is hot water good for your skin

We all hear so many tips and advice on how to wash our bodies properly. One debate is whether we should use hot or cold water on our skin, with people saying one is better than the other. But is hot water good for your skin?

It has its pros and cons, so read on to see if hot water for showers and face washes is beneficial for your skin and why.

Is Hot Water Good For Your Skin?

Hot showers feel amazing right after an extremely cold or stressful day. It’s a great start to the morning and wants to feel the heat to wake them up!

In fact, washing your skin in hot water has its benefits, such as:

  • Help open your skin pores to properly clean out trapped dirt and oils for clearer skin
  • Soothes and relaxes your muscles to reduce fatigue
  • Relief from respiratory symptoms and the common cold with the steam and heat, opening up airways, clearing nasal passages, and loosening up phlegm

While it has us feel great, is it okay to wash our skin in such temperatures?

Unfortunately, hot water, especially in scalding temperatures, is mostly NOT good for your skin! This is because it can cause the following:

  • Hot water can dry out and irritate the skin, damaging keratin cells which are located on the skin’s outermost layer, known as the epidermis. When disrupting the cells, it results in dry skin, preventing them from locking in any moisture
  • The hot water can remove natural sebum in your skin, which forces the face to overcompensate with dryness by producing more oils, causing breakouts
  • If you suffer from skin conditions, hot water can worsen it, especially for those with eczema as it dries the skin out further. It is NOT recommended for those with sensitive skin as it can cause burns
  • Heat may cause your mast cells to release contents around your skin, causing itching

This goes for washing your entire body, though. How about your face?

You should not use hot water on your face, but warmer water instead. This is recommended because it feels more comforting and soothes your face, making it great to use with cleansers and face washes. Furthermore, it protects your face’s moisture barrier to keep it moisturized better, compared to hot, scalding water.

Read more: Do You Use Body Scrub Before or After Soap?

Should I Use Cold Water Instead?

Happy woman showering

Because of how bad hot water can be for the skin, is it good to use cold water instead? After all, it’s known to reduce muscle soreness and increase your circulation, as well as give skin and hair healthier glow from tightening the blood flow without drying out the skin!

While cold showers can calm itchy skin and help you wake up better in the morning, it also has its disadvantages. It’s NOT a great idea to wash your skin with cold water when you’re already cold and living in cooler temperatures. Furthermore, it’s disadvantageous when you’re sick, as it can affect your immune system.

The best water temperate to wash your skin in is lukewarm. This is tolerable to the skin and balances it out, not leaving it too dry. There is also one showering method you can do, using both hot and cold showers.

Stand under the cold showers for a minute, then change it to hot water, leaving it for another minute. Alternate between one minute each of hot and cold showers for about four cycles.

The cold water can constrict blood vessels to help with your skin health, while the hot water opens the blood vessels to improve circulation. This can help with regeneration and detoxification, leaving you with healthier skin.

Do you want to learn more about hot vs cold water for the skin? Check out this informative video:

Wrapping It Up

We all love a hot shower, but it isn’t as beneficial as we think! By swashing our face with warm water and our entire bodies with lukewarm waters, our skin will stay moisturized.

I hope that this article answered your question, “is hot water good for your skin?” So start using the right water temperature to keep your skin glowing and feeling great!