How to Heal a Damaged Skin Barrier 101 | Tips to Repair a Damaged Moisture Barrier
Not me overdoing it on the actives once again. Recently, I did way too much to my skin by overusing too many chemical exfoliants and in return, my skin freaked the fuck out. This was different than all of my other previous experiences with overexfoliation because not only was my skin red and irritated, but this time it was also EXTREMELY itchy as well, which is when I knew that I had really messed up.
Today, I wanted to share with you some tips on how I managed to to get my skin barrier back to a healthy, hydrated, and happy state within 2 weeks.
What is a skin barrier and why should you care?
Your skin is made up of several different layers and the outer most layer is called the stratum corneum, or the horny layer, which can be thought of as a brick wall.
This “brick wall” is REALLY important because it helps keep our insides staying inside, protects from irritants coming in, and prevent water loss in our skin. The bricks are skin cells and the glue that holds them together are lipids, like ceramides and sebum.
When you over cleanse or overdo it with actives, this lipid layer can become damaged and allow us to lose water in our skin at an accelerated rate (known as Transepidermal Water Loss).
This can allow bacteria and toxins to more easily come in, leaving us with weakened and irritated skin.
So if your barrier is damaged, here are some tips that can help.
Tip 1- Stop using actives IMMEDIATELY.
If you overdid it with actives and your skin is irritated as a result, you need to stop using what irritated it in the first place.
As soon as I noticed my skin red and stinging, I went into damage control mode immediately and stopped using any products with active ingredients – such as any chemical exfoliants like AHA/BHAs, retinols or retinoids, Vitamin C, Niacinamide, etc.
Tip 2 – Use products with hydrating & soothing.
I immediately started using products that had hydrating ingredients that would help build back and strengthen my skin barrier. The focus should be keeping water in your skin as with a damaged barrier, you are losing water at a faster rate. Look for moisturizers with ingredients like Ceramides, Squalane, Panthenol, Snail Mucin, Natural Moisturizing Factors (NMFs), Hyaluronic Acid, Glycerin.
I like to layer on the hydration and calming, so as soon as I see irritation, here is a list of products that helped me repair my moisture barrier.
Keep Cool & Soothe Toner
Skin types: All skin types, great for combination, oily, sensitive, and acne-prone skin.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and soothing.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrance, alcohols, parabens, and sulfates. Cruelty free.
One of my favorite toners to use would be the Keep Cool & Soothe Toner because not only does this toner hydrate, but it’s so good at soothing irritated skin as well since it’s formulated with 85% Bamboo Water which has a ton of antioxidants in addition to Centella Asiatica. It also has humectants like Glycerin, Urea, and Panthenol.
Keep Cool & Soothe Serum
Skin types: All skin types, great for combination, oily, sensitive, and acne-prone skin.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and soothing.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrance, alcohols, parabens, and sulfates. Cruelty free.
The serum has a formulation similar to the toner, but the texture is much thicker and pairs so well with the toner. Both are free of artificial fragrance and parabens.
Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner
Skin types: All skin types, great for sensitive skin.
Skin benefits: Hydration and soothing. Helps reduce redness, irritation, and rosacea.
Ingredient callouts: Vegan, cruelty free. Free of parabens, sulfates, and phthalates.
The Pyunkang Yul essence Toner was another toner I used frequently because it just gives such nice and light hydration in addition to being fragrance free. It has only 7 ingredients, the main being Astralagus Root Extract, which helps with inflammation. This is the perfect toner for layering, hydrates my skin very quickly, and leaves a natural finish.
Minon Amino Moist Lotion II
Skin types: All skin types, especially dry and/or sensitive skin.
Skin benefits: Hydration.
Ingredient callouts: Fragrance, paraben, and alcohol free.
Minon is a Japanese brand formulated specifically for those with sensitive skin. Their Amino Moist Lotion has loads of amino acids, another type of humectant, that helped round out a strong dose of hydration for my skin.
CosRX Cica Pad + Serums
Skin types: All skin types, especially sensitive skin.
Skin benefits: Soothing.
Ingredient callouts: Fragrance, paraben, and alcohol free. Cruelty free. Vegan.
These are two newer product from Cosrx that mostly contains Cica-7 complex which is 7 centella ingredients. The serum feels really nice and sinks in without any stickiness and I love the Cica pads because it’s easy to use on either your entire face or just certain spots where you see redness. These can work either as toner pads where you swipe your face with them or you can leave them on like a spot sheet mask.
WHERE TO BUY
Pad: CosRX
Serum: CosRX
Serum: Amazon
Cosrx Snail Mucin Essence
Skin types: All skin types.
