November 4, 2020
If your skin is dry, the answer is always more moisturizer, right? Well, not necessarily. According to experts, there is such a thing as over-moisturizing your skin—and using too much lotion can do more harm than good, according to a report by Best Life.
“Yes, you can use too much [moisturizer],” skincare producer Garnier told the publication. “Facial moisturizers are designed to be concentrated, and applying more of a moisturizer doesn’t cause better skin results, Sometimes it can even do the opposite.”
Your skin knows to produce a certain amount of moisture on its own. However, “if you over-moisturize, over time, it will make your skin want to produce less moisture on its own,” says esthetician Nidah Barber-Raymond, owner of The Peel Connection in Beverly Hills.
Wondering if you’re moisturizing your skin too much? Here are the key signs:
- Flakiness: “When over-moisturizing, the repair process becomes stressed, and skin health declines,” says scientist, skincare formulator, and skin expert Cheryl Woodman. The deterioration of your skin health can manifest in many ways, including “dry skin, flaky skin, irritation, rash, and redness
- Dryness: It might sound ironic, but dehydration and dryness are the most common symptoms of over-moisturizing, according to Woodman. She says over-moisturizing can cause your skin to enter a state of plasticization, “which means the skin is no longer able to form an effective skin barrier.” The most common sign of plasticization is “continual dehydration and dryness, no matter how much moisturizer is being used.”
- Acne: Depending on your skin type, over-moisturizing can cause “existing skin conditions to flare, for example, acne or eczema,” says Woodman.
So, how much is the right amount of moisturizer to use? Barber-Raymond told Best Life that using a “nickel size amount of moisturizer one to two times per day depending on your needs.”
Research contact: @BestLifeOnline
