4 tips for repairing your skin’s moisture barrier

Does your skin feel flaky, dehydrated or perhaps a little irritated? Your moisture barrier may be compromised. Fortunately – there are a few simple things you can do to bring your moisture barrier back to life and back on track.

What is your moisture barrier?

Think of it like your skin’s first line of defence. It’s the uppermost layer of your skin, a moisture barrier that keeps all the good stuff like hydration etc in and the bad stuff like pollution and irritants out.

If you’ve been a little overeager with your exfoliation, have dehydrated skin or have environmental triggers around you, your skin might start feeling a little rough, dull, flaky or irritated because it’s been damaged. A strong moisture barrier on the other hand, will give you with dewy, smooth and glowing skin.

So, here’s some tips on how to give your skin a little extra love and keep it happy and healthy!

Repair

Number one on your list of things you want to do when your moisture barrier is compromised is working on getting it back into a healthy position. This starts by stripping back your routine to its bare bones and select some specifically formulated products that will help speed up recovery.

You might find that Casa Mencarelli’s Sea Buckthorn serum, which is rich in fatty acids and is fast absorbing will become your new best friend. If you’re looking for a hydrating mask that is drenched in hyaluronic acid to increase your skin’s water reserves, you’ll love Naya’s Overnight Hydration Mask.

Look for ingredients including ceramides, fatty acids and lips and hyaluronic acid to name a few to feed your skin. Some effective plant oils also include jojoba oil, almond oil, organ oil, borage oil and rosehip oil to name a few.

Keep it gentle

You may have over stripped your skin (yes, we can all get a little carried away with the exfoliants… we’re all guilty of it) but you need to be very gentle with your skin now. This means using gentle, non-stripping cleansers that keep your skin healthy and clear without any added stress.

 “If you have a compromised skin barrier such as with psoriasis, eczema, or severely dry skin then double cleansing should be avoided. It’s important to still cleanse with a gentle cleanser but would be advised to work on improving the lipid barrier first before considering double cleansing.” Says Frances Turner-Traill, Clinical Director of FTT Skin Clinics. 

For a gentle oil cleanse that calms and cleanses an irritated and inflamed complexion, try Skin Alchemist’s The Humble Warrior. If you’re after a gentle cleansing cream that offers intensive moisturising, Love Absolute’s Lavish Cold Cream is cooling and luxurious.

Less is More

This is for when you’ve built that barrier back up and feeling in a strong space. It’s important to keep those barriers up and feeling robust – and adopting a less is more approach when looking at skincare is the way to go. Focus on gentle yet effective formulas that will work to renew and revitalise your complexion.

Bakuchiol is the perfect alternative to Retinol with all the anti-ageing benefits but without the irritation and you’ll find this in Wildcrafted Organics Bakuchiol Serum Cell Regenerating serum. You’ll also love the glowing benefits of an anti-oxidant rich vitamin c serum, which you’ll love from the Wildcrafted Organics Wild Plum Illuminating C complex / serum. It’s brimming with potent natural ingredients to bring dull, lacklustre skin back to life.

You may also find products with Cacay oil to become very popular, this vitamin plays an important role helping to build the skin structure. You’ll find this superstar in Naya’s RENEW Cacay Oil + A.

Lock in that hydration

Now your skin is getting back on its feet – let’s seal in all that moisture and help keep that glow. Flood the skin with long-lasting hydration using nourishing, non-irritating moisturisers and creams that your skin will love… it’ll thank you for it.

Your skin will love the Skin Alchemists Sésenne Facial Elixir formulated from 26 nutrient rich botanicals for restorative skin benefits and a healthy micro-biome. Wildcrafted Organics Wild Rose Botanical Mist is also a beautiful treat – it not only plumps the skin but provides immediate and long-term hydration aided by the inclusion of hyaluronic acid.

And finally… one of the best protections you can give your skin is by applying SPF… so make sure you do!

Without your skin barrier, all sorts of harmful environmental toxins and pathogens could penetrate your skin and wreak havoc on your body… so look after it!