Moisturisers

Dry skin has two primary causes:

• as we get older, our skin typically begins to lose its ability to retain moisture;
• various skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis (eczema) and psoriasis cause the skin to become dry (and then in fact the dry skin exacerbates the skin condition).

Whichever the cause is in your case, moisturizers of the appropriate type can provide very effective treatment.

There are two types of moisturizers: petroleum-based moisturizers and active moisturizers. Petroleum-based moisturizers work by creating a moisture barrier between your skin and the air. Since this barrier lasts for at most a few hours, in order for petroleum-based moisturizers to work, they need to be re-applied every few hours. Aside from the fact that this is very inconvenient and makes your skin feel greasy all of the time, it has the very bad effect of making it impossible for your skin to breathe. Active moisturizers work by restoring the skin's elasticity so that the skin cells themselves can trap the moisture and thus make your skin softer and keep it from becomming dry.

All active moisturizers have a similar moisturizing fraction. The moisturizing fraction is what gives skin cells short-term elasticity so that your skin stays soft for several hours. The differences between the various active moisturizers has primarily to do with how high of a healing fraction they have. The healing fraction is what reverses the effects of aging or the effects of skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis (eczema) and psoriasis. In early adulthood or when there is a skin condition present, all of our skin cells begin to become more porous and less elastic. Our skin becomes increasingly dry. If a substance with a high healing fraction is applied to the skin, then not only are the cells hydrated, but they gradually regain their natural elasticity so that the skin stays soft longer and is better able to keep moisture from escaping. The active moisturizer with the highest healing fraction, is shea butter.