e.l.f. Discovery

THE BEST SKINCARE ROUTINE FOR DRY SKIN

By Brooke Sager

Struggling with dry skin? Your current skincare routine could be in the prep and all wrong for your skin type!

The cause of dry, rough skin can have many culprits: cold, dry weather, excess sun exposure, hard water, as well as using too-harsh skincare products that can leave your face feeling tight, flaky or rough.

Here’s the good news: reworking your skincare regimen to feature gentle, hydrating, and highly effective products will help replenish your skin’s moisture and leave you with a glowing, smooth, and radiant complexion. The best place to start when selecting ideal skincare for dry skin is by looking at product ingredient lists. Selecting formulas that are enriched with hydrating hyaluronic acid, peptides, ceramides will help replenish lost moisture to dry, thirsty skin.

So, what’s the best dry skincare routine for dry skin? We’ve got you covered with this easy day-to-night routine featuring e.l.f. skin’s cult-favorite Holy Hydration! skincare collection. Consider it your new go-to step-by-step lineup of cleansers, moisturizers, SPF, eye cream, face mask to help improve the look and feel of dry skin.

CLEANSE YOUR SKIN OF IMPURITIES

First things first: Put your freshest face forward by cleansing your skin every morning and evening. If you have dry skin, it’s important to select a gentle cleanser that can effectively wash away dirt and impurities without stripping your skin or disrupting its moisture barrier.

A cardinal rule we won’t budge on: always remove your makeup before bed. Whether you were rocking a full face of makeup or just the basics for your Zoom call, make sure the day’s look is totally off before you hit the pillow to help prevent breakouts and bacterial growth. Reach for our unique Holy Hydration! Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm, which transforms into a nourishing oil-milk hybrid when you add water. It works to easily melt away makeup (even waterproof!), leaving dry skin feeling, smooth, clean, and plump with hydration.

MOISTURIZE AND DEFEND YOUR SKIN FROM UV RAYS WITH SPF

PSA for all skin types, including dry skin: protect your face from the sun with broad spectrum SPF every. single. elf-ing. day. This doesn’t just go for sunny summer days—even when it’s cloudy out, the sun’s harmful UVA/UVB rays can lead to sunburn and free radical damage, harming your skin barrier and showing up as signs of premature aging (or worse, skin cancer).

Incorporating a daily face moisturizer into your daily routine that delivers at least SPF 30 protection locks moisture in and is a must for shielding your skin. Our Holy Hydration! Face Cream - SPF 30 is a moisturizer-sunscreen hybrid, working to nourish, soften, and protect your skin while delivering non-greasy, lasting hydration to the face. The lightweight, quick-absorbing formula is infused with skin-loving ingredients like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and peptides to brighten, plump, and replenish lost moisture—just a few added perks for dry skin!

Pro tip: Reapply your SPF at least every two hours, especially when you’re outside swimming or sweating.

MOISTURIZE YOUR DRY SKIN IN THE EVENINGS, TOO

After you wash your face at night, it’s important to re-add any lost moisture back in with a hydrating, pampering moisturizer.

So, you ask: what’s the best moisturizer for dry skin? Our Holy Hydration! Face Cream is the hydrating holy grail of your skin’s dreams, and needs to be added to your nightly routine stat. The fast-absorbing formula is bursting with hyaluronic acid for a plump complexion, niacinamide to help minimize pores and even out skin tone, squalane to improve skin’s balance and elasticity, and vitamin B5 soothe and deeply hydrate dry skin.

If you and your skin have fragrance sensitivities, try our Holy Hydration! Face Cream - Fragrance-Free for the same hydrating benefits without the scent.

NOURISH YOUR DELICATE UNDER EYE AREA

Do you really need to use eye cream? The answer is absolutely, and the sooner you start, the better! The thin, vulnerable skin around your eye is extra-prone dryness and wrinkles. Eye cream is more concentrated than your regular face cream to help nourish and target early signs of aging (e.g., fine lines and wrinkles), dry skin, puffiness, and undereye bags.

Our Holy Hydration! Eye Cream is infused with hyaluronic acid and peptides to plump and hydrate that delicate skin for a refreshed, youthful, “I just got eight hours of sleep” look. To use, gently dab into the corners of your eye area using your ring finger (no tugging!) every morning and evening to help soothe and nourish.

Lock in Hydration While You Catch Some Sleep

Your skin deserves a good night’s rest, too. If you have dry skin, you’ll really reap the benefits of adding a sleep mask to your nighttime skincare routine for an extra boost of hydration while you sleep.

Two-to-three times a week, apply our rich and creamy Holy Hydration! Sleeping Mask as a rinse-off mask (leave it on for at least 10 minutes) or an overnight mask (rinse it off as part of your a.m. routine). A surge of moisturizing hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and peptides will help keep dry skin extra-soft and supple so you (and your face) can wake up looking and feeling refreshed.