How To Get Rid of Dry, Itchy Skin in the Summer

Out here, in the Arizona desert, we associate summer with dry skin.

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This may be an outlook particular to where we are located geographically. The air here in the summer is intensely hot and dry. We get a little reprieve if we’re lucky during a monsoon season that usually shows up in late July or early August. But often, we spend our summers living up to that old saw, “But, it’s a dry heat!”

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To many others, summer is associated with humidity, so overly dry skin might not necessarily be the most pressing of concerns. But when winter rolls around, we know that you will be feeling the wrath of dry skin, just like desert dwellers are now!

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Desert winters are typically just as dry, and there is really no place to escape the more or less constant thrum of the air conditioner when you live in a desert metropolis like Phoenix, Arizona!

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So, all that said, here at Skin Actives Scientific, we have a lot of experience with dry skin. 

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And it’s likely that you do too, or that you will. Dry skin isn’t just a function of the environment, it’s also a function of age that becomes more acute as the years pass. Past the age of 60, dry skin is almost impossible to avoid, regardless of where you spend your summers.

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So let’s drill down into the causes of dry skin, and just as importantly, what we can do about it.

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What Is Dry Skin?

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Dry skin comes from lots of different places. Sometimes this is easy to address, especially if the dryness is caused by a particular behavior. But these root causes get more difficult to address the further we get into environment and genetics. So knowing what we can do to get great results is all the better.

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At its most fundamental, dry skin is a concern ruled by the loss of what doctors and scientists call the “barrier function” of your skin. 

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Barrier function is exactly what it sounds like. Sometimes it is easy to forget that your skin is, in fact, an organ, just a piece of a greater whole, and it serves a very particular function. On one hand, its job is to hold your other organs and the composite pieces of your body together and in. This is the case for your organs, muscle tissue and bones, but it’s also the case for water, one of the most important substances necessary for human life.

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On the other hand, your skin’s job is to keep lots of things out. That’s right, all those sticks and stones that feel not great on your skin, would be a lot worse if they were impacting your bones and organs. In addition to preventing you from being pierced by physical objects, your skin keeps out unwanted air, moisture, pollutants, and microbes. 

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These are the vital functions of this important organ. If your skin can’t perform its function well, then there is the increasing potential that your health will suffer. When your skin dries out, what you are experiencing is a lack of moisture in the stratum corneum which is latin for “horny layer”, the outermost layer of your skin. 

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Dryness thins your skin and leads to cracking, both of which reduce your body’s ability to resist the elements, contamination, disease and infection. 

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What Are the Causes of Dry Skin?

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Lots of things! Dry skin is characterized by several factors. Commonly, a decline or lack of lipids in the stratum corneum layer of the skin can lead to dry skin. Similarly, an imbalance in the combination of lipids (fatty acids), ceramides, and cholesterols may cause dry skin. Keratinocytes are also critical to skin health on a cellular level, and a decline of keratinocytes for any reason may result in dry skin as well.

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And that science is all well and good, but aside from these chemical reactions, what realities does dry skin potentially reflect? 

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Genetics - You may be predisposed towards dry skin through no fault of your own. Sometimes we just inherit dry skin from our ancestors. If this is the case for you, your issues with dry skin probably manifested in early childhood and you’ve been working with or around this concern for years.

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Chronic or Ongoing Conditions - Sometimes dry skin comes as the side-effect of a different condition we are experiencing in our lives. Malnutrition or dramatic weight loss can lead to dry skin, but postmenupausal women can suffer from it as well. If you are taking a course of oral retinoids or diuretics you might experience dry skin as well.

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Environment - As we were talking about before, sometimes extreme environments can influence the dryness of your skin. Excessively hot environments, or dry environments, especially those created by interior heating and cooling systems can induce or exacerbate dry skin.

