Shut Down the Dry-Skin Cycle

Provided by makinglifebetter™

Here's What You Need to Know to Keep Your Skin Healthy

Your skin is amazing. It's your waterproof barrier, constantly growing and replacing itself. It's how you sense and adjust to your surroundings. Did you know that healthy skin even naturally repairs itself?

Unfortunately, skin can become overly dry, and then it struggles to heal itself, starting the dry-skin cycle. Your best response: Find immediate relief with a good moisturizer such as the Vaseline® Intensive Rescue™ lotions. The good news: These products also provide long-term hydration that enables skin to take care of itself again.

Here is everything you need to know about dry skin — and how to keep yours healthy.

Recognize Healthy Skin

The topmost layer of skin is your body's protective barrier against the environment. It's made up of hard, protective skin cells (corneocytes) and a continuous layer that surrounds and protects them (lipids). When skin is well-moisturized, the cells and lipids function smoothly.

Learn the Causes of Dry Skin

Dry skin may be associated with a medical condition, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism or atopic dermatitis, or it may be responding to the environment, which affects water loss in your skin. For example, harsh winter weather or even everyday hand-washing can cause your skin to lose moisture — water washes away your skin's Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF), while soap removes lipids.

What Leads to a Dry-Skin Cycle?

As your skin loses moisture, skin cells become stiff and skin begins to crack. A loss of barrier lipids further exposes skin cells to the environment, leading to even more water loss. Your dry skin gets drier.

This lack of sufficient moisture in your skin disturbs its natural process of eliminating cells — essentially, sloughing off the dead, topmost layer. As dryness dives deeper into the skin, skin cells stop growing properly, and your skin can become less effective at healing itself naturally.

Returning Your Skin to a Healthy State

Moisturizers introduce hydration (moisture) back to skin to soften dry skin immediately. Humectants, such as glycerin, infuse instant moisture into skin. Occlusives, such as petroleum jelly, fill the void of lost lipids and provide a physical barrier to the environment, thereby sealing in moisture for healthier skin and a healthier skin cycle.

Vaseline understands skin inside and out, and that's why the Vaseline Intensive Rescue lotions each have a unique balance of key ingredients to provide instant relief and long-lasting care.