When it is chilly exterior, you placed on layers to insulate your physique, protecting the heat in and the chilliness out. The identical idea ought to apply to your body-care routine—slather on layers of serums, lotions, and oils to hydrate your pores and skin, lock in moisture, and maintain the dry air out. That is the premise that mannequin and wonder content material creator Dana Patterson used to create the “dolphin pores and skin” routine.
“The primary factor that we’re making an attempt to do on this routine, particularly throughout winter after we’re in numerous synthetic warmth, is lure water into our pores and skin,” says Patterson in a latest TikTok. This prevents transepidermal water loss (TEWL), which is when moisture leaves your pores and skin and evaporates into the air. When your moisture barrier is robust and prepped, you may retain moisture as an alternative of shedding it.
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Patterson’s routine incorporates the “massive three” sorts of moisturizing components: humectants, emollients, and occlusives. And derms agree that this layering approach is ideal for stopping TEWL.
“These moisturizing components work greatest when paired collectively,” says Tiffany Libby, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Rhode Island. “Humectants assist hydrate and draw moisture into pores and skin, emollients add again moisturizing oils, and occlusives then assist seal in moisture to forestall moisture loss.”
Patterson says that “an important factor on this routine is the order wherein you apply the merchandise,” so go forward and comply with the steps under to attain baby-soft pores and skin for your self.
Get silky-soft ‘Dolphin Pores and skin’ in 4 steps
1. Apply a physique serum with glycerin
Making use of hydrating merchandise to moist pores and skin makes it simpler for them to soak up, so your greatest wager is to start out your “dolphin” routine proper after you bathe.
“On very damp, borderline moist pores and skin, you are going to apply a serum that features humectants,” says Patterson.
Humectants are sometimes called “skin-care sponges,” and can suck moisture from the remainder of your merchandise deep down into your pores and skin. Patterson notes that her favourite ingredient on this class is glycerin, which board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, beforehand referred to as “the one, no-bells-and=whistles ingredient that is nice at drawing water into the pores and skin and is nice for everybody.” Hyaluronic acid, which is known for holding 1,000 instances its weight in water, can be an awesome choice.

Experiment Magnificence Tremendous Saturated — $28.00
That is Patterson’s go-to serum that she’s been utilizing for months. It’s made with 30 % glycerin and multi-weight polyglutemic acid (one other humectant) to hydrate your pores and skin whereas soothing and replenishing your moisture barrier. Plus, it’s bought a slew of skin-soothers like bisabolol, prickly pear extract, and niacinamide to eliminate irritation.

Josie Maran Argan Milk Intensive Hydrating Physique Renewal Serum — $45.00
She additionally loves this deeply-hydrating anti-aging physique remedy. Along with its moisturizing components (glycerin and one hundred pc pure argan oil), it has mild exfoliators (lactic acid and pineapple enzymes) that slough away lifeless pores and skin cells and clear a path for deeper product penetration.

Nécessaire The Physique Serum — $45.00
5 totally different molecular weights of hyaluronic acid be a part of glycerin on this fast-absorbing serum, which leaves pores and skin hydrated and replenished. It’s been awarded the Seal Of Acceptance By The Nationwide Eczema Affiliation, which means it’s freed from identified irritants that may disrupt delicate pores and skin.
2. Slather on a physique butter
In step one, you are binding water to the pores and skin. “Now, you are going to go on prime with one thing to seal it in,” says Patterson. This step will present extra humectants in addition to tons of emollients, and she or he likes a thick physique butter to get the job performed.

Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Physique Butter — $38.00
This whipped butter (one other one in all Patterson’s faves) smooths and restores your pores and skin with one hundred pc pure argan oil, shea butter, avocado oil, and white tea extract. It has a velvety-yet- light-weight texture that immediately absorbs into your pores and skin, and is available in two scents (vanilla fig and vanilla apricot) in addition to an unscented choice.
3. Add a coat of physique oil
In case your pores and skin is feeling tremendous dry, Patterson recommends making use of a physique oil on prime of your physique butter, which is able to add an additional layer of hydration and nourishment.

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This beautiful components makes use of tamanu oil to melt and revitalize, sea buckthorn berry to tone and hydrate, camellia seed oil to hydrate and situation, and rosehip oil to supply antioxidant safety. A mix of Ylang-ylang, sandalwood, and bergamot offers it an uplifting, stress-relieving scent.
4. Lock all of it in with Vaseline
Lastly, seal the whole lot in with a super-occlusive product like Vaseline (suppose: physique slugging). This helps to lock in all of the moisture she simply placed on her pores and skin.
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