UPDATED: Feb 25th, 2023
Ugh…
UUUUUGHHHHH!!!!
Sorry, this topic kinda frustrates me… The skincare industry provided us with moisturizers, but they didn’t explain what they’re actually for or how to use them.
Unsurprisingly, nobody knows what they’re doing when they’re “moisturizing.”
I hear phrases like:
“This moisturizer just doesn’t work!”
“Omg, my moisturizer just sits on top of my skin!”
“My skin is still dry and flaky no matter how heavy the moisturizer is!”
Yes, yes, and yes.
Your moisturizer will not work until you use it properly. There’s no way around this. So let’s get into it.
Why Do You Need A Moisturizer
Did you know that you are constantly evaporating water? We have to start here to understand how to moisturize.
Water travels from the lower levels of your skin to the outer layers where it evaporates into the environment. This is called Transepidermal Water Loss — or TEWL (pronounced like “tool”).
A moisturizer is NOT there to put moisture INTO your skin; it’s there to prevent your skin from EVAPORATING moisture as quickly — thus slowing down transepidermal water loss. The stuff they don’t mention on moisturizer bottles, amma right?
But what if your skin has no moisture, to begin with?
Dry Skin
Dry skin is dry because it doesn’t make enough sebum. Sebum would keep the water in the skin a bit more effectively because it acts as a water/weather-proofer — a pretty good one.
Low amounts of sebum in the skin means that water too easily evaporates from the skin, leaving the skin dry AF.
However, I have worked with many women who live in dry climates like Colorado, who didn’t moisturize properly and thought their skin was dry…Until they discovered the 3-Step Moisture Method™ — coming up further in this article.
Dehydrated Skin
Dehydrated skin, on the other hand, lacks water, not sebum. You’ll find that dehydrated skin is usually both flaky and oily…
It doesn’t have enough water, and the excess oil that it makes doesn’t do anything. Dehydrated skin can result from harsh skincare products and habits, where the skin feels tight and uncomfortable and is dying for proper hydration.
How To Moisturize In A Way That Actually Helps Your Skin
The people of the internet will tell you that dry skin needs oil, while dehydrated skin needs water. And I’ll tell you something else (that’s actually based in logic).
If you apply a moisturizer to dry skin, you are basically sealing it from evaporating water — that it doesn’t have because it has already evaporated.
If you apply a moisturizer to dehydrated skin, you are sealing it from evaporating water — that it doesn’t have because it’s so stripped of moisture.
Wherein lays the problem since this is what most of you do to moisturize.
What’s the number 1 thing that skin lacking moisture needs?
Step 1: Water
Your skin needs water because it’s constantly evaporating it. So start with a damp (not dripping wet) face.
It’s that simple.
Never ever use a moisturizer on a dry skin. It’s a waste of product and can actually have the opposite effect. Plus you’ll need gobs of product, and if terribly formulated, this will cause clogging over time as it sits there sealing in dryness.
I use plain tap water for this step, though I used and promoted thermal water sprays in the past. I find them too wasteful — all the empty bottles plus paying for WATER? Hell nah.
Step 2: Humectants
Now, to keep the water on your skin’s actual surface, your skin benefits from humectant ingredients. Think of humectants as tiny sponges that slow down how quickly water evaporates from your skin — they work best when applied to damp skin (even though they technically work on dry skin as well).
Humectants are found in most products, but especially in jelly textured serums. They include ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, panthanol, sodium PCA, etc.
The most common humectants are hyaluronic acid and OG glycerin.
Hyaluronic acid is usually found in its salt form, seen as sodium hyaluronate on the ingredient list.
Humectants are incredible at slowing down moisture loss, but you’ll hear that hyaluronic acid can hold 1000x more water than its weight, and this is a myth (more like 10-15x).
Humectants work in a funny way though…
They are also capable of drawing moisture from your environment, or if the environment is dry, they can draw moisture from deeper layers of your skin — these deeper layers are still in the epidermis (your outermost layer of skin).
