Apply a Lightweight Moisturizer Every Day
The most effective way to alleviate dryness is to restore your skin's natural moisture. Thankfully, you don't need a specific product—any body lotion or cream will work well as a leg moisturizer.
Olive oil and honey are effective home remedies for dry skin on legs. Olive oil contains fatty acids, which help moisturize skin. It also contains vitamin E, which will protect your skin from environmental factors that cause dryness.
Coconut oil is moisturizing for dry skin and eczema and promotes wound healing by reducing inflammation. Jojoba oil is a natural humectant, drawing in moisture from the air to reinforce the skin's barrier. It's also rich in vitamin E which is an antioxidant that helps reduce the appearance of fine lines.
If you have chronic dry skin, creams or ointments may have more benefit for dry skin. If you don't have dry skin and want to lock in moisture to help your skin stay hydrated, then body oil may work well.
All you need to do is pump or scoop out a generous dollop of your preferred body moisturiser or cream, then add a squirt of your preferred oil. Rub the two together in your hands and go to town slathering the mixture all over, paying particular attention to where you get driest.
Pat your legs dry with a clean, soft cloth – rough towels may further remove natural oils, drying your legs out even more. After gently drying, massage a good moisturizing lotion into your skin thoroughly to lock in moisture.
Living in cold, windy conditions or low-humidity climates. Too much bathing or scrubbing. Taking long, hot showers or baths or scrubbing your skin too much can dry your skin. Bathing more than once a day can remove the natural oils from your skin too.
Before going to bed at night, massage olive oil into your legs, wait for the skin to absorb it, then rinse in the shower. This will leave your legs feeling silky soft! Alternatively, try shea butter, coconut oil, or a petroleum jelly to create a moisture barrier.
While coconut oil works to seal in moisture, some people may find it too oily or clogging to use on their face. Goldstein advises using this type of oil on areas without too much hair and to apply just enough. Using too much coconut oil on your face or legs, she adds, can cause breakouts and folliculitis.
Moisturize with vitamin E
Vitamin E's oil base is a perfect remedy for the lipids in the skin! The antioxidants in vitamin E also prevents skin inflammation. Even more, vitamin E helps seal up the cracks caused by dryness. So E is great for prevention and restoration.
Oils sit on top of the skin, rather being absorbed into it, Siso adds. Layering these two products are going to deliver the best results. Siso suggests moisturizing first and adding oil right after to ensure your skin is getting the hydration it needs while locking it in.
“I exfoliate my legs once a week with a gentle scrub in the shower,” says Ada Polla, the District-based CEO of the Swiss-American skin-care line Alchimie Forever. (Shaving legs also helps control dead, dry skin.) Apply any cream or oil just after showering, when your pores are open and skin is more receptive.
How to Layer Moisturizer and Oil. As a rule of thumb, all skincare should be applied thinnest to thickest, so, moisturizer first, facial oil second. The one exception to the rule is our Antioxidant Oil-Serum; because it has both oil and serum properties, it can be applied before, after, or in place of your moisturizer.
For the best results, use oil last—and layer it.
Oil should be the very last step of your skin care regimen. "Because oil is the heaviest—or the densest—product in your routine, it's able to penetrate your moisturizer, allowing it to reach your skin.
"Oils are part of the moisturizing process," says cosmetic chemist Vince Spinatto. "So while oils can condition the skin and hair, they only retain water content — not add it — which means they are moisturizing but not hydrating."
Olive oil may also help your skin look younger. Animal and lab studies suggest it has strong anti-inflammatory effects on the skin and may protect it from sun damage (5). Additionally, nearly 73% of olive oil consists of monounsaturated fat, which is associated with increased skin elasticity and firmness (6).
Here's what you can do: Wash with a gentle, fragrance-free, moisturizing bar soap, cleanser, or body wash. Doing so will help soothe rather than dry your skin. Moisturizing ingredients that can help reduce dryness include glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and lanolin.