@Radu I think there’s quite a lot of data on clear skin and drinking water.

@Radu I think our NHS recommends it, and being British I tend to follow their advice. In any case, even if it doesn’t help the skin, it has the other benefits I mentioned, and it certainly will do the skin no harm.

@Radu The information I have is that the following are all benefits of drinking sufficient water on the skin...sufficient means 2.5 litres per day for women and 3.5 for men. (This will include all water based beverages i.e. coffee, tea etc., and fruit and vegetables with high water content)

1. Improves skin tone by helping to flush out toxins and increase blood flow to the skin.
2. Prevents premature ageing because hydrating the skin helps it to keep its elasticity and by keeping it
   moisturised for longer, delays sagging and wrinkles.
3. Faster healing. If you’ve been exposed to too much sun, drinking water can accelerate the healing
   process.
4. Reduces puffiness. When the skin gets puffy it means it’s retaining water to protect your body from
   dehydration, this happens when you don’t drink enough water. Drinking sufficient water will prevent
   this from happening in the first place.
5. Prevents acne. Drinking ample water balances the oil and water content of the skin of your face.
   This helps to prevent excess oil and sebum secretion., which means fewer blocked pores and acne.

@Radu We drink more water than we think....I have at least 4 cups of tea a day and perhaps 2 coffees...then I drink a glass of water with my lunch and one with my evening meal. I also have a glass of fruit juice at breakfast, and then there is liquid in soups and fresh fruit and casseroles and lots of other foodstuffs. These are all part of our 2.5 or 3.5 litres, so an extra glass or two of water is all that is needed beyond a normal day’s consumption to bring it to that level. And no it isn’t anecdotal, it’s from the NHS website.

@Radu I drink tea and coffee by the pint, and I will have about ten pints per day (over 4.5 litres), which was probably as a consequence of smoking making me feel thirsty.

I didn't consider that I drank excessively, as my family drank copious quantities of tea. It does seem to be a British pastime, drinking tea.

From personal experience, I would agree with the benefits that Marionville pointed out. Certainly, people whom I have known to drink little fluid seemed to have skin that made them look older than their years.

@Radu Of course, it may just be down to having the right genes, but people used to consistently guess that I was ten years younger than my actual age, despite having been a smoker for most of my life.

@Radu Well, yes, insofar as tea and coffee are mostly water.

@Radu Yes. In my case, the only evidence of my true age is grey hair that has developed around my ears. I have just realised that another significant factor is having fair skin, which gets easily sunburnt.

That does encourage the use of high factor sun cream and staying out of the sun, UV rays being something that is known to age skin. So, the reality is that it is probably due to a combination of all these factors,

It is worth noting that moisturising creams work by forming a barrier that prevents the skin from losing excessive moisture and hydrating the skin does lessen the appearance of wrinkles, so that aspect can be linked to fluids.