As I recently blogged, I spent a few days in Las Vegas on business.  There were many things about Vegas I had either forgotten, since my last visit (11 years ago), or I was never obviously aware of the situation.

One of the first things I noticed about Las Vegas, in addition to the ongoing light shows, flashing billboards and other glitzy entertainment available from Las Vegas Boulevard was how dry the air is.  I didn’t remember the dryness as a issue when I had visited in the past.  Maybe it was due to the time of year I had visited or maybe it just didn’t bother me back then.

The city, which is built in the desert, has extremely low humidity.  Within 24 hours of being in town I noticed my skin and hair were feeling unusually dry and “crunchy”.  I also had some frizz developing from the dryness.  My throat was also very dry and scratchy.

I started drinking lots of water to try and counterbalance the uncomfortable feeling in my throat and my sinuses which also dried out noticeably.

I thought at first that maybe I was that rare person noticing a big climate change from the more humid Dallas.  Nope, I actually saw a TV show about a hot club act of performers who put on Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons.  The performers were being interviewed about the difficulties they had getting used to the extremely dry climate.

The guys from Frankie Vallie mentioned that the dry climate in Vegas was impacting their ability to sing and they tried all types of things from Gatorade to other drinks to help moisturize their throats.

A woman I ran into at one of the restrooms was literally slathering hand lotion all over her arms and legs.  She mentioned to me that she had just moved to Las Vegas to be a cocktail waitress and that the dryness was kicking her butt.  Ironically she was using my own favorite lotion - LA Ink - Total Moisture.  Which is part of why she attracted my attention in the first place.

The friendly but parched cocktail waitress told me she was from the Midwest where it is much more humid. She said she was working hard to adjust to the dry climate and carried lotion with her everywhere to keep her skin moist and to prevent unnecessary chafing.

What are some of the tips I picked up while in Las Vegas to help with the dry climate:

1.  Stay as hydrated as possible.
While I normally drink 3-4 quarts of water per day, in Vegas I was drinking upwards of 8 quarts. That seems like a lot of water but it really made a difference to my dry throat.

2.  Keep the lip balm handy.
One of the side effects of dry skin is a tendency to lick your lips to add moisture.  This sets up a vicious circle of parched lips that beg to be licked which only makes the parched tissue more cracked and yucky.  Keep a moisturizing lip balm in your purse and apply as needed.

3.  Eat foods that are higher in water content.
Fruit offers a high water content which will assist in re hydration of your body from the inside out.  Try to add more moisture rich foods to your diet to help neutralize water loss.

4.  Avoid alcohol.
In the best of circumstances alcohol can be very drying.  In a dry climate, alcohol will be very drying.  Make sure that you add back extra amounts of water when drinking any type of alcohol.  You may also wish to supplement with Vitamin B which is depleted from alcohol consumption and when it is deficient, can result in dry skin, hair and other beauty challenges.

5.  Use a humidifier.
This option was not available to me in my Las Vegas hotel room so I did the next best thing.  I let the shower run with the bathroom door open to add moisture to my room.  It helped tremendously with that dry skin feeling.

6.  Shampoo less frequently.
Since hair is impacted as much as skin, make sure to either shampoo less frequently, use a diluted formula and select products that advertise they are moisturizing.

7.  Avoid hot water.
Nothing can dry out hair and skin more than hot water showers, baths or similar.  Use lukewarm or even cool water when possible.

8.  Slather on the moisturizing lotions.
Once I realized how dry my skin was becoming, I went to the nearest store and purchased some Jergens.  I slathered it on my hands, arms, legs and feet, which helped tremendously.

9.  Use a great skin cream.
Luckily I traveled with my own favorite Choco2 Day & Night Cream from Karin Herzog and kept applying to my face along with around my eyes when they felt dry.

10.  Stay out of the wind and/or Sun.
The Sun, wind and other weather elements can cause dryness all by themselves.  When you couple Sun with naturally dry air and climate, you are definitely going to have some challenges.  Wear a protective hat to protect hair and skin from the climate and invest in a great sun screen with moisturizing properties.

Other helpful hints to deal with dry climates like Las Vegas include:

1.  Perform regular deep conditioning treatments on hair to add-back lost moisture.
2.  Apply a tiny bit of hair oil to the tips of your fingers and apply to the ends to help protect ends.
3.  Minimize smoking which can cause skin and hair to become more dry.
4.  Take essential fatty oil supplements to help moisturize skin and hair from inside out.
5.  Apply moisturizing masks to skin to prevent premature wrinkling due to dryness.
6.  Minimize use of hot styling tools for hair which can add to pre-existing dryness.

When in doubt, reach for your water bottle.

What are your tips for dealing with a super dry climate?

Tags: adding moisture back, climate tips & tricks, dry climate, Las Vegas, lotion, moisturizing hair care, moisturizing shampoo, moisturizing skin care

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Beauty Beat, Hair, Life In The CEO Lane, Lips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.