Does your face feel like sandpaper? Do you prefer a heavy moisturizer for dry skin? Is your skin dull and sallow? Do bar soaps make your skin itchy? Then you probably are a Dry Baumann Skin Type®. Not all dry skin types are the same so it is best to know which Dry Baumann Skin Type you have in order to choose the best moisturizers for your dry skin. If you have not already done so, take the skin type quiz now so you don’t waste time learning about skin issues that do not apply to you.

There are 8 distinct Dry Baumann Skin Types. All dry Baumann Skin Types have difficulty holding onto water and become dehydrated. All 8 dry skin types may have these skin problems:

Water evaporating off the skin is known as transepidermal water loss (TEWL). It is measured with a device called a tewameter.

Tewameters help us evaluate which products work best together. The information we learn from testing various skin care routines with a tewameter allows us to develop our dermatologist recommended skin care routines for dry skin. The perfect skin routine will lower the amount of water that evaporates from the skin and increase the amount of water content in the skin. The amount of water in the skin can also be measured with devices such as a Corneometer. I have learned from over a decade of skin care research that the cleansers and moisturizers dramatically affect skin hydration. Whether you have mildly dry skin, dry skin, very dry skin, or extremely dry skin- our advice is the same: protect and repair your skin barrier.

The best way to know if your skin is dry is to identify your Baumann Skin Type.

The 8 different Dry Baumann Skin Types are divided into 2 groups:

Dry sensitive skin types also suffer from one or more of the following: acne dry skin, rosacea dry skin, stinging dry skin and allergic dry skin. Your dry sensitive skin treatment will depend upon the type of skin sensitivity you have.

Dry-resistant skin types do not have a high risk for inflammation and blemish-free skin except for a rare pimple. Dry-resistant skin types do not have rosacea, or skin stinging or a high risk of allergic reactions. Using the best skincare products for dry skin can turn your skin from a dry sensitive skin type into a dry resist skin type. Your dermatologist-recommended dry skin products will depend upon which Baumann Skin Type you have; for example- do you also have an uneven skin tone or wrinkles? If so- your dry skin care routine should address those issues.

The only way to be certain of your Baumann Skin Type® is to take the Skin Type Quiz or find a medical provider near you that will diagnose your Baumann Skin Type®.

Once you know if you have dry skin and which dry skin type you have, we can recommend the best face products and best skincare routine for dry skin. Many people are incorrect about whether or not their skin is dry or oily. In fact, this is one of the most important sections of the skin type quiz because if you are using products for oily skin when you have dry skin, this will affect the results of your dry skin care routine. The quiz will accurately tell you if you have dry skin or you can find a provider to evaluate your skin and see if it is dry and address your dry skin concerns here.

The main skin problems seen with dry skin are rough texture, skin dullness, scaling skin. Stinging, itching and skin tightness. These are all caused by the same thing: not enough water in the layers of the epidermis. Dry skin types have little holes in the skin barrier that allows water to evaporate off of the skin. This is most evident in a dry climate. Cleansers and moisturizers have a profound effect on the skin’s ability to hold onto water. The best way to solve dry skin problems is to use the correct cleanser and moisturizer for your skin type. The best cleansers for dry skin are non-foaming cleansers and cleansing oils. A barrier repair moisturizer is the best moisturizer for dry skin. The type of water and the temperature of the water that you use to cleanse your face also has an effect on dry skin.

The best skin care product for dry skin depends upon what other issues you have. Do you have skin sensitivity? Do you have an uneven skin tone? Do you have mature skin or wrinkle-prone skin? It is very important that the skin care products you use for dry skin take into account all of these issues. You may ask “Why does this matter? Can’t I just choose the best cleanser and moisturizer for dry skin?” No! It is important to customize your skincare products to your skin problems.

One way to illustrate this is an uneven skin tone. Dry skin is often itchy which leads to scratching. The rough texture of the skin can cause friction. Friction causes inflammation. Inflammation, sun exposure and hormones can lead to dark spots on the skin. So here is the issue- if you have dry skin AND dark spots on the face- the moisturizer you choose might be inactivating the skin lightening cream you are using to remove dark spots on the face. You need a moisturizer that has the correct fatty acids in it- such as linoleic acid- so that the moisturizer will help your skin lightening cream work better. This is one of the many reasons that you need to consider both your dry skin type and your other skin concerns in addition to what is the best skincare routine order for dry uneven skin types.

The Dry Baumann Skin Types have dry skin on the face, so the recommendation here are specific for dry skin on the face- not body. (Eczema and dry body skin are discussed in a different section).

The best skincare routine for dry skin on the face depends upon the other skin conditions that you have as discussed above. However, there are a few skincare product categories that a dry skin care routine should always have.

The best cleansers for dry skin do not have a lot of detergent in them. Detergents are responsible for the foaming seen in cleansers. Detergents dry the skin. Look for cleansing oils and non-foaming cleansers like creamy cleansers that deposit lipids on the skin. The oil-based and lipid-filled creamy cleansers help seal the holes in the skin barrier and help the skin hold onto water. They also help protect the skin barrier from scratching and friction that occur with a dry and rough skin texture.

The best moisturizers for dry skin repair the skin barrier with lipids that plug the holes in the skin. They are referred to as “Barrier Repair Moisturizers”. Most moisturizers on the market treat the symptoms of dry skin but not the actual cause. Treating the defects in the skin barrier with lipids is the best way to hydrate skin. Lipids contain various types of fatty acids. The type of fatty acid in moisturizers is very important when designing a skincare routine for dry skin. The fatty acid choice will depend upon your Baumann Skin Type.

Trust Skin type Solutions to customize your skincare routine for your dry skin and skin issues. There is a lot to consider- and we are experts who have tested these regimens on our patients.

Do you want to learn more about dry skin? An overview of dry skin is here.