Whether you are a baby freshman or a fifth-year returning senior, the start of a school year and the coming or returning to college shakes things up in a major way. You have to get yourself acclimated to being back in a routine, you have to memorize where your classes are and at what time, and you have to move your life back to school from home. All of this change can take its toll, and one of the first places we see it is in our skin. Maybe you break out, maybe you get rashes but maybe, like many of us, changing your environment and coming to a place with different water pressure, older building atmospheres and drier dorm air results in your skin completely drying out.
So if that sounds familiar to you and you can completely relate to the feeling of your skin being as leathery as a lizard’s backside, just know it’s okay! There is the hope of redeeming the nice supple skin you had all summer that has recently been replaced by patches of peeling flakes and dandruff. Fret not! For here are three (inexpensive) steps to soothe and combat dry dorm skin:
1.) Stop Boiling Yourself Every Time You Shower
Listen, I get it, hot showers are the bomb. They’re better for singing, crying, acting out fights you wish you could have had and just feeling more rejuvenated all together. But if you’re struggling with really dry skin, it might be in your best interest to lower the temp just a tad.
I’m not saying you should start taking cold showers (cause ew), but maybe instead of turning the knob all the way into the red, you put it somewhere closer to the middle. The reason being, super hot showers dry out your skin way more than slightly less hot showers do. I don’t really know the science behind this, I’m an English major, I’m sorry. But I do know that the extreme heat and steam of a hot shower can over clean your skin, stripping it of any oils that could potentially keep you more soft and moisturized. So next time you jump in the shower, make sure the water is warm but not scalding. It should feel comfortably toasty but not hot enough to make the devil feel at home, you feel?
2.) Coconut Oil. That’s it. That’s the header.
If you say you’ve never heard that coconut oil fixes everything, I’m sorry but you’re a liar. Okay so that’s extreme, but I think that we’ve all heard about the beauty and magic that simple four-dollar jar of coconut oil contains. Whether it was by your favorite beauty blogger or your very own mother, we’ve all been beaten over the head by the idea that coconut oil is our one and only savior. But it’s true! Coconut oil is super rich in all of the proteins and vitamins that keep our bodies all buttery and smooth, and the best part about it is it comes in a huge jar that costs less than five dollars.
One of the best ways to use it is as a weekly hair mask. Our skin isn’t the only part of our bodies that get super dry, our hair often takes a beating too as soon as we expose ourselves to the slightly harsher conditions of dorm life. This year when I moved back into my room my scalp started flaking. Yes, I’m mad, but a simple run to the Target baking aisle can fix it all, I promise. Just grab a jar of natural coconut oil and once a week, massage it into the ends of your hair and let it hang out there for about 10-15 minutes like you would with a face mask. When the time’s up, wash your hair like you normally would and once it’s dry, you should notice your strands are much silkier and smoother than they were before.
3.) Shave Less (You’re Welcome)
Cheers to being a girl! AKA a victim of a system that polices our bodies and makes us strip ourselves of any natural hair for the sake of beauty and being “normal”. It’s so much fun, right? Wrong, it’s not fun at all. Many girls are starting to go natural these days which is super dope and while many still shave, it’s becoming more and more of a choice than it has been before. So if you’ve been teetering on the edge of wanting to let all grow or at least shave substantially less, I’m giving you an actual medical reason why you should. You’re welcome!
Shaving is one of the most skin irritating things you can do to your body as every time you do it you are taking your body’s natural oils off with a metal blade. Do you know that post-shave feeling where everything feels tight and itchy? That’s why. The oils that your body was using to keep your skin hydrated are now lying in a hairy clump in your shower drain and now you’re left feeling flakey and dry. To avoid this feeling, you should simply avoid shaving. The less you do it, the less you are removing the beneficial oils that your skin needs. If you still want to shave, maybe do it on a less regular basis, and make sure that every time you do, you always use a nourishing body wash or shaving gel and moisturize heavily afterward.