Home/Guides/Does drinking water help your skin?
You've probably heard that drinking more water is the secret to clear, glowing skin. That's mostly wellness folklore. Severe dehydration does show up in your skin, and if you're genuinely under-drinking, topping up can help a little. But once you're already hydrated, chugging extra water isn't a proven way to look better.
Where the "water for glowing skin" idea comes from
The claim is everywhere: skincare brands, wellness influencers, even the occasional doctor repeat it. Drink eight glasses a day and your skin glows. It plays on something real. Skin is mostly water, and very dry, flaky skin can be a genuine sign of a body running short on fluid overall, not only a local skincare problem.
The leap that doesn't hold up is the next one: that topping up past an already-adequate intake buys you extra glow, fewer wrinkles or clearer skin. That specific claim rests on very little actual research, and what exists is more modest than the marketing.
What the research actually found
There are only two controlled looks at this exact question, and both are honest about their limits.
The stronger one is a 2015 trial by Palma and colleagues. Forty-nine healthy women added about 2 liters of extra water a day to their normal intake for 30 days. Their skin's superficial and deep hydration measurably improved, and so did its biomechanics (how it stretches and recovers). But the effect wasn't even across the group. It was largest in the women who started out drinking under 3,200 ml of fluid a day, meaning they were the ones with the most room to gain.
The one solid trial found a real skin-hydration benefit, but mostly in women who started out drinking less than about 3,200 ml of fluid a day, not in those already well hydrated.
Why the evidence is thin
A 2018 systematic review by Akdeniz and colleagues pooled six studies on dietary fluid and skin hydration, the Palma trial among them. Its verdict was careful, not enthusiastic: extra water may raise hydration in the skin's outer layer, especially in people starting from a low baseline, but the review found no significant effect on transepidermal water loss (how fast water evaporates through skin), and it rated the overall body of evidence weak.
Neither study measured wrinkles, fine lines or acne at all. Sample sizes are small, the trials run a matter of weeks, and instrument-measured "skin hydration" is not the same thing as looking more youthful or breaking out less. If someone tells you drinking water clears acne or erases wrinkles, that isn't what this research shows.
| Study | Design | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Palma et al., 2015 | 49 women, +2 L/day water for 30 days | Skin hydration and biomechanics improved, largest in women under 3,200 ml/day baseline |
| Akdeniz et al., 2018 (review) | 6 studies pooled | Possible rise in outer-layer hydration; no effect on water loss through skin; evidence rated weak |
What actually helps skin more
If the goal is how your skin looks day to day, the better-supported levers are the less exciting ones: a moisturizer suited to your skin type, and daily sun protection. Both act directly on the skin's surface and carry a far larger, more consistent body of evidence than dietary water does for appearance. Extra water might close a small gap if you're chronically under-drinking. It isn't a substitute for either one, and no study covered here claims it is.
Is drinking more water worth it for your skin
Our honest answer: check whether you're actually under-hydrated before assuming a bottle a day will fix your skin. Both studies above found a benefit concentrated in people who started well below a normal fluid target, not in people already meeting one. Without tracking your intake, it's hard to know which group you're in.
A quick way to check where you stand right now: the hydration quiz is a 60-second self-check that returns a band, not a fake precise score. If it flags you as consistently under-hydrated, that's your actual signal, not your skin.
For tracking day to day, that's the practical use case for a tool like Brim. It sets a daily water goal from your body weight, activity and climate, and shows you, honestly, whether you're closing that gap most days or falling short of it. It won't turn tap water into a skincare product. What it can tell you is whether "drink more water" is a real gap in your day, or advice you're already following.
Key takeaways
Severe dehydration shows up in your skin, but there's no proven glow bonus once you're already well hydrated.
The best trial found a real benefit only in women drinking under about 3,200 ml of fluid a day beforehand.
A 2018 review of six studies rated the evidence weak, with no measured effect on water loss through the skin.
Moisturizer and sun protection have far stronger evidence behind them. Tracking your actual intake, say with Brim, tells you if you're even in the group these studies found a benefit for.
Frequently asked
Does drinking more water improve your skin?
Only if you were previously under-hydrated. The one controlled trial (Palma et al., 2015) found skin-hydration gains mainly in women who started below about 3,200 ml of fluid a day, and a 2018 systematic review rated the overall evidence weak.
Can drinking water reduce wrinkles or acne?
There is no direct evidence for either in the research on this topic. The available studies measure skin hydration and biomechanics, not wrinkle depth or breakouts.
How much water do people need to drink for it to affect their skin?
The trial that found a benefit used about 2 extra liters a day for 30 days, on top of normal intake, in women who started out under-hydrated. That is a large, sustained increase, not an extra glass or two.
Does drinking water help with dry skin?
It can help if the dryness is partly a symptom of low overall fluid intake, since both studies found the biggest gains in low-baseline drinkers. It will not out-perform a moisturizer for skin that is dry for other reasons, like weather or aging.
Does Brim track hydration for skin goals?
Brim does not make a skin-specific claim. It tracks your daily water intake against a goal set from your body weight, activity and climate, so you can see whether you are hitting a normal fluid target at all, which is the piece the skin research actually says matters.
Keep reading
Sources
- 1.Palma, Marques, Bujan & Rodrigues, "Dietary water affects human skin hydration and biomechanics," Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology (2015)
- 2.Akdeniz, Tomova-Simitchieva, Dobos, Blume-Peytavi & Kottner, "Does dietary fluid intake affect skin hydration in healthy humans? A systematic literature review," Skin Research and Technology (2018)
