Does your skin feel tight and dry, but looks oily as hell? Does your face sting when you put on anything, even hydrating products? Does it feel like none of your products are working?

Let’s talk about your skin’s moisture barrier, cus BAYBEEEE you wrecked her!

THREAD

Okay fine lol. The moisture barrier, AKA skin barrier, stratum corneille, acid mantle, hydro-lipid film etc, is the topmost layer of the epidermis and it is what protects you from literally EVERYTHING.

It protects you from germs, pollution etc, so it’s SUPER important!

OBVIOUSLY you can’t see it, but imo, it is the most important part of your skincare. A healthy barrier = better everything. It keeps your skin performing at optimal level (THAT is what we want)!

Now, a damaged barrier = nothing works and everything hurts. We don’t want that!

How do you damage your barrier? VERY easily, lmao.

The most common way is through over exfoliation bc yall can’t drop the exfoliants and pick up some hydrators lol (I’m not shaming you, I’m bullying you into being better bc ily).

Other ways include:

- Unprotected exposure to sun (UV rays)
- Over exposure to water bc that could remove your skin natural moisturising factors and lipids
- Basic Soaps (pH>7) bc the barrier is mildly acidic (~pH 5)
- Hot water. Too stripping babes
- Harsh physical exfoliation

So of course I said it’s bad to have a damaged barrier, but why is that?

Let’s do it this way!

You’re treating your acne, that’s why you’ve been exfoliating so much, right? But if your barrier is damaged, your acne becomes MORE inflamed. Your treatments stop working!

Same with your hyperpigmentation, that gets worse.

You experience trans-epidermal water loss, so your face will be dehydrated from tight, flaky AND may be oilier than normal bc your skin is forced to overproduce oil to counter the dryness!

You have texture? It gets worse.
You don’t have texture? You develop some.
You suddenly develop fine lines, your wrinkles are a LOT more pronounced.
Your treatments STOP working.
Your face is burning.
Causes eczema flares.
Causes premature aging.

Everything hurts. Nothing works!

As you can see, all that is horrible. Pain isn’t nice (for most people)...

But HOW do you identify a damaged barrier? Well... let’s get into that!

1. Tight, dehydrated skin.
2. Stinging upon application of products that didn’t sting before.
3. Fine lines.
4. Excess production of oil.
5. Sudden ineffectiveness of products.
6. Increase in breakouts (more acne etc).
7. More pronounced texture.
8. Itchiness/redness/flakiness.

Okay now that we’ve gotten identifying a damaged barrier down, let’s do the important part, how do you FIX it??

Uhmmm well, let’s discuss the components of the moisture barrier FIRST!

Your skin has these things called natural moisturising factors and lipids... these components influence a LOT of your skincare products

The skin barrier is made up of something called the lipid matrix, which has 3 main components: cholesterol, free fatty acids and ceramides.

Natural moisturising factors are made up of urea, amino acids etc, which are very important in making your skin perform at optimal level, i.e. optimal hydration, plasticity as well as ensuring the desquamation process is seamless and regular.

So in fixing your barrier, you HAVE to restore these things to your skin, so what are key ingredients to look out for?

1. Ceramides: Already components of skin so restore them.

But they’re also hydrophilic and hydrophobic, so they both attract and bind water into skin (good)!

2. Cholesterols and Fatty acids: Work by mimicking the natural components of the barrier to help build it back up.

3. Amino acids: Help transport moisture and prevent free radical damage.

4. Antioxidants: Fight free radical damage by neutralising the free radicals.

Petrolatum: Forms a hydrophobic film on the skin to prevent the evaporation of water from the surface of the skin (prevents TEWL).

Other ingredients to look out for:

So step by step on how to fix your barrier? BET!
1. Identify how damaged it is.

If even your moisturiser stings and the stinging is unbearable, I’d go with:

Cleanser-Petroleum Jelly (on damp face in the evening)

and

Cleanser-SPF (in the AM)

You may prefer a mineral spf if the chemical spfs sting!

You may also prefer to use a zinc oxide ointment as @_Starsabreep recommends!

If your barrier isn’t THAT impaired and you can still use some stuff, go with:

Cleanser-Moisturiser-SPF

If your skin can take it, add a repairing serum and/or hydrating toner!

When you’re fixing your barrier, please drop all of these actives, specifically:

AHAs: Mandelic, glycolic and lactic acids.
BHAs: Salicylic Acid
Benzoyl Peroxide
Retinoids
Niacinamide at %>5 cus that could be irritating
Vitamin C

So what products do EYE like when I’m fixing my barrier, and what have J seen others recommend/love?

*I will make it clear what products I’ve used and which ones are just highly recommended!

My favourite product of all time is the one I must start with! The @paulaschoiceuk omega+ complex serum!

With:

- Omega Fatty Acids
- Ceramides
- Shea Butter
- Cholesterol

Cerave Healing Ointment:

With:

- Pertolatum
- Ceramides
- Cholesterol
- Panthenol
- Hyaluronic Acid

S/O @MakeupForWOC and @caveofbeauty for putting ALL of us on lmao.

@PCASKIN Hydrating Toner

With hyaluronic acid and pictured ingredients:

The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid:

La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume:

With:

- Centella Asiatica
- Panthenol
- Shea Butter

This applies a bit white, but you don’t need too much, and it goes clear as you rub it in!

Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Softening Cream Cleanser:
(10/10 Product fr)!

With:

- Beta Glucan
- Sterols
- Chamomile Flower Extract

KRAVE beauty Great Barrier Relief.

With:

- Niacinamide
- Ceramides
- Cholesterol
- Natural Moisturising Factors

And more! This is like a barrier’s dream lol!

*I haven’t tried it, but it’s RAVED about by professionals!

LIKE BUTTER by @topicals.

With:

- Niacinamide
- Shea Butter
- Ceramides
- Licorice Root Extract
- Cholesterol
- Hyaluronic Acid

+ All the pictured ingredients!

*Currently testing this out, but everyone else seems to LOVE this!

The Inkey List Ceramide Night Treatment!

With:

- Ceramides
- Cholesterol
- Jojoba Seed Oil
- Hyaluronic Acid

THIS PRODUCT IS THE TRUTH YALL. BUY IT!

I’m gonna stop here bc my brain is off, but yeah! If you have any questions, leave them below and I’ll answer them!

Remember, if you wreck your barrier, strip it to the bare minimum, for at least two weeks (maybe more), until you see IMPROVEMENTS!

Your barrier is THE most important thing fr. Everything you’re treating won’t work without a STRONG barrier.

My biggest tip is to incorporate barrier repairing products in whatever regimen you have.

Treating acne/pih etc? Make sure you have barrier repairing stuff in there!