The Beauty of Barriers

In this post about caring for your skin barrier:

Our skin barrier is the quiet hero of great skin. When it’s healthy, it deflects unfriendly microbes, protects against UV, holds on to water and generally looks calm, smooth, and plump. When it’s disrupted, it doesn’t do any of those things well.

Barrier damage tends to show as dryness, inflammation and irritation. In fact, almost every skin problem we buy lotions and potions to treat, from aging to acne, is linked to an impaired skin barrier.

Almost every skin problem we buy lotions & potions to treat is linked to an impaired skin barrier.

“Abnormalities in the structure and function of the skin barrier underpin a number of dermatological conditions,” according the Skin Barrier Research Facility at Sheffield University.

Skin barrier biology (in bullet points)

The outermost layer of our skin, the stratum corneum, essentially acts as this protective shield. It’s comprised of:

• flattened ex-cells called corneocytes, often compared to bricks in a wall
• a combination of amino acids and humectants like hyaluronic acid and urea, known as the skin’s Natural Moisturising Factor, which fill and plump the corneocytes
• intercellular lipids – composed of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids – which work like the mortar in a wall to hold those plumped up corneocytes together

Then there’s the acid mantle, a film of sweat and sebum on the surface of the SC. Its slightly acidic pH, of between 4.5 and 5.5, helps to maintain a healthy skin biome by protecting the bacteria that do us good and deflecting the ones that don’t.

Together the stratum corneum and the acid mantle form a barrier that keeps moisture in and microbes out.

Breaking the barrier

Unfortunately this beautiful barrier can be impaired by harsh cleansers, wrong products and even bad weather. Luckily, depending on the depth of the damage, barrier repair can be pretty quick. But constant damage can make the barrier-bounce-back slower and slower.

One of the immediate impacts of barrier damage or impairment is a faster rate of Transepidermal Water Loss. This increase in water loss results in a decrease in normal skin functions such as desquamation. Desquamation is the natural shedding of older flaky cells, making way for the newer fresh plumper ones.

Clearly, we want that to work.

Healing your skin barrier

So if you’ve been over-cleaning or over-treating your skin, and wondering why nothing is working, maybe take a break and give your barrier some TLC:

• use gentle cleansers that don’t strip the acid mantle, leaving your skin tight, dry and exposed
• use moisturisers which include oils which are high in barrier building essential fatty acids, like hemp and cucumber
• look for leave on products with active ingredients like niacinamide, that has been shown to improve barrier integrity
• look for leave on products that include humectants like glycerin and hyaluronic acid which will help keep your skin hydrated and functioning the way it should.