What Happens To Your Face If You Don't Drink Enough Water?

It's a trendy time to be a water drinker. Between customized Stanleys, emotional support water bottles, and skincare influencers swearing hydration is the cure to all your skin issues, H2O is basically having its "it girl" moment. But if there's anything social media has taught us, it's to be skeptical and actually verify information before believing it. This is why Glam sat for an exclusive chat with Dr. Aanand Geria, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical instructor of dermatology at Mount Sinai. By the way, Mount Sinai is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States, so we couldn't wait to get Dr. Geria's opinions on the "drink water for healthy skin" craze.

For starters, we wanted to know how much water we should actually be drinking, since this can change depending on who you ask. "There's no magic number of glasses that will guarantee clear skin but a general rule is 8 to 12 cups per day," he says. But if you're not counting cups, check your pee. "A better marker for adequate hydration would be to drink enough that your urine is light yellow." Hydration math aside, we also wanted to know what happens to your skin when you don't drink enough water. After all, the old wives tales warn that you can be more prone to breakouts, redness, and dark spots without adequate water intake.

According to our derm, none of this is true. "This is something that a lot of my acne patients are tired of hearing because almost all of them have tried that before coming to see me," he says. "There's no science behind this commonly held belief, and it does nothing more than shift the blame to the person suffering with the acne." So no, a lack of water doesn't cause acne. But it can cause another skin issue that's a lot harder to spot: dehydration.

One of the most damaging skincare myths is that dehydrated skin only affects people with dry skin. But the reality is that dry skin and dehydrated skin are two very different things; one's a skin type, the other's a condition. Dry skin means your sebaceous glands don't produce enough natural oils, also known as sebum, so your skin struggles to lock in moisture. Dehydrated skin, on the other hand, is missing water altogether. That means even oily skin that has a surplus of shine and natural oils can still be parched underneath.

So, how exactly can you spot if your skin is dehydrated? In our exclusive chat, Dr. Aanand Geria describes dehydrated skin as "dull, [with] loss of radiance, loss of elasticity, accentuated fine lines, and possible rough texture." Not sure if your skin is secretly thirsty? Try this simple test: Gently pinch your cheek or the side of your neck. If it wrinkles or doesn't bounce back right away, chances are you're dealing with dehydration.

If your skin is dehydrated, fixing it takes a comprehensive approach. Start by upping your water intake and keeping an eye on your urine — pale yellow is the goal. Then, pair your internal hydration with a solid moisturizer. If you have dry skin, go for a richer formula with a bit of oil to support your struggling sebaceous glands and lock in moisture. For oily or combination skin, stick to water-based moisturizers that boost hydration without piling on more oil. Remember that good moisturizers don't have to be expensive. Some of the drugstore skincare products that celebs actually use, like CeraVe and Cetaphil, are beloved for a reason.

Thanks to our exclusive chat with dermatologist Dr. Aanand Geria, we've established that your skin can get dehydrated, dull, and less resilient if you don't drink enough water. But does it actually matter what kind of water you drink? Turns out, it just might. A small 2007 study published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science split participants into two groups. One drank tap water, while the other drank bottled mineral water, and the researchers noticed some interesting differences.

The tap water group had a significant increase in skin density, which is associated with better collagen and elastin levels, which keep skin firm and youthful. The bottled water group saw stable skin pH, but a drop in density, meaning collagen and elastin levels may have declined slightly, which is not ideal for firmness. The biggest improvements in both groups were seen in participants who weren't already drinking much water before the study, which shows that hydration matters more than the type of water you drink.

But the most interesting part of all is that water might not even be the top choice for hydration. Studies show that milk, not water, is actually the best drink to stay hydrated, thanks to its electrolytes and nutrients. So, whether you're team tap or team bottle, add in some milk, and aim for 12 cups of fluid in total to keep your skin hydrated.