When you have found out that you have dry skin it can take a lot of skin to get your sin hydrated once again so that it is no longer flaky and looking dull. All you want is for your skin to stay young looking, healthy and strong.

Having dry skin means that you will have heard of a number of words on certain products that promise that will help to get rid of your dry skin within just a matter of days or even after just one use of the product.

But do you actually know what these terms mean and just what they are supposed to really do?

Here is an easy to understand glossary of the words that many skin care product companies are including in their marketing campaigns.

The first buzz word that seems to be appearing everywhere is that of emollient. All this is a heavy duty moisturizer for very dry skin, and this is meant to stop moisture being lost from the skin. As well as preventing the skin from losing water they also help to soothe the skin also.

They are generally not an actual products themselves but are additional ingredients within an existing product that will help reduce moisture loss.

Another popular phrase is that of humectant and this allows the skin more of an ability to retain water and therefore prevents the loss of moisture which is the reason behind dry skin.

Finally we have the term emulsifier which uses both water and oil to help replenish any lost water back to your skin. But water and oil do not mix. And this is what the emulsifier is for as it acts as a stabiliser for products that do not mix very well together.

Look and touch different areas of your face and see which parts are dry and which are not. From this you will be able to determine just how dry your skin really is and which products with which ingredients you will want to use.