Skin is the largest organ of your body! Let's be gentle with it. Seriously. You do not want to get it upset. If you’ve ever experienced a compromised skin barrier before then you’d probably know how uncomfortable it is. When your skin barrier is damaged, your skin feels tight-- and most likely just as confused as you. Trust us, we’ve been there and it’s not fun. Your skin barrier is extremely important! That’s why we wanted to talk about how you can strengthen it up and maintain it for healthier, brighter and stronger skin! Here's to New Year, New Skin!

Read on to find out more!

Your skin barrier, aka stratum corneum, is super important! Think about it like this: it’s what keeps all the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. Yay skin!

Now, having a weak skin barrier actually makes your skin more prone to irritants penetrating your skin and causing inflammation and skin sensitivity. Now, let’s break things down a little more so you can pinpoint whether or not you have a weak skin barrier and, of course, what to do about it.

Okay, FaceTory. So, how do I know if my skin barrier a damaged?

A healthy skin barrier means your skin feels comfortable. Your skin is chillin’, you’re chillin’, everyone is happy! But if your skin is feeling tight or dry, or confused, that means your skin barrier has become vulnerable and may need some extra love and care. Here are some common indications your skin barrier is not happy:
- oily but dehydrated skin
- sensitive
- tight
- itchy skin
- easily reactive skin
- redness

What can I do to rebuild and maintain my skin barrier's health?

1. Simplify your skincare to the basics
If your skin barrier has been compromised then try to simplify your routine to a gentle cleanser and a gentle moisturizer until your skin feels like it has gone back to normal. No physical exfoliation/ scrubs for now! Look for the right ingredients that help strengthen the skin barrier without being too harsh on the skin: Humectant ingredients like Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid and skin-building ingredients like Ceramides and Cholesterol. Once your skin feels better, give it some time and slowly new incorporate products.
2. Gentle cleansers (morning and night)
When you wash your face morning and night, make sure you avoid harsh cleansers that strip your skin. Just focus on gentle and mild cleansers. And yes that means try staying away from your acne-fighting cleanser. Your skin needs time to heal. Instead, what you want to look for are low pH cleansers.
3. Minimize incoming stressors
Use SPF and antioxidant-rich ingredients to protect from free radical damage. Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Green Tea Extract are great key ingredients!
4. Don't stress
It’s proven to slow down the healing process. Watch what you’re eating, get your body moving, and release the built-up stress/tension! Again, skin is our body’s largest organ, treat it the same as your immune system. Give it strength and all the good stuff! How your body feels on the inside will show on the outside.
5. Avoid fragrance
This is extremely important for people with sensitive. Fragrance is common in a lot of skincare products. If you’re aware of what ingredients you’re allergic to, then always check the list of ingredients before applying the product. If you don’t know if you're allergic to certain ingredients then always patch test the product before you slap it on and fully incorporate products into your routine. 
Luckily, we have a blog about this: How to Patch Test a Product

Keep in mind that everyone has different skin and if you feel like your skin needs extra care, there's always an option of professional dermatologists to help it get back to a happy balance. 

We hope this helped! Thanks for reading and as always, just keep glowing!

Love,
FaceTory 💖