A Product Guide for Relief from Dry Skin

For many, dry skin doesn't just occur during the winter-time, but its an around-the-year pain. But there is relief from dry itchy skin for all of us. Try a few of these remedies and your skin will be more hydrated and healthy.

1. Use Shower/Bath Oils
Lotions are greasy, often smelly, and annoying to apply daily. Thankfully bath and shower oils are becoming more and more readily available. It can be as simple as purchasing a bottle of sunflower, safflower, almond, or grapeseed oil from your local market and applying it to your dry skin in the shower for instant relief. You can also use hydrating oils on your hands for additional moisture. These oils are light and will leave your skin hydrated and silky, not greasy. You can purchase Aveeno's Shower and Bath Oil.

2. Choose your Body Washes and Soaps Wisely
Many of us use body washes and soaps that actually remove oil from our skin instead of adding healthy oils. Soaps such as Lever 2000, Neutrogena, and Dove can severely dry out your skin. Instead, try Aveeno's Skin Relief Body Wash or Moisturizing Bar for hydrated skin relief.

3. Use a Humidifier (or the like)
Humidifiers add humidity, or moisture, to the air. Dry skin often is a symptom of an environment with low-humidity (a dry environment). So if you want your skin to be hydrated and healthy, try purchasing a humidifier. You can also simply place a full tea kettle or pot of water on your stove and let the water boil off. This will increase the moisture in the air and thus assist in relieving your dry skin. Try this small Honeywell 2.5 gallon Warm Moisture Humidifier.

4. Use a Salt Scrub
Salt scrubs are made up of hydrating oils, salt, and essential oil. By scrubbing this concoction over your dry skin in the shower or bath, your skin gets both exfoliated (from the salt) and hydrated (from the oil). For information on how to make your own hydrating salt scrub, check out this article. If you don't feel like making your own, try Alba's Hawaiian Body Scrub .

5. Use a Moisturizing Face Wash
The skin on our faces is so delicate that we really must take good care of it. If your face is consistently dry, it's time to try a new face wash that moisturizes and hydrates. Try Neutrogena's Extra Gentle Cleanser or Phisoderm's Clean Cleanser for Sensitive Skin. Try not to wash your face more than twice a day, because even with these moisturizing cleansers, excessive face washing will lead to dry skin.

6. Always have a Good Hand Cream on Hand
Even for those who use body oils regularly, hands always seem to be extra dry! For this reason, you should always have a good hand cream ready-in your purse, at work, next to your bed, and at the couch. Eucerin's Intensive Repair Hand Cream is one of the best out there. Aveeno's Intensive Relief Hand Cream is also wonderful (and no, this article isn't a plug for Aveeno-their products are just so great for healing dry skin).

7. Drink Plenty of Water
Drinking plenty of water each day will also help to relieve your dry skin-after all, our body gets its moisture from the water we take in each day. So increase your water consumption and your skin will be overall more healthy and hydrated.