Ever noticed that moisturizers nowadays come in a variety of formulations with other products considered to be must-haves in a skincare routine?
You’re not alone; this occurrence is largely due to the growing awareness of the skin barrier. Here’s what you need to know about it and the ways to take care of your skin.
In itself, the skin barrier is not new; it’s pretty much there along with our skin but it was not well-known before. At the essence, the skin barrier is the outermost layer of your skin that acts mainly as a protective layer and regulator to allow the good elements absorbed into the deeper layers of your skin (from skincare products) while keeping the bad ones out.
The reason why people are more aware of the state of their skin barrier is when the layer is compromised, lots of skin issues start to form such as inflammation, acne, redness, and itchiness.
Skin issues commonly occur for compromised skin barrier such as dry, sensitive, or mature skin types that happen from genetic or natural aging, or from major skin issues such as eczema or psoriasis.
Unfortunately, now we can expect it to happen to all skin types due to the current environment we’re living in that’s not forgiving to our skin.
What happens when the skin barrier is significantly compromised is your skin will get drier and dehydrated more easily than before, perhaps coupled with some redness or itchiness on the skin. This is due to the tiny pores within the compromised barrier allowing more water and lipids to pass and evaporate into thin air (when it’s not supposed to happen).
The lack of water and lipid not only makes your skin dull-looking and dry, but the lack of those two elements will make your skin more vulnerable to environmental aggressors such as UV rays, pollutant particles, or even when coming in contact with harsh ingredients like household detergent.
Luckily for us, the remedy is readily available and we don’t have to worry about searching for the right combination of products or key ingredients to undo the damages we made to the skin barrier.
So, if your skin barrier starts to weaken (either from getting in contact with abrasive ingredients or simply from the natural course of aging), you can certainly strengthen the barrier back to its healthier state once again, to keep your skin supple and resilient against environmental assault.
If your skin is seriously compromised, get a moisturizer and a night cream with key ingredients such as ceramides and peptides to support the regrowth and repair of the skin barrier. The ingredients are one of the basic building blocks in building skin tissue that adding more from skincare products is certainly helpful.
At the same time, stop using any alcohol-based skin care products or the ones that can be abrasive to your skin. As your skin is fragile at the moment, continuing using such products will impair the growth of the skin barrier (and not to mention can be more painful than usual).
Instead, use water and/or moisturizing skincare products to soothe the irritation of compromised skin barrier, while supplying the much-needed water and lipid content for the skin. Keep in mind, while following these skin care tips, top it with a good layer of sunscreen to ensure your skin stays protected at all times.
