This review was originally part of my blog article titled, Favorite Face Mists for Keeping Skin Hydrated in the Cold. You can catch the full piece here.

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Over the last two weeks, I’ve been exploring cold weather skincare. There’s nothing worse than dry, dehydrated skin in the winter. I used to struggle with coming out of the winter season looking a year older — and often joked that I’d aged the entire year in just those three chilly months.

Until I learned how to take better care of my skin from season to season. In the winter, skin needs richer, more moisturizing and hydrating treatments — that is, it needs you to help it replace its lost oil and water.

If you haven’t yet had the chance to explore my collection of ten of the best face creams for dry skin and all skin in the dry, cold air, I invite you to check them out here.

Two weeks ago, I kicked off my winter series with the first five of these richer face creams in a blog article titled, Winter Moisturizers Part I – Some of the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin and All Skin Types in Cold Weather. Then last week, I rounded out the top ten in Winter Moisturizers Part 2 — available here.

I like to separate the concepts of moisture and hydration by focusing moisture more on the oil content of the skin and hydration on the water content. Dry skin lacks oil. Dehydrated skin lacks water. Perhaps it’s not as clear cut as that, but it helps me to seek out the right treatments for my seasonal skin concerns.

So, I focused on moisture and moisturizers the last two weeks, now I want to offer up some thoughts on how to keep your skin hydrated. Of course, that starts from within — drinking lots and lots of water.

I have (let me see, I’m scanning the apartment and counting in my head!) six 50.7 fl oz / 1.5L bottles of Essentia ionized alkaline pH water strategically placed in three rooms. I literally have water within reach wherever I am in my 1,000 sq. foot Brooklyn apartment!

Call me crazy, but don’t call me dehydrated!

So while hydration starts from within, it’s important to keep the skin surface hydrated throughout the day. And I have multiple hydrating face mists around the apartment, too! When I walk by one, I often stop and spritz. Hydration is everything in the cold!

But how do you know if your skin is dehydrated? And what’s the difference between dry and dehydrated skin? Simply dry is a skin type and dehydrated is a skin concern or condition.

What’s the difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin?

For the answer to that vexing questing, as I most often do, I turned to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team for insights. There’s a super piece on the Paula’s Choice site titled, What is Dehydrated Skin & How to Choose the Best Products. Here is an excerpt:

Dehydrated skin often looks and feels like dry skin all over your face, but there's a major difference between the two: dehydrated skin is usually a temporary concern (with various surprising causes) and dry skin typically doesn't change over time. If you have dehydrated skin, your skin may also produce a normal or even excessive amount of oil on its surface.
"Dehydrated skin" is something we’re asked about frequently. It seems there’s a lot of confusion about what this skin concern is about. A major part of the confusion is that the term "dehydrated skin" is often used interchangeably with "dry skin" or "combination skin" but they are not the same! Dehydrated skin can occur in all skin types and is not exclusive to those with dry skin or combination skin.
The Difference Between Dry Skin and Dehydrated Skin
Having classically dry skin is easy to recognize. Dry skin frequently feels tight and dry, with no oil anywhere to be seen. This situation rarely fluctuates; skin feels dry all year long. The dryness might get worse depending on the climate, season, or activity, but regardless of those things, without great skin care products, the uncomfortable dry, tight feeling will persist.
As mentioned above, dehydrated skin can look and feel similar, but there’s a major difference: Dehydrated skin tends to come and go, it does not persist.

Laneige | Cream Skin Mist

You may recall that I featured Laneige’s innovative milky Cream Skin toner in a bio article early last year titled, Skip-Care and Laneige's Cream Skin 2-In-1 Toner & Moisturizer, which you can still catch here.

Among the best hydrating toners, Cream Skin is a remarkably unique formula as far as toners go. But what is Cream Skin exactly?

First, the odd sounding name. You may not know that the words for skin and toner in Korean are similar. So think of “cream skin” as “cream toner” — and you get it. Is Cream Skin a toner, is it a moisturizer, is it something entirely new? Whether it’s a toning moisturizer or a moisturizing toner doesn’t really matter. The stuff is just plain cool!

So let’s say it’s both — and something more! The Laneige Cream Skin a super lightweight, milky liquid formulated with what Laneige calls its proprietary Cream Blending Technology “to melt a cream into a toner in pursuit of developing a hydrating skin refiner that makes the skin well-moisturized at the very first step of skincare routine.”

Laneige has claimed in their marketing that “each bottle of Cream Skin contains an entire jar of moisturizing cream!”

I have always found that hilarious. Is that such a big deal? I guess it drives home the point that it’s moisturizing! What’s most important is that the product works — that it actually does moisturize the skin well. In fact I put that original Cream Skin moisturizing toner / toning moisturizer to the test with my tried-and-true moisture meter. The same one I deployed in my Creme de la Mer vs. Vaseline challenge.

So, here we are perhaps 16-18 months later and Laneige has introduced an even lighter version of the initial Cream Skin — one that you can simply mist on your face and go. Laneige’s new Cream Skin Mist is, of course, reminiscent of the heavier original. In fact, the INCI’s are identical.

But hey, it’s just as much fun to use!

The Cream Skin Mist shares all of the same actives and technologies as the Cream Skin moisturizing toner, with the star ingredient being the relatively uncommon White Leaf Tea Water. So, somehow Laneige made the formula even lighter so it could easily be misted onto the skin. My guess is they added more of that tea water!

As with the Cream Skin itself, the Cream Skin Mist has a relatively tight formula with just 15 ingredients in all — including high levels of humectant Glycerin and moisturizing Meadowfoam Seed Oil.