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Hygiene - Let’s face it, bathing is fun, but there can be too much of a good thing. Excessive bathing, exposure to too much hot water, harsh soaps, solvents, or detergents can all lead to dry skin. Keep in mind that the clothes you wear may be abrading your skin, agitating it, and drying it out.

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Skincare Routine for Dry, Itchy Skin

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Fortunately, Skin Actives has lots of great ways to address your challenges with dry skin. 

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From what we’ve discussed already, disbalances in lipids, ceramides, and keratinocytes are key features of the dry skin condition. So how do we restore those balances? Over the course of our lifetimes, we may have tried all sorts of lotions and oils. 

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But Skin Actives is here with scientifically formulated products designed to address your dry, itchy skin. If dry, itching, sensitive skin is a concern that you are dealing with, try the following routine!

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Step 1. Gentle Cleanse - If dry skin is your concern, you’ll want to avoid or Salicylic Wash which can be drying. Instead try our Gentle Cream Face Cleanser. This cleanser will remove the accumulated debris of the day without aggravating or stripping your skin and can be used on your face or any other part of the body.

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Step 2. Replace Lipids - For this step you’ll want our Nourishing Skin Serum. This oil is thick with fatty acids and is the ultimate skin replenisher. If you break into this great serum’s ingredient list, you’ll see an absolutely unbelievable line up of hydrating lipids. There are NO FILLERS in this serum, just pure, unadulterated, dry skin banishing oil. A little bit of this great serum goes a very long way, so you’ll be able to attack dry skin on any part of your body, or all over it!

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Step 3. Lock in Hydration - At this step we would usually be recommending an anti-aging cream or one form or another to lock in the serums and oils that you’ve applied. In this step you can choose between one of two great skin-replenishing creams based on concern:

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• Sensitive Skin Cream
  
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Take some of that lipid power of the Nourishing Skin Serum and add in anti-inflammatory action and you’ll have Sensitive Skin Cream. Rich in the lipids and ceramides necessary to rebalance your skin, but also full of soothing antioxidants, incorporate Sensitive Skin Cream to address irritation and redness that might accompany your dry skin.

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• Skin Soothing Cream
  
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This potent skin rebalancer was formulated with “overworked” skin in mind. If you are recovering from a serious treatment, or from other health issues, if your skin is in real trouble, Skin Soothing Cream is there for you. This cream features not just a host of ceramides and fatty acids, but Sea Kelp Coral providing dense nutrients to feed your skin as it works to recover.

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Step 4. Protect Yourself From Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) - The final step before you walk out the door is always sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! In this case try our Sunscreen SPF 30 Advanced Protection for a sunscreen that won’t dry out or aggravate your skin.

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Nourishing Skin Serum, Sensitive Skin Cream and Skin Soothing Cream are all boosted with hemp extract, a safe active that is not a drug and actually works to relieve annoying and aggravating itching sensations. Combat itching, dryness, and skin nutrition all at the same time. In addition, these products are irritant free! That means no fragrances, dyes, drying alcohols or essential oils, perfect for dry skin. If your skin is already dry or easily disbalanced, these are the products for you. Try one today and see!

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Dr. Sivak’s Dry, Itchy Skin Bath Hack

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Meanwhile, our Founder, Dr. Hannah Sivak, has her very own dry skin solution for the Arizona summer, check it out below:

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“What is my answer to itchy, sensitive skin? I prepare a bath with warm (but not hot) water, drop some Nourishing Skin Serum and then I go in. The thin layer of nourishing lipids that my skin needs so badly transfers instantly to every square inch of my body, much more efficiently than if I try to apply it patiently (I have no patience).

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The myriad itches go away and my skin looks great. A bath can be a good use of your time, especially when your skin is dry as it can be, in this Arizonian Summer.

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Be careful not to slip when you are getting out of the bath. Your feet soles will also be covered in oily serum!”

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So there you have it folks, sometimes a bath is just what you need. Just be careful when you get out, and don’t overdo it!

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