In the past few years, the skin care industry has become all about “skin barrier health”, but do we know about how it’s essential to keep our skin glowy?
What is the skin barrier, and how does it work?
The skin barrier is essential to protect our skin from environmental stresses. It’s the outermost layer made with cholesterol, fatty acids, and ceramides and structured similarly to a brick wall. Their primary roles are to keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. Without the skin barrier function, nothing would protect our skin and body from outside pollution and free radicals.
It’s been said that maintaining a healthy, hydrated and balanced skin barrier health should be at the top of the list of skincare goals.
What are the signs of a damaged skin barrier?
Sadly, the skin barrier is more fragile than we think. It can be easily damaged by environmental stresses, over-exfoliating the skin, using harsh products, and some medical conditions such as diabetes. The most known causes of damaging the skin barrier are applying products containing strong acids and sulphates and using exfoliators more than necessary.
Look out for a few signs of the damaged skin barrier. For example, it appears as flaky and dry, dull skin, increased sensitivity, extreme redness, hyperpigmentation, and slow wound healing.
When the skin barrier is damaged, environmental factors can find their way into the skin, causing irritation, breakouts, inflammation, rashes, etc. You will feel the skin is tightened and dehydrated, or it might flare up if you have a skin condition like eczema or perioral dermatitis.
How do you treat and maintain the skin barrier health?
To heal damaged skin barrier, simplify your skincare routine and focus on locking in moisture. During this period, create a hydrating routine and try not to change the brand. Stick to the same one, as it can give the skin extra damage. The ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and probiotics would help to repair and strengthen the skin barrier health.
It’s also important to focus on “preventing”. Creating a well-balanced and targeted skincare routine will prevent damaging skin barrier health. Of course, the process of finding a proper skincare routine includes a lot of tryouts and errors. If it’s taking you nowhere, it’s better to make an appointment with a dermatologist or a beauty therapist to establish the best skincare routine only for you.