Skin Care Tip: Reconciling frequent bathing and dry skin

Frequent bathing/showering and dry skin often go together. Indeed, water (especially soapy water) strips the skin of its protective layer of sebum, causing it to become very dry afterwards. Chlorine in the water may contribute to dryness too.

While the easiest way to avoid water-induced dryness is to limit showers/baths to every other day or less, most people won't be happy with such a prospect. Luckily, there are ways to keep your frequent showers and skin moisture at the same time.

First, you don't have to use soap every time you shower, sometimes just water is enough. (Or, if you must, use moisturizing soap.) Second, don't turn water on too hot: the hotter the water, the more sebum it strips off your sebum. Third, add bath oil to your bath. If you prefer showering, you can use a shower-system that can disperse bath-oil or moisturizing gel into the water stream (e.g. via a dispenser attached to the showerhead). Finally, moisturize your body with a lotion (e.g. a long-lasting moisturizer with colloidal oatmeal) right after you get out of the shower.

If all of the above steps prove insufficient, then perhaps frequent bathing is not the only cause of your skin dryness.