Will Drinking Water Help With Dry Skin? What It Actually Does for Your Skin Barrier

By Roral Team 5 min read

Drinking water is the cheapest skincare advice there is, and it is also the most overclaimed. The research that has tested it directly is small. Here is what it found, and what it did not.

Quick answer: will drinking water help with dry skin?

It can raise skin hydration if you were drinking little water to begin with. It has not been shown to reduce transepidermal water loss, the rate at which water escapes through a compromised barrier, and that gap is most of what true dry skin is. Barrier lipids, not water intake, are the other half of the fix.

Dry skin and dehydrated skin are not the same problem

Dry skin is a skin type: short on the oils and lipids that make up the barrier, often lifelong or seasonal. Dehydrated skin is a temporary state: short on water, and it can happen to any skin type, including oily skin. Water intake speaks to the second one.

The two commonly show up together: a barrier short on lipids loses water faster, so lipid-poor skin is also water-poor skin more often than not.

What the 2015 study measured

A 2015 study of 49 healthy women added roughly 2 liters of water a day on top of their usual intake and measured skin hydration at baseline, day 15, and day 30. In the women who started with lower water intake, both superficial and deep skin hydration rose over the 30 days.1

A 2018 systematic review pooled six studies on fluid intake and skin, and reported the same pattern: added water intake can raise stratum corneum hydration, particularly in people who started with lower intake, but the review found no consistent effect on transepidermal water loss and rated the overall evidence weak.2 A 2024 trial in 43 women found that a moisturizer raised stratum corneum hydration over four weeks, with or without additional water intake on top; the water-only group's change did not reach statistical significance.3

Put together: water reaches the skin and can raise its water content, especially if you were under-hydrated. It has not been shown, in the trials that have measured it, to fix the barrier leak that lets water escape faster than normal. That leak is a lipid problem, not a volume problem.

How much water is enough

The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine set adequate total fluid intake at about 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) a day for adult women and about 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) for men, counting fluid from food and other beverages, not water alone.4 Needs rise with body size, activity, and climate. Thirst and pale, straw-colored urine track hydration status better than a fixed cup count does, and very high intakes can be unsafe for people with certain kidney or heart conditions, so ask a clinician if that applies to you.

Why the barrier is the other half of the job

Water leaves skin through the same route it entered evidence for above: transepidermal water loss, through a stratum corneum that is short on the lipids holding it in. A moisturizer with humectants (hyaluronic acid, glycerin) and an occlusive layer over it addresses that from the outside. Gentle cleansing, daily SPF, and a humidifier in dry months reduce how fast the barrier degrades in the first place.

Two ingredients in Roral's formula address the same barrier gap from the inside. Hyaluronic acid helps support skin hydration and helps reduce transepidermal water loss, at 120 mg a day, the dose used in placebo-controlled trials.5,6 CeraLOK® rice ceramides help support the skin's moisture barrier and help reduce moisture loss, at 40 mg a day, the same amount used in a placebo-controlled trial of the same branded extract.7 Vitamin C supports the skin's normal collagen formation and helps protect cells from oxidative stress.8 MSM helps support skin texture and smoothness.

Each daily serving of two capsules in Skin Hydration Shield contains 120 mg hyaluronic acid, 40 mg CeraLOK® rice ceramides, 120 mg vitamin C, and 1,000 mg MSM. Individual ingredients have published research at the formula's doses; the finished Roral formula has not had its own clinical trial.

Roral gives 10% of profits to Good Counsel Homes, which supports mothers and children in need.

A routine that covers both sides

  • Drink to thirst across the day rather than in one sitting; pale, straw-colored urine is your signal.
  • Apply moisturizer to damp skin within a few minutes of washing, so it traps water rather than chasing it.
  • Use lukewarm water and a gentle, low-foam cleanser; hot showers and harsh soaps strip the lipids that hold water in.
  • Wear daily SPF; UV exposure weakens barrier function over time.
  • Run a humidifier in dry months, and keep heating vents off your face.
  • Give any change four to six weeks before you judge it; skin turns over slowly, and the trial above measured its result at 30 days.

If dryness persists, cracks, or comes with a rash you cannot account for, that is a question for a dermatologist, not a water bottle.

Water and barrier support are not competing habits. Skin Hydration Shield carries the ingredients for the barrier half: hyaluronic acid, CeraLOK® rice ceramides, MSM, and vitamin C in one daily serving. Ingredient-level results do not guarantee individual results, and skin responds differently from person to person.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Sources

Sources 1–4 are third-party research on water intake and skin, independent of Roral. Sources 5–8 are the ingredient-level evidence behind Roral's own claims, also cited on our Science page.

  1. Palma L, Marques LT, Bujan J, Rodrigues LM. Dietary water affects human skin hydration and biomechanics. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology. 2015;8:413–421. PubMed 26345226 — third-party research, not Roral evidence
  2. Akdeniz M, Tomova-Simitchieva T, Dobos G, Blume-Peytavi U, Kottner J. Does dietary fluid intake affect skin hydration in healthy humans? A systematic literature review. Skin Research and Technology. 2018;24(3):459–465. PubMed 29392767 — third-party research, not Roral evidence
  3. Seol JE, Cho GJ, Jang SH, Ahn SW, Hong SM, Park SH, Kim H. Effect of amount of daily water intake and use of moisturizer on skin barrier function in healthy female participants. Annals of Dermatology. 2024. doi:10.5021/ad.23.067 — third-party research, not Roral evidence
  4. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2005. nationalacademies.org — third-party reference, not Roral evidence
  5. Kawada C, et al. Ingestion of hyaluronans (molecular weights 800 k and 300 k) improves dry skin conditions: a randomized, double blind, controlled study. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition. 2015;56(1):66–73. PubMed 25834304
  6. Hsu TF, et al. Oral hyaluronan relieves wrinkles and improves dry skin: a 12-week double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. Nutrients. 2021;13(7):2220. PubMed 34203487
  7. Takara T, et al. Oryza Ceramide® (CeraLOK®), a rice-derived extract, improves facial skin dehydration in Japanese subjects. Functional Foods in Health and Disease. 2021;11(8):385–407. doi:10.31989/ffhd.v11i8.809
  8. Pullar JM, Carr AC, Vissers MCM. The roles of vitamin C in skin health. Nutrients. 2017;9(8):866. PubMed 28805671

Frequently Asked Questions

Can drinking water fix dry skin?
It can improve skin hydration if your intake was low, as a 2015 study of 49 women found. A 2018 review of six studies found no consistent effect on transepidermal water loss, the rate water escapes through a compromised barrier, which is the mechanism behind true dry skin. Topical moisturizers, barrier-supporting skincare, and internal nutrients like ceramides and hyaluronic acid address that side.
What is the difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin?
Dry skin is a skin type short on oils and barrier lipids. Dehydrated skin is a temporary state short on water, and it can affect any skin type, including oily skin. The two often show up together, because a barrier low on lipids also loses water faster.
How much water should I drink for healthy skin?
The U.S. National Academies set adequate intake at about 11.5 cups of total fluids a day for adult women and 15.5 cups for men, counting water from food and other drinks. Needs rise with body size, activity, and climate, so thirst and pale, straw-colored urine are more reliable day-to-day signals than a fixed number.
How long does it take for drinking water to improve skin?
In the 2015 study, women who added about 2 liters a day showed measurably higher skin hydration at the 15-day and 30-day measurements, starting from lower baseline intake. That is one trial's calendar, not a personal one; the same study found no significant change in transepidermal water loss over the same 30 days.