What is the skin barrier?
Simply put, your skin is made up of different layers and the skin barrier is the outermost layer of the skin. This layer not only holds moisture within the skin, but it contains ceramides, fatty acids, cholesterol and filaggrin. The skin barrier is SUPER IMPORTANT because it is the body’s first line of defense against external stressors!
Do you know what a healthy skin barrier can do for you?
It protects you from:
Ultraviolet rays
The 3 I’s— irritation, inflammation, and infection
Dehydration
And all the other nasty things you wouldn’t want on your skin.
Maintaining a healthy skin barrier can help you prevent moisture loss, acne, damage from environmental stressors like pollution, and decrease your chances of experiencing irritation caused by sensitivity. A healthy skin barrier = happy and healthy skin.
Some things that damage the skin barrier...
If you practise these things, you most likely have damaged your skin barrier in the process:
Over-exfoliate
Skip one of the most important products in your skincare routine: Sunscreen
Continuous usage of products that contains harsh ingredients
Not sure if your skin barrier has been damaged? Here are some signs to look out for!
Dehydrated/Irritated skin
If your skin feels dry and starts to itch or irritate easily, it means that it has lost its natural elements to retain moisture to give it that boink and hydration.
Increased oil production and breakouts
If your skin is getting oilier and you start having more acne, your skin barrier might be damaged, allowing external stressors to cause harm.
Dull skin
If your complexion looks duller than usual, water loss due to a damaged skin barrier might just be the cause.
What ingredients should you have in your products to help restore/maintain your skin barrier?
To name a few, Ceramides, Fatty Acids, and Niacinamide are great ingredients to help restore your skin barrier.
Our cream of all trades moisturiser contains 5% of Niacinamide which we found was the perfect amount to aid in restoring the skin barrier, amongst other benefits. The cream of all trades moisturiser also contains water-retaining ingredients that help in retaining moisture and keeping the skin supple, such as Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid), and Panthenol.
Using a product that helps balance your skin’s pH is also very important when it comes to restoring and maintaining your skin barrier. Lucky for you, we have our pH-balancing cleanser, and it is one of the most loved products by many. You can also find loads of skin-soothing ingredients in our pHresh cleanser that your skin will thank you for!
Click here to read more about our cream of all trades moisturiser, and click here to read more about our pHresh cleanser.
