While it’s good to ensure a thorough wash for hygiene reasons, it’s not always a good idea to spend so much time in the shower. Prolonged exposure to shower water can actually dry the skin out, leaving you with dry or itchy skin. Limit your showers to just 10 minutes – plus, you can actually save water that way as well.

Hot water strips skin of its lipids faster compared to warm water. Hot water also damages the outermost layer of your skin, making it susceptible to moisture loss. Hot water can also irritate and aggravate existing skin conditions like acne, rosacea and eczema, so it’s best to stick to warm or even cold water.

Bar soaps are notoriously drying on skin. That’s because they not only clean off impurities on the skin but also remove skin’s natural lipids at the same time; leaving skin feeling dry and tight. Choosing the right shower product like the Bioderma Atoderm Huile de Douche respects skin’s natural pH levels, as well as clean off dirt and impurities without stripping skin of its natural moisture.

Besides its ability to nourish and hydrate very dry, eczema-prone skin, its unique formula also helps limit the adhesion of S.aureus bacteria on skin, thus reducing skin itching and irritation. It goes on as a clear fluid, and emulsifies to form a nourishing milky fluid upon contact with water; helping to cleanse skin without drying it out.

Being busy urbanites, we often rush through certain tasks without thinking much of it. In a bid save time while drying our bodies after showering, rubbing the water droplets off skin can often be abrasive. Skin is often more susceptible to dryness and damage when wet, and harsh drying methods can aggravate existing skin conditions as well. So love your skin a little more, and be a bit more mindful when drying your body – dab dry with a soft towel instead.

The best time to hydrate skin is actually immediately after you’ve showered. When you leave skin to dry before applying moisturiser, you give skin the opportunity to dry out further through trans-epidermal water loss. This means that skin would end up being drier unless you lock in the hydration with a moisturiser.

Choosing the right moisturiser is also important as the right one should help repair skin’s moisture barrier, as well as relieve any skin irritation. While the desire to smell nice after showering is strong, a moisturiser or body lotion that is heavily scented should be discouraged as the fragrance in these body lotions may trigger sensitivity, especially on sensitive skin.

The Bioderma Atoderm PP Baume is formulated without any parabens, alcohol, fragrance and preservatives so it’s gentle on skin and even suitable for babies above six months of age. It contains the Vitamin PP formula (also known as vitamin B3 or niacinamide), which helps reduce trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), as well as stimulate ceramide production, helping skin to lock in moisture. Its balm-like texture absorbs quickly to soothe dryness and itching, relieving any skin irritation to restore healthy skin barrier.

READ MORE:
2 Simple Ways To Ease Itching If You Have Dry or Eczema-Prone Skin
Best Beauty Buys 2018: Best Micellar Water (Reader’s Choice)

A Bioderma special, brought to you by The Singapore Women’s Weekly.