Skin benefits: Soothing.
Ingredient callouts: Fragrance, paraben, and alcohol free. Cruelty free. Vegan.
This OG K-Beauty classic is 96% snail secretion filtrate, a powerful skincare ingredient I’m obsessed with that not only helps increase skin elasticity and hydration but also helps brighten the skin.
Beauty of Joseon Repair Serum
Skin types: All skin types.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and nourishing.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrances, parabens, sulfates, artificial color, alcohol, silicone, mineral oil and essential oils.
Continuing the snail love, this Beauty of Joseon Repair serum has both Snail mucin filtrate and ginseng root water to brighten and repair skin. Ginseng is a popular ingredient in Asia known for its healing properties and pairs so well with snail mucin in this product to help nourish skin.
Beauty of Joseon Calming Serum
Skin types: All skin types.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and calming.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrances, parabens, sulfates, artificial color, alcohol, silicone, mineral oil and essential oils.
I also really love BOJ’s Calming Serum which you can tell because I’ve used so much of it this past month, the dropper won’t take any more product. This serum uses a combination of Green Tea, Centella Asiatica, and Panthenol to soothe, calm, and hydrate skin. Green tea is rich in antioxidants and Panthenol helps keep skin hydrated and supple.
Beauty of Joseon Centella Asiatica Calming Mask
Skin types: All skin types.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and calming.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrances, parabens, sulfates, artificial color, alcohol, silicone, mineral oil and essential oils.
Love this sheet mask as it contains 15% Centella Asiatica to calm skin.
Axis-Y Artichoke Intensive Skin Barrier Ampoule
Skin types: All skin types.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and calming.
Ingredient callouts: Free of artificial fragrances, parabens, and artificial color. Vegan. Cruelty free.
This is a newer product that I’ve added to my barrier repair arsenal and I love how it makes my skin feel and look. Artichoke extract helps skin retain moisture while Centella Asiatica and Tea Tree soothe inflammation and redness.
WHERE TO BUY
Axis-Y
Hada Labo Gokujyun Premium Lotion (2020 Reformulation)
Skin types: All skin types, especially dry and/or sensitive skin.
Skin benefits: Hydration.
Ingredient callouts: Vegan, cruelty free. Free of parabens, sulfates, and phthalates.
You guys know I’m obsessed with this Hada Labo toner – this new reformulation has 7 types of Hyaluronic Acid of different molecular weights and I love using this thicc toner to seal in my layers of hydration.
WHERE TO BUY
Amazon
Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream
Skin types: All skin types, especially dry and/or sensitive skin.
Skin benefits: Hydration.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrance, alcohol, and parabens.
Whenever my skin is irritated in general, this Illiyoon moisturizer has been my go to. I was using Cerave but noticed my skin was still red, so I switched over to using Illiyoon and the redness subsided. The formula has ceramide encapsulated beads so as you rub in the moisturizer, you can feel the tiny beads breaking and releasing ceramides. Love this gentle moisturizer as it is fragrance free and leaves a natural finish on the skin, making it perfect for all skin types.
Holy Snails Perseids Oil
Skin types: All skin types, great for dry skin.
Skin benefits: Hydrating and nourishing.
Ingredient callouts: Free of fragrance, alcohols, parabens, and sulfates. Cruelty free.
The last step of my routine would be to use an oil to lock in the calming and hydrating goodness. I love this oil from holy Snails because it’s a combination of several different hydrating oils rich in fatty acids and antioxidants, like Rosehip, Avocado, and Evening primrose to name a few.
WHERE TO BUY
Glowie Co
Tip 3 – Use a gentle cleanser
Cleansing will be the most stripping part of your skincare routine now which is why you should use use a gentle cleanser that ideally is a low pH, close to the pH of our skin. Stick with Cleansing Skip morning cleanse
Tip 4- Sunscreen
Your skin is vulnerable, so it’s important to continue wearing sunscreen to protect your skin from UVA and UVB rays.
Tip 5 – Do not try any new products
When your skin is in this weakened state, it is not the time to try out new skincare products that could potentially irritate your skin. Once your skin barrier is healed, you can then start trying new products but remember to only try ONE new product at once otherwise you are risking damaged your skin barrier again.
Trying out ONE product at a time makes it easier to see how your skin reacts to it, versus if you try several at once and see irritation, you won’t know which one really caused it.
Hoping these tips help with repairing a damaged barrier. Even though it may take a few weeks, our skin is incredibly resilient and will heal if you treat it right.
