Dry skin is your skin type. It’s when your skin inadequately produces natural oils. It is often confused with dehydrated skin, which is when the skin’s water content is depleted. If you have oily skin, you can still have dehydrated skin, because it is due to a lack of water, not oil. Signs of dry skin and dehydrated skin are similar. Dry skin is characterized more by being flaky, tight, and uncomfortable, while the signs of dehydrated skin include: