Hydrating vs Moisturizing: What’s the Difference?!

Ever wondered why your skin still feels dry and flaky no matter how much you’ve been trying to moisturize it? I get you, girl!

For the longest time, I’ve been loosely interchanging “hydrating” and “moisturizing” thinking that they both mean the same thing—but apparently, these serve two very different purposes when it comes to choosing your beauty products. And it’s very crucial to understand the main difference between the two to be able to effectively target what your skin really needs.  

We might get a bit scientific here, but I’ll try my best to explain them in the simplest way I can!

Moisturizing

Basically, moisturizers are formulated to seal moisture into the skin. It forms a barrier over the skin’s surface to reduce the risk of water and moisture loss or the evaporation of the existing moisture in your skin. Moisturizers help retain what moisture is already present on your skin at the time of application.

Those who suffer with dry skin have a damaged lipid barrier (What in the world is a lipid barrier?! Stay with me!). So your lipid barrier is the main thing responsible for your skin’s natural ability to protect itself from moisture loss. It communicates to your sebaceous glands whether it’s time to produce more oil or sebum—and it is this oil or sebum that coats your skin’s surface and acts as the barrier or mask that prevents moisture loss.

And this, my friends, is exactly why moisturizers tend to feel a bit sticky and oily on your face! They are formulated to form a barrier over your skin’s surface that prevents moisture loss. Just think of moisturizers as a protective mask that prevents the moisture of your skin from evaporating!

Conclusion

Bottom line is, these two products work together in keeping your skin healthy!

Remember to apply hydrating products first, and then your moisturizer second. You’d want to add water to your skin first with the help of your hydrating product and then lock that moisture in with your moisturizer. Although there are some moisturizers infused with hydrating ingredients, they aren’t always able to penetrate your skin as deeply as a hydrating one so it’s still best to look for a product that targets hydration.

How would you know if your skin is dry or just dehydrated? 

Well, first, there’s skin type (what you’re naturally born with, such as oily or dry skin) and there’s skin condition (it’s something that can cause you to experience other skin problems like acne and irritation, which is usually just temporary, but can sometimes stay for good).

If you have a dry skin type, your skin naturally lacks oil and needs to be moisturized. This means you’re also dry everywhere else on your body including your hands, scalp, legs, etc.

If you have dehydrated skin condition, your skin lacks water and therefore needs to be hydrated. Dehydrated skin can be caused by lots of factors like your makeup, diet, if you used a wrong product, the weather, and many more. And when your skin is dehydrated, it actually tends to create more oil to make up for the lacking water in your skin. This is why you can even feel oily and dry at the same time (aka me!). If this is happening to you as well, try to identify what’s dehydrating you, and then correct it with hydrating products!

Verdict

Now I understand why my skin feels dry and flaky no matter how much I apply my moisturizer! While my moisturizer seems to help soothe the dry spots on my face, I notice that it doesn’t last long before it starts to flake up again, and it’s because I’m not really fixing the root of my skin’s problem—dehydration!

So the next time you feel like your skin is flaking up, the first thing you’d like to ask is—is your skin dry or dehydrated?

Sources:

Bee Naturals, True Skin Care Center, Dermalogica

Written by:

Maan Fernandez

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Maan loves her a good brow pencil, mascara, tint, and anything pink! She has combination skin, so a trusty oil blotter is all she needs to keep her t-zone in check. She’ll never get too old for a trip to the amusement park, and a half-dozen basket of Garlic Parmesan wings is the key to her tummy!

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