If you're regularly washing your face — even just with water — you should be moisturizing too. If you have oily skin, skipping moisturizer won't prevent acne and will lead to premature signs of aging. If you have dry skin, skipping moisturizer will result in skin cracking, itching, flaking, and becoming tight and red.
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.
In short, yes. "A daily moisturizer is necessary to maintain your skin's moisture barrier and to prevent environmental damage to your skin," Weinstein explains.
“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.
In general, moisturiser can be good for your skin by acting as a protective barrier for conditions such as eczema, but if overused, your skin could start to rely on the moisturiser and not properly exfoliate on its own or produce as many natural lipids and proteins.
For one, moisturizer helps relieve dry skin and maintain sebum production. It also provides a slew of other benefits for your skin. Not only does it help your skin stay young, but moisturizer also reduces other blemishes and acne you're having trouble with. Therefore, moisturizer is more good than bad for acne.
"You can have oily, acne-prone skin but still lack hydration." Skipping moisturizer only causes your skin to overcompensate with more oil. Just use an oil-free moisturizer like Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel before your acne treatment to hydrate and prime your skin.
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.
Excessive moisturizer use can cause pimples or breakouts on the skin. Your skin absorbs what it needs and the extra product just sits on top of your face. This greasy layer attracts dirt and bacteria, which then gets accumulated in the pores and causes acne.
Night is an essential time to renew your mind—and your skin. Adding a lotion before bed creates softer, more hydrated, and better-looking skin the next day. It also helps seal in moisture and repairs the skin barrier that's compromised by dry air and harsh cleansers.
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.
Myth: If you apply moisturizer every day your skin becomes lazy and loses its ability to stay hydrated on its own. Truth: Skin doesn't “get used to” being hydrated and forget how to stay hydrated on its own.
Moisturiser cannot by itself make your skin dark or fair . Moisturisers are only meant to give the hydration a skin needs. In very humid climates, it is better to avoid moisturiser as a whole.
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.
"When the skin is dry, it can be more irritated and make acne look and appear worse," explains Rachel Nazarian, MD, a New York-based board-certified dermatologist. "With acne, the issue is inflammation in the skin—most acne responds better and improves when you calm it down. Therefore, moisturizing is helpful."
Too much moisturiser or heavy formulations can clog your pores, because of which you end up with blackheads and whiteheads.
You should absolutely moisturize your skin even if you have active acne. It's an absolute myth that moisturizing your face will worsen your acne. In fact, moisturizers are necessary to keep acne-prone skin as relaxed as possible.
When you have oily skin, you may think that using a moisturizer is the last thing you should do. But, as the body's largest organ—and the one that is arguably most influenced environmental conditions—the skin often needs a moisturizer to mitigate the loss of hydration even with it is oily or pimply.
“For people with oily skin on their face, there's no need to moisturize. You can if you want to, as long as you choose a lightweight moisturizer that won't clog your pores, but it's not necessary.”
Moisturizers can't prevent wrinkles, but they trap water in the skin, temporarily masking tiny lines and creases.
We all know that moisturized skin is younger-looking skin. Dryness exacerbates the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and makes skin look dull and lifeless. If your typical routine is just to apply moisturizer when it crosses your mind, however, you're wasting your money on your moisturizer.
If you artificially saturate the skin surface with moisture, this sends a signal to cells to stop producing structures to store the moisture. The skin shrivels, and fine lines start to appear.