As I said in my initial review of Cream Skin, the choice of meadowfoam oil to carry the moisturizing burden of the formula is an interesting one. According to the Paula’s Choice Research Team, Meadowfoam Seed Oil is among the best active ingredients for the skin.

What is meadowfoam seed oil?

Limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil is a non-fragrant, edible plant oil originally developed as an agricultural crop in the 1950s. It functions as an emollient and softening agent in skin care and hair care products.
This plant oil is exceedingly stable because it is primarily composed of long chain fatty acids, the type most resistant to rancidity when exposed to oxygen. Among plant oils, meadowfoam has the highest concentration (95%) of these highly stable fatty acids, making it a valuable addition to products that would otherwise be prone to spoiling quickly.
Meadowfoam seed oil contains two compounds known as glucosinolate derivatives, 3-methoxybenzyl isothiocyanate (MBITC) and 3-methoxyphenyl acetonitrile. Research has shown these compounds can inhibit collagen-degrading enzymes in skin and help offset the negative impact of UVB light exposure (but just to be clear, these ingredients do not replace the need for broad spectrum sunscreen).
The glucosinolate derivatives are not direct antioxidants (indeed, meadowfoam seed oil isn’t a good source of antioxidants), but they can positively influence skin’s own antioxidant defenses, which is a nice benefit.
Meadowfoam seed oil can also enhance the penetration of other ingredients into soil and across animal skin; however, to date the same benefit hasn’t been shown to occur on human skin. On the upside, the long-chain fatty acids in this plant oil have chemical similarity to some of the fatty acids found in skin’s own oil, so in theory it’s certainly possible meadowfoam oil would help deliver other oil-based (lipophilic) ingredients to skin.

While there is a small amount of antioxidant Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (aka green tea) and Tocopherol (Vitamin E) — this is by no means an antioxidant powerhouse.

I think the most interesting ingredient in both the Cream Skin and Cream Skin Mist is the Inulin Lauryl Carbamate — which may give the formula its power to more deeply moisturize skin in the hydration step. According to Cosmetics & Toiletries, Inulin Lauryl Carbamate has the ability to “emulsify high amounts of oil and wet several types of solid ingredients, such as pigments and fillers, in water to create either high-viscosity emulsions or fluid ones.”

And that’s how you get a milky toner to both hydrate and moisturize!

I love both Cream Skin formulas and like having the lighter version around for a quick moisturizing spritz if and when I’m so inclined. Especially as the colds sets in…

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Laneige Cream Skin Mist for $27 here.

BUY LANEIGE CREAM SKIN MIST

Proude,.jpg — SHOP THE BLOG:

**Sunday Riley Pink Drink Firming Resurfacing Essence**
**Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater**
**Sioris Time Is Running Out Facial Oil Mist**
**Laneige Cream Skin Mist**
**Skinfix Barrier+ Nutrient Water Misting Tonic**
**Derma E Hydrating Mist**

WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF

WINTER MOISTURIZERS PART 2

ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

SUBSCRIBE TO SKINCARMA ON YOUTUBE

The Ingredient List of the the Sunday Riley Pink Drink Firming Resurfacing Essence:

Water/Eau/Aqua solv, Yeast Ferment (Pink Yeast) Extract, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate goodie

so|h, Honey Extract goodie

h, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-11, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9, Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside (Egcg) goodie

aox|so, Ceramide AP goodie

sii, Ceramide EOP goodie

sii, Ceramide NP goodie

sii, Cucumis Melo (Melon) Fruit Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Seed Extract, Sea Water h|solv, Phospholipids goodie

sii|emo, Sphingolipids emo, Laminaria Digitata (Sea Kelp) Extract, Zymomonas Ferment Extract h, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Fruit Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract goodie

h, Chlorella Vulgaris Extract, Phytosphingosine goodie

sii|cci|aacne|amic, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract emo, Triethyl Citrate perf, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract superstar

aox|so, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil icky

perf, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Extract perf|vc, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Peel Extract perf, Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower/Leaf Extract h|perf|so, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract goodie

aox|so, Rosa Damascena Extract, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract, Polyglycerin-6 h, Glycerin superstar

sii|h 0 0, Saccharide Isomerate goodie

h, Cholesterol goodie

sii|emo 0 0, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate emu, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract, Betaine goodie

h, Polysorbate 20 emu|surf 0 0, Dimethyl Isosorbide solv|vc, Phenoxyethanol pres, Ethylhexylglycerin pres, Carbomer vc 0 1, Hydroxyacetophenone aox, Xanthan Gum vc|emu|surf, 1,2-Hexanediol solv, Maltodextrin

Hover the mouse over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.

The Ingredient List of the Mario BadescuFacial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater:

Water, Propylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Rosa Canina Extract, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Leaf Extract, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Chloride, Citronellol, Geraniol, CI 17200 (Red 33), CI 42090 (Blue 1).

The Ingredient List of the Sioris Time Is Running Out Facial Oil Mist:

Prunus Mume Fruit Water(78%) h, Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oil emo, Propanediol solv|h, Water solv, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil emo 0 0-2, Beta-Carotene, Glycerin sii|h 0 0, Allantoin so 0 0, Beta-Glucan so|h, Tocopherol aox 0-3 0-3, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract so|aox|amic|h, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract so|sb, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emo 0 0, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil perf, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil perf, Cananga Odorata Flower Oil perf, Amyris Balsamifera Bark Oil perf, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil so|perf