When you don't use a moisturizer on your body or face, you are likely to see more signs of premature aging. What's happening when the skin gets dry is that it's actually experiencing a low level of inflammation. This ongoing inflammation can lead to a breakdown of collagen. That's bad news for beauty.
Your skin wants a layer of moisture, and if it doesn't have it the normal protective barriers and correct pH levels of the skin can be disrupted. This protective layer disruption can come along with dryness, redness, and an overall low level of inflammation in your skin.
“Moisturizing your face helps to protect the skin's barrier from irritation. It also helps to reduce the development of dryness, or helps you to revive your skin from dryness,” says Marmur. Moisturizer creates a barrier between your skin and the climate, including cold, dry air that can further dry out skin.
Dull & Dry Skin
This one is obvious, but if you aren't moisturizing, you will dry out your skin, and it will get even worse if it's winter and cold out, or the humidity is really low. Without moisturizer, your skin will start flaking and appear dry.
That's right: Leaving moisturizer out of your routine today could lead to deeper wrinkles later on. "When the skin barrier is compromised, which is what we see when it becomes dry, there's actually a low-grade chronic inflammation that occurs in the skin," warns dermatologist Dr.
According to her, it's okay to skip moisturizer when you don't need it, such as when you're in a humid environment that's already full of moisture. "You don't always have to use a moisturizer, especially if you have oily-prone skin or if you've just used an HA serum that helps moisturize," Dr. Cindy explains.
When to Put on Moisturizer
The best times to moisturize are after your bath or shower, after washing your face, and after washing your hands. Don't dry off completely; leave some moisture behind so the lotions can do their job, helping your skin absorb more healthy liquid.
Aesthetic dermatologists have observed that habitual, daily moisturising over a prolonged period can actually age the skin. This induced ageing occurs because the same fibroblast cells which produce GAGs (the skin's moisturiser) also produce collagen and elastin, which help maintain the skin's elasticity.
They make skin feel moist and relieve itchiness and tightness. But, says Dr Eckel, in reality, moisturisers make the skin 'lazy', so it becomes less able to hydrate itself. This means we need more moisturiser to relieve dryness, creating an expensive, demoralising cycle.
So, in general, if you skip moisturizing for a day, your skin will be A-okay, but Dr. Dean says that for the "best moisturization" of your skin, the golden rule is to apply the good stuff twice a day. (Even if you don't get around to applying that first round until lunchtime.)
Moisturisers can also stick dead cells to the skin's surface, she claims, and the oils can clog pores, contributing to acne and rosacea.
The rest of the product then sits atop your face and forms a thin layer of oil, bacteria, and other ingredients. This layer will then clog the pores and whenever cores get clogged, pimples and zits form. So, yes, moisturizer can cause acne but it only typically happens whenever you over-moisturize your skin.
How Often Should You Use a Face Moisturizer? Generally accepted advice about the use of moisturizers is to apply it twice daily––every morning and every night. It's the most commonly accepted practice because it ensures that the moisture content of your skin remains constant throughout the entire 24 hour period.
Most skincare professionals suggest moisturizing twice a day: once in the morning and once at night. This ensures your skin's moisture will remain constant both throughout the day and while you sleep, so you can always look forward to supple, healthy skin.
“When you use moisturizer every day, you run the risk of making your skin older, not younger,” he said to Refinery29. “If you apply a lot of moisture, skin will become sensitive, dry, dull, and interfere with natural hydration.”
In fact, moisturizers are necessary to keep acne-prone skin as relaxed as possible. Plus, you're probably using cleansers to help fight acne, which penetrates deep into your skin for the best results, but they can also cause dryness, so moisturizing is key to help you fight acne without losing your glow.
"Skin's oil production peaks at midday, and there is less oil production at night. Therefore, when you lose that protective layer of natural oils, your skin loses more water, so it's important to replenish the water loss with a moisturizer overnight," says Sobel. "While you are asleep the skin goes into renewal mode.
Skipping moisturising can actually lead to excess oil production which will only exacerbate the issue of clogged pores, frequent acne breakouts and whiteheads. The other thing is that you need to understand that a good moisturiser can hydrate your skin and strengthen its protective ability.
Moisturizer
Dr. Farber says that it's fine for those with oily or normal skin to moisturize once a day—though your skin will be, well, drier—but it's not wise to skip this step if you have dry skin. "Let your skin serve as your own barometer to tell you what it needs," agrees Dr.
The biggest changes typically occur when people are in their 40s and 50s, but they can begin as early as the mid-30s and continue into old age. Even when your muscles are in top working order, they contribute to facial aging with repetitive motions that etch lines in your skin.
You might be surprised to know that your face is not actually the part of your body that ages the fastest. It is, in fact, your breasts. A study, published by the journal Genome Biology has found that breast tissue is the part of the body that's most sensitive to the affects of ageing.
Exposure to sunlight is the single biggest culprit in aging skin. Over time, the sun's ultraviolet (UV) light damages certain fibers in the skin called elastin. The breakdown of elastin fibers causes the skin to sag, stretch, and lose its ability to snap back after stretching.
Also your product should last you a few months not a few weeks — running through product quickly indicates you might be using too much of it. Some signs you may be over-moisturizing are clogged pores, blackheads, bumpy skin and excess oil.
Clogged pores are the most immediate sign of over moisturising. Too much moisturiser or heavy formulations can clog your pores, because of which you end up with blackheads and whiteheads.