Barrier Edit

How skin holds on to moisture, what the research on each ingredient shows, and where it stops.

A woman sitting on the edge of a bed at dusk, smoothing lotion onto her shin, with a warm lamp and a blue evening window behind her
Hydration

Why Is My Skin So Dry? The Real Causes, From Your Shower to Your Hormones

Dry skin is rarely down to one thing. Here's what research links to it, from the air in your home to your age, your hormones and your medicine cabinet, and when it's...

8 min read
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A natural sea sponge in a shallow glass dish with a pale ceramic lid resting half over it, on dark slate in a soft beam of light
Hydration

Dry or Dehydrated Skin? How Skin Holds On to Water

Tight but shiny? Flaky but oily? Here's what dry and dehydrated really mean, how your skin holds on to water, and what helps it hold on to more.

6 min read
Fingertips smoothing a small amount of white balm into the back of an older hand, beside a plain cream jar on a white-tiled bathroom ledge
Skin barrier

Damaged Skin Barrier: The Signs, the Causes and How to Repair It

Tight, stinging, suddenly fussy skin? Here's what a stressed barrier looks like, what tips it over, and what helps it recover, outside and in.

9 min read

3 articles in dry skin

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