Human beings are made up of 50-75% water, so you can imagine what kind of havoc dehydration can raise in our bodies. That includes your hair, skin, and nails. Being in the Phoenix/ Scottsdale area, we are especially susceptible to dehydration. If you are anything like the two of us, you forget to drink water on occasion when you are busy or distracted. If you do this too often, it can cause some damage. Here are some ways our hair, skin, and nails are affected by the dry, desert environment, and some tips to manage it.
While hair doesn’t require water to stay alive, your hair and scalp are affected by dehydration. Your scalp gets dry, itchy, and flaky. The hair develops a rough texture, and you have more frizz and flyaways. It can look dull and will tangle more, causing more breakage and split ends. When you are dehydrated, your scalp produces less sebum, the natural skin oils. Proper hydration will improve scalp health, and support healthy hair growth. To further combat the dryness of the desert, choose humectant rich products to improve moisture retention, like a high quality leave in. Emollient hair oils will soften dry strands. Occlusives like a silicone based serum will lock in that moisture so the dry air doesn’t steal it away. We recommend a hydrating shampoo and conditioner, like Amika’s Hydro Rush shampoo* and conditioner* or Matrix Food for Soft shampoo* and conditioner*. Apply a leave-in conditioner on damp hair to pull that moisture into the hair. We like the Amika Hydro Rush leave in conditioner*, Kenra’s Pearl Detangler*, or the Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Moisture Mist*. After leave in, apply a heat protecting styling product that contains occlusives. We like Paul Mitchell’s Super Skinny Serum* or Kenra’s Blow Dry Mist*, or the Joico Curls like Us* curl creme styler. Keeping your hair hydrated will maintain your hair’s longevity and manageability.
The skin shows signs of dehydration before anywhere else in the body. The skin becomes tight after washing. Fine lines become more visible as water volume decreases. Your skin becomes dull with rough or flaky patches. The elasticity decreases and it can cause darkening of under eye circles. You may experience itchiness. Now, there is a difference between dehydrated skin and dry skin, but symptoms overlap. Dry skin lacks oil. Dehydrated skin lacks water. Your skin can be oily, acne-prone, and still be dehydrated. Those same rules above can be applied to dry or dehydrated skin. Start by using a humectant rich product to increase your skin’s water content, and apply it to damp skin, followed by a moisturizer with emollients and occlusives to lock that moisture in. Make sure you are using spf in the harsh UV rays. Your skin is your largest organ and it protects you from the outside world. The least we can do is take care of it.
Nails are made up of layers of keratin that need a balanced moisture level to maintain their flexibility. Dehydration in our nails looks like breakage, splitting, a rough surface, cracking around the cuticles, and dryness in the cuticles. Some other similar causes to nail dryness are frequent hand washing (our nemesis), alcohol based hand sanitizers, acetone use, repeated wet to dry cycles (we can relate to a lot of these), aging, nutritional deficiencies, and medical conditions. The dry Phoenix and Scottsdale heat, the intense sun, combined with the other factors above can be a recipe for brittle, broken nails.
The importance of keeping your meat suit sufficiently hydrated cannot be understated. In this climate it is especially important to develop good hydration habits. Both Diane and I have started taking steps to stay hydrated despite the tendency we both have to hyperfixate on our job. We usually keep a water bottle handy during those long days behind the chair. What steps have you taken to keep on top of drinking water?
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