This is insane.

[u/crackedp3pper]

No one needs this many body care products. And no one needs THIS many products to keep themselves clean. Large corporations tell us (mostly women) that we need to spend money on these "self care" products. They profit off of women's insecurities by telling us that in order to be beautiful, clean, smell nice, etc., we need to buy their products. But people literally do not need all of this to stay clean. What the hell.

[u/HonkMafa]

My issue is that this giant skin organ also allows all of the undesirable ingredients into your bloodstream. A lot, if not all of those products are pure garbage. WATER moisturizes your skin, and a thin layer of oil will help keep it in.

[u/SimilarYellow → u/HonkMafa]

Water is actually pretty bad for your skin, especially if you have hard water. Nevermind all the things that are put into tap water to make it "shelf stable" (if that's what you want to call it). Notably chlorine, for example.

Plus if you're oiling up on the regular, you're probably ruining clothes or sheets left and right and a good, no-perfume moisturizer is almost certainly superior for the average person.

[u/keekinss → u/SimilarYellow]

why on EARTH are you getting down voted? water alone is rough on my skin, hard water absolutely destroys it. literally like... water is not good for skin. where tf are people getting this idea that water moisturizes skin? because it's wet? water literally washes away oil, which is. what keeps skin moisturized. and using straight oil as a moisturizer can sometimes be just as bad for skin as not moisturizing it. do people even stop to think for two seconds.

[u/HonkMafa → u/keekinss]

"where tf are people getting this idea that water moisturizes skin?"

Moisture = the presence of water by definition. You said yourself that staying hydrated moisturizes skin.

Water being rough on skin is definitely due to the chemicals in the community water system, oil-stripping cleansers, or bathing too much. Excessive bathing in just water will strip your skin of its oils.

Staying hydrated is the best way for the water to get into your cells. Personal care products work to improve the outer layer of skin and replace the oils, which locks-in water.

And just to be pedantic, skin can and does absorb water. You can see the effects of skin absorbing water when you see 'aquatic wrinkles' on your fingers after prolonged swimming or bathing. After the oils are washed away, osmosis allows water in.

[u/keekinss → u/HonkMafa]

Yes, but this also lacks nuance and contextual language. Moisturizer, when used in the context of skin, refers to something applied to the skin to trap the moisture. Sometimes moisturizers have water in them, which hydrates the skin - but water does not moisturize skin. If you want to be pedantic, you have to acknowledge how important contextual language use and connotations are.

Your comment lacks perspective when it comes to different skin types and skin-related health conditions - many of which are very common. "Excessive bathing" and "oil-stripping cleansers" don't mean much to those of us (and no, we aren't rare - I have two coworkers like this as well, and we don't work in some niche industry, just food and bev) who are only able to shower a couple of times a week for just a few minutes, and if we use anything even resembling soap, it's something like cetaphil. For people with very sensitive skin, just a little bit of water will strip that barrier away. If I simply rinse my hands in room temperature water, I usually have to immediately apply lotion to try and keep my skin from drying out.

To reiterate, yes, skin absorbs water, but water absorbed that way will not be retained unless there is a barrier preventing it from escaping. A "moisturizer" is something that helps skin retain moisture - which water, by itself, does not do. Saying that water is a moisturizer can be very misleading, as people are likely to believe that this literally means that water, by itself, can be used to keep skin hydrated. Again, it will hydrate skin, but it will not keep it hydrated. This is an important distinction when it comes to skin health.

And no, I'm not just pulling this stuff out of my ass. Here is a relevant article from Harvard that goes over how the term "moisturizer" is used in the context of skin care and goes pretty in-depth with how different kinds of moisturizers work. All I'm arguing is that semantics and context are important for preventing misinformation, which can lead to problems ranging from uncomfortably dry skin to serious pain and infections.