Whether you take yours still or sparkling, opt for tap water, bottled water, or great tasting filtered water, water is one wonder drink that never goes out of fashion. Getting your eight glasses of water each day unlocks many benefits for your health and wellbeing.

High water intake helps combat cyclic menstrual pain – among other complaints, as well as relieve symptoms associated with chronic conditions like arthritis. Staying hydrated helps your skin reap a number of rewards too.

With regular hydration, dry, puffy, or oily skin can become a thing of the past. Drinking water has also been proven to slow aging to leave you with fewer wrinkles, improve your complexion for a more even skin tone, clear adult acne, and promote faster healing. Enlarged, clogged pores gained through years of poor diet, hydration and skincare can be made smaller to reduce the risk of breakouts and blemishes too.

The ultimate elixir for inside and out, water is no doubt beneficial when drunk in adequate quantities. But what benefits can it have when used topically on your skin? Cold water therapy is one of the beauty industry’s best kept secrets. Here we explain more so you can use water to your advantage that little bit more.

The problem with hot water

That piping hot shower or bath may do a great job in melting away your stresses at the end of the day, but the warm water used could actually be doing more harm than good.

While hot showers and baths are effective for helping you breathe more easily and remedying achy muscles, they can increase your blood pressure and cause itching. Hot water also dries out and irritates skin making existing skin conditions like eczema worse. Here Allure elaborates further:

“Even if you don’t suffer from dry skin or any condition aggravated by hot water, a hot shower still isn’t doing your skin any favors. ‘While counterintuitive, showering for too long makes you more dry by stripping the ‘good’ oils from your skin,’ says Bhanusali, who says moderation is key when it comes to hot showers.

Furthermore, hot showers are a great way to become someone who does have dry skin, especially during the colder, drier winter months.”

Why cold water works

Cold water has the opposite impact if used correctly on the skin. We’re not saying to swap your regular warm showers or baths for icy cold ones, but toning down the temperature and embracing cold water therapy when you rinse your face can mean a number of great benefits for your skin.

Cold water has been proven to enhance circulation, reduce inflammation, enable lymphatic cleansing, facilitate weight loss, and create a greater sense of wellbeing.

Your skin will be tighter, brighter, and more toned as a result. Unlike repeated washing in hot water, rinsing regularly with cold water protects the natural barrier function to ensure your skin can thrive naturally.

Embracing cold water therapy

Your quest to unlock beauty’s best kept secret shouldn’t be restricted to your daily face wash. A run or walk outdoors, or an outdoor swim offer active ways to increase exposure to cold water and harness the many advantages mentioned above.

When making cold water therapy work for you and your skin, just remember, the colder the water is, the better! Diehard fans of cold water therapy use iced water to maximise health benefits.