and oils) that clings to your scalp and flakes to form dandruff. Rinse thoroughly with WARM, not hot, water. If you don't rinse well, you will smell like vinegar. While white vinegar is the gold standard of home remedies, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice should work as well. Lemon juice may lighten dark hair.
• Tea tree oil has antiseptic qualities that may help kill the fungus, and keep your scalp moisturized. You can buy a small bottle at many groceries and health food stores, and add 5-6 drops to your regular shampoo. Or just purchase a shampoo that contains tea tree oil.
• Buy and use two or three different types of regular shampoo and don't use the same one two days in a row. This way build up is minimized. For some reason this gets rid of lesser cases of dandruff.
• Plain old fashioned Listerine® (the original amber formula) works wonders on dandruff! In fact, up until the 1980s, the label even mentioned that it was effective on infectious dandruff. Daily or several times a week, saturate a cotton ball with Listerine and swab over your scalp. The menthol and methyl salicylate are particularly effective at helping to relieve scalp itch. You may also choose to use Listerine as a shampoo rinse, it has similar effectiveness when used this way.
• Leave-in treatments like Scalpicin® may be useful for particularly itchy scalps. They contain either anti-inflammatory ingredients (like hydrocortisone) or one of the active anti-dandruff ingredients. Usually these treatments also contain menthol, which provides a cooling effect that reduces the sensation of itching.