This is fabulous in a humid climate, because it means that a humectant can keep your skin extremely well hydrated, and many of you ask if the next step can be skipped in that context. I still recommend all three steps.
Look for serums that contain at least one humectant, but the best ones contain some combination of them.
You only need 2-4 drops of this to get the benefits. An entire pipette is not necessary! Don’t allow this step to dry before moving on to…
Step 3: Moisturizer (Emollients + Occlusives)
Now that you’ve added all this sumptuous moisture (WATER! HUMECTANTS!) to your skin, what do you do to seal it in and stop it from evaporating?
Enter: your moisturizer.
Now that your face is full of moisture, you need to seal it in with a moisturizer. This is where emollients and occlusives play their part.
Why emollients and occlusives?
Emollient ingredients smooth the skin, give it a supple feeling, and can slow down transepidermal water loss to some extent (not as well as some heavy duty occlusives).
Emollients are ingredients like triglycerides, squalane, oils, some silicones, etc.
I really like triglycerides and the much misunderstood silicones — I tend to avoid all plant oils on my face because of how clogging they can be (despite misleading comedogenicity ratings).
Occlusive ingredients are the best in sealing in the moisture and slowing down the evaporation of water. Examples are petrolatum, the ultimate occlusive, dimethicone, waxes, and butters.
NOTE: Though the internet might be obsessed with almost entirely stopping tewl, it’s not useful. In most cases, your skin doesn’t require extreme occlusion. Slowing, not stopping, tewl is a good enough goal, with spectacular results.
If your skin is extra dry, you really want to focus on occlusives in your moisturizer formula.
Emollients have occlusive properties, and occlusives have emollient properties so often these terms are used interchangeably.
Most moisturizers contains some combinations of water, humectants, emollients and occlusives and people ask me all the time if the first two steps can be skipped.
The answer is: it’s the full 3 steps that take hydration to the next level. Skipping the other two steps just doesn’t cut it.
The amount matters.
You do not need to glob on this step and you’ll need to use a smaller amount than expected.
I use a dot of my moisturizer to seal in the previous 2 steps.
A dot = pea-size amount, while some of you may want to try a pea and a half.
That dot is enough to seal in moisture and hydrate the heeeeeeell out of your skin.
Allow to dry and follow with your fave sunscreen. If you’re a sunscreen newbie, check out this video to learn about some great sunscreens for acne-prone skin to ease you into your new hydrated and protected skin life!
What About The Skin On My Body?
Your body skin deserves love too, and you can apply the 3-Step Moisture Method on your body to have supple, hydrated, and smooth skin. Watch the video for product recommendations for each step.
Final Thoughts
Now you know how to use my world famous 3-Step Moisture Method™. It’s not a trend, it’s a method that maximized skin hydration.
Start with water, then add 2-3 drops of a humectant containing serum, then quickly add a pea-size of your favourite moisturizer to seal in moisture and you get hydrated, clear skin.
This way you not only keep the water from evaporating from your skin, you’ll also add moisture BACK into the skin.
If you do it right, and take your skin’s needs into account, the 3-Step Moisture Method™ doesn’t change from season to season and keeps your skin supple and flake-free — and not just mine, but everyone who has tried it becomes an instant convert.
It might sound cumbersome at first to use 3 steps to moisturize instead of just 1, but having a real moisturization routine will transform your skin, and takes all of 15 seconds.
Use it twice a day, every day and see for yourself. 🙂
Enjoy!
Love & Logic,
Olena
P.S. If you need further help on your skin-clearing journey and want to master the rest of your skincare steps so that they support and protect your skin, you can learn about the Skin Queen™ course here!
Try these:
Tap water
The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid + B5
Bioderma Hydrabio Light Gel Creme
NOTE: Everyone’s skin is different, and though this combination may work for a lot of people, it may not work for you.
