Drink litres of water each day and still feel that your skin is dull? Hilary Martyn reports on a skincare line and beauty treatment programme that is based on the principle of keeping water within the skin cells, thus keeping skin healthy and good looking.

Do you ever find that you skin looks dull, dry and plagued with pore build up no matter how much water you drink, how healthily you eat, how far away from alcohol you stay and how much attention you pay it?

Jacinta Keane and Sinead O'Halloran. Photo: Reg Gordon.

Well, according to skincare expert Dr Howard Murad, healthy skin is more to do with retaining water within our cells than consuming litres of water each day. Dr Murad, who has 30 years experience as a dermatologist, has developed a theory he calls 'The Water Principle' that is the basis of his healthy skin programmes.

Dr Murad says that when cells are not fully hydrated they cannot function at their optimal level, leading to the tissue damage we call ageing. For example, dehydrated skin is more likely to weaken and succumb to the ravages that lead to wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dryness, redness and many other problems, he says.

While most people think that drinking litres of water each day will lead to healthy skin, he says, it is more to do with retaining that water within our cells. As we age, our bodies lose the ability to utilise water as they did when we were younger and water passes right through them, or worse, stays in between the tissues of the body, swelling up ankles or puffing up eyelids, for example. Dr Murad calls this wasted water and he has built up a skin care range and programme based around putting water back into cells and keeping it there.

Dr Murad recommends eating foods, applying topical products and taking supplements with lecithin to strengthen cells walls and his entire skincare regime provides these essential ingredients. The ingredients found in every Dr Murad product include hydrating ingredients, anti-inflammatory ingredients and anti-oxidant ingredients.

Frustrated with feeling I was getting nowhere with my own skincare regime, I went along to The Beauty Rooms at Barry's Hair Studio on Shop Street, which now specialises in Dr Murad treatments. After a consultation, my beauty therapist recommended the Dr Murad Resurgence Renewal Facial, which promised to promote cellular renewal, increase elasticity, to diminish fine lines, and give a youthful, luminescent glow. Exactly what I was looking for, in other words.

First my face was cleansed under steam with Dr Murad Renewing Cleansing Cream and prepped with Hydrating Toner. My skin was next exfoliated with an AHA Exfoliating Cleanser, which was applied on cotton buds in circular movements. My eyes were covered with a Hydrating Toner that was left on the eye with eye pads and my lips were covered with a Soothing Lip Therapy to protect them.