Home remedies for dry skin on your face: what helps and what harms

NATURAL SKINCARE

Which home remedies really help dry skin on the face?

The only home remedies that genuinely help dry facial skin are those that either bind water or slow down water loss without irritating the skin in the process. Dry skin has two needs: the outermost layer, the stratum corneum, is short of moisture, and it is short of the lipids that hold on to that moisture. Honey and oats belong in the first group, plant oils in the second. What neither group can do is rebuild the barrier itself. They ease the feeling of tightness, nothing more. There is also a point that lists of ten home remedies tend to leave out: food is made for the plate, not for the skin. It is not preserved, its composition varies, and it often goes from the jar to your face via your fingers. For resilient skin, that is usually no big deal; for sensitive or already irritated skin, it is a gamble. The article on very dry skin on the face explains in detail why it needs lipids above all, not just water.

Olive oil or coconut oil: which kitchen oil is good for your face?

Of the kitchen oils, sunflower oil is the best fit for the face, coconut oil works with caveats and olive oil is the least suitable. That is what a small but widely cited study in Pediatric Dermatology shows. Adult volunteers applied six drops of olive oil to one forearm twice a day. After four weeks, the integrity of the stratum corneum was significantly reduced and mild redness appeared, even in people with no history of atopic dermatitis. Sunflower oil on the other arm preserved the stratum corneum, caused no redness and improved hydration. The researchers therefore advise against using olive oil for dry skin. A forearm is not a face, and with 19 volunteers in total the study is small. Still, the direction is clear enough not to massage olive oil into your face every day just because it is natural.

Coconut oil fared better in a randomised trial in the journal Dermatitis: in 34 people with mild to moderate dryness on their legs, it improved skin hydration and surface lipids over two weeks just as well as mineral oil. That speaks for coconut oil on the body; on the face, the more relevant question is which oils really are a problem for your pores. If you are looking for a facial oil, you are usually better off with jojoba oil for your face than with whatever is in the kitchen cupboard. And whichever oil you choose, it goes on as the last step and never replaces the moisture underneath.

What do honey, quark and yoghurt do as a face mask?

Honey does the most as a mask; quark and yoghurt are more feel-good masks with a cooling effect. Honey consists mainly of fructose and glucose, sugars that attract and hold water. A review in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology describes its role in cosmetics as emollient, humectant and soothing. The same review puts the usual honey content of cosmetic products at between 1 and 10 per cent. A mask of pure honey is therefore far more concentrated than most creams containing honey, and that is not automatically better: it is sticky, hard to spread and can contain traces of pollen that sensitive skin reacts to. In practice, that means applying a thin layer, rinsing it off with lukewarm water after a few minutes and then carrying on with your usual skincare.

Quark and yoghurt contain water, a little milk fat, protein and lactic acid. Lactic acid is used in skincare as a mild AHA, but in quark it is present in unknown and varying amounts. The cool mixture feels good on tight skin, and the skin feels softer once it has been rinsed off. There is no evidence of a lasting effect on dry skin. The real catch is hygiene: dairy products spoil quickly at room temperature. So use them only fresh from the fridge, never on broken or irritated skin and never overnight.

Does an oat compress help dry facial skin?

An oat compress can soothe dry, tight facial skin in the short term, but it does not replace daily skincare. Oats are one of the few home remedies for which there are any useful studies at all, although in processed form: colloidal oatmeal is ground extremely finely and used in standardised amounts in lotions, creams and bath products. A study in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology found in the lab that oat extracts activate genes involved in the skin barrier and lipid metabolism and buffer pH. In the clinical part, a lotion containing colloidal oatmeal improved dryness, hydration and barrier function in 50 women with moderate to severe dry skin on their lower legs. It is important to be clear about what this does not prove: what was tested was a finished lotion, not oats from the kitchen.

For a compress at home, put two tablespoons of fine porridge oats in a clean cotton cloth, let them steep in lukewarm water for a few minutes and dab the milky oat water onto your skin with the cloth. Leave it on briefly, do not rub, then moisturise. Make the oat water fresh each time and throw away any leftovers. If you have a known oat allergy, skip it. On days when your skin stings after the cold or a hot shower, the compress is a good stopgap. What it does not replace is a cream that replenishes lipids every day.

Which home remedies do more harm than good for dry skin?

The home remedies most likely to harm dry skin are those that are acidic, alkaline, abrasive or heavily scented, because they attack the stratum corneum, which is already weakened. The most common candidates from advice lists:

• Lemon juice: highly acidic and risky in the sun. A review in the journal Life describes how furocoumarins from citrus fruits such as limes can trigger phototoxic skin reactions in combination with UV light, with redness, blisters and dark discolouration.
• Apple cider vinegar: also highly acidic. Why it is risky as a toner for sensitive skin is explained in our article on apple cider vinegar on your face.
• Sugar and salt scrubs: the crystals have sharp edges and chafe skin that is already rough.
• Bicarbonate of soda and baking powder: alkaline, and therefore the opposite of the slightly acidic environment the skin’s surface needs.
• Undiluted essential oils, such as tea tree or lavender oil: highly concentrated fragrances and well-known triggers of contact allergies.
• Olive oil as daily care: in the trial, the stratum corneum became weaker rather than stronger.
• Hot facial steaming: it feels nourishing, but the heat and steam often leave sensitive, dry skin feeling tighter afterwards.

Fresh gel straight from an aloe leaf is also less harmless than it looks, because the yellowish sap at the edge of the leaf can irritate the skin, and the gel spoils quickly. The article on aloe vera gel for your face explains what shop-bought gel can and cannot do. And if you apply a thick layer of Vaseline overnight, you are already slugging with petroleum jelly, a method of its own with its own rules.

When is a home remedy no longer enough?

A home remedy is no longer enough if your skin still feels tight, flakes or stings after several weeks of consistent care, or if cracks, itching and red, scaly patches appear. In that case, there is often more to it than a dry winter. Eczema, atopic dermatitis, perioral dermatitis or rosacea can look similar at first and should be assessed by a dermatologist. Skincare can only play a supporting role there. With ordinary dry skin, the problem is usually simpler: home remedies provide every so often what the skin needs every day. A honey mask on a Sunday cannot make up for a week of central heating and hot water.

What helps in the long run is skincare that covers both needs, morning and evening: humectants first, then lipids on top that keep that moisture in the skin. The article on winter face cream for mature, dry skin covers which cream suits cold weather and heated indoor air. The ideas behind the useful home remedies – plant juice for moisture, plant oils for lipids – can be put into practice more safely in a stable formulation: no spoiling, a consistent composition and no detour via the fridge. The Duo, a serum and a cream, addresses both of these needs, with aloe vera juice as its base, hyaluronic acid in three molecular sizes in the serum, and jojoba oil, squalane and ceramides in the cream.

Frequently asked questions