Dry skin is annoying. Everyone who has dry skin knows it’s annoying. The discolorations it can lead to, flakiness, redness, and general unhappiness of the skin. Dry spots can be hard to get rid of sometimes, even with constant applications of moisturizer. There are probably days you look in the mirror and want to scream. Stupid dry skin. Why won’t it just go away?

Dry skin is just like any other skin problem. You have to step outside yourself for a moment and take in the situation as a whole. Is your face the only place where dry skin exists, or do you experience dry skin elsewhere on your body? Now is the time to find out how to manage dry skin and how to get over the things you might not be able to change about the way your skin functions.

You might have dry skin for a variety of reasons. You should try to figure out what that reason is (or it may be a combination of things, so keep this in min). Dry skin can appear when you move and there is a climate change. The water you shower in can be a factor in dry skin as hard water is more moisture-stealing than soft water.

The products you use may sap moisture from your skin. Sun damage, other heat damage, wind damage, and other external elements can be responsible in part for dryness. If you have dry places on your legs and arms, consider what you shower and shave with. Examine all aspects of your life, habits included, and try to choose a few factors that may be contributing to your dry skin.

Once you identify what some of the problems are, you can begin managing them so your skin can begin to recover. While getting your hard water to become soft would be a huge challenge (and in some cases, just not possible), changing from bar soap to a moisture rich body wash can make a huge difference. Changing a dull razor to a new one always helps your skin.

Realizing that your move from Washington to Arizona means more dry skin can mean looking for a heavier moisturizer than before. Making sure you put on extra protection for the sun, covering your hands during winter, and taking other precautions against the weather and seasons can mean healthier skin and softer cuticles on hands. Double check the age of your skin care products in order to make sure they have not passed up their shelf life. As you age, you should always make changes in your product choices accordingly, as what your skin needed when you were 19 is not going to be what you need now that you are 30.

Some people will have dry skin that is more severe than others. Treat your skin accordingly and use thicker moisturizers if you need to. Give other dry areas of your body special attention such as feet, hands, legs, and arms. Exercising and eating right can help contribute to non-dry skin because a healthy body leads to healthy skin. Know what your skin is doing before and after you shower so you know when moisturizer is needed most and whether or not something you do in between is affecting your skin.

Above all, keep your chin up. Worrying about dry skin will get you absolutely nowhere. Actually doing something will get you better results. Also, as frustrating as dry skin can be, it should not have such a strong hold on your life. Yes, it can become annoying and possibly bring down your self-esteem, but just because you have dry skin it does not mean you should be ashamed of how you look.

Remember, no one is perfect; all those models on billboards are all airbrushed. There is no such thing as perfect skin. Find good products and stick to them until your skin demands change and learn to accept your skin for what it is, even if it does tend to be dry from time to time.