By six in the evening your face feels a size too small. More cream helps for an hour, then it is back.
That is often not dry skin at all. It is dehydrated skin, and it needs something different.
The difference, in one line each
Dry skin is short of oil. It is a skin type, and you usually have it all year.
Dehydrated skin is short of water. It is a condition, and any skin type can have it, even oily skin.
How to tell which one you have
Dry skin looks matte and can flake. It rarely feels oily, even by the end of the day.
Dehydrated skin feels tight, yet can still look shiny. Fine lines show more when you smile, then soften.
A simple test: gently pinch your cheek. If it creases finely and stays creased for a moment, it is likely short of water.
What dehydrated skin needs
Two halves. Something to pull water in, and something richer on top to keep it there.
Hyaluronic acid and glycerin pull water in. Apply them to damp skin.
Shea butter, squalane and ceramides seal it. Without that second layer, the water leaves by lunchtime.
What dry skin needs
Oil it does not make enough of. A richer cream at night. A gentle cleanser that does not strip.
What makes both worse
Hot water. Foaming cleansers that leave you squeaky. Air conditioning, and a Highveld winter.
When to see a doctor
If your skin cracks, bleeds, itches badly or does not improve after four weeks of gentle care, see a doctor.