Best Skin Barrier Repair Products
Image courtesy Kelsey Curtis on Unsplash
Skin barrier repair is of critical importance if you struggle with dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin, acne-prone skin and aging skin. The best skin barrier repair products will be those that mind the cellular components of the skin barrier and help support biochemical process that happen right within the cell. And the best skin barrier repair products don’t just come in a cream or serum - your cleanser, toner and/or essence ingredients matter too. Read on to learn what the best skin barrier repair products are and why you need them in your skincare regimen.
Best Skin Barrier Repair Products - Cleansers
The best skin barrier repair products when it comes to cleansers are those that contain gentle surfactants, or no surfactants at all. Did you know that surfactants were actually created to help with removing grease when washing cars?! Thankfully over the years, cosmetic scientists have become more aware of the harsh effects that many surfactants have on the skin. Many surfactants, like SLS for example, increase skin sensitization leading to increased skin redness and a worsening of many skin conditions like cystic acne and skin redness, for example. In modern skincare, it’s more likely to find gentle sugar tensides like sucrose laurate, or surfactants derived from coconut (which is completely safe for acne-prone skin, things derived from coconut are not the same as coconut oil when applied to your skin). These gentle surfactants are “weaker” in a sense, so they are far less likely to strip the skin barrier of all those precious oils which are ever so vital for a healthy skin barrier.
Speaking of oils - using an oil cleanser that contains these gentle surfactants is a great idea if you are someone who needs skin barrier repair. Opt for cleansers that contain healthy oils for the skin like high linoleic acid sunflower oil, hemp seed oil, meadow foam seed oil and macadamia nut oil. Fractionated coconut oil, otherwise known as caprylic/capric triglycerides on an INCI list (INCI = the list of skincare product ingredients) is also helpful to see in skin barrier repair products as, like the other oils listed, is low in its comedogenic rating (unlikely to clog pores) yet effective at removing dirt, pollution and makeup from the skin.
Best Skin Barrier Repair Products - Toners and Essences
When it comes to toners and essences, the best skin barrier repair products will be those that are alcohol-free and contain no, or are low in harsh astringents like witch hazel. Ingredients like alcohol and astringents compromise the lipid matrix and acid mantle of the skin barrier, which is vital for optimal skin barrier health - if the lipid matrix and acid mantle of the skin barrier become compromised, we experience increased skin dryness from an increase in something called trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), and a shift in skin pH - which will further cause destruction to the skin barrier and skin microbiome.
Instead, choose toners and essences that have skin barrier repairing ingredients like hydrosols - which help to rebalance skin pH to the optimal pH zone, plant extracts like gotu kola or beta glucan (which technically is an extract from a fungi, Reishi mushroom to be exact) and probiotics like saccharomyces or lactobacillus which help to support the skin microbiome as well as improve cellular respiration (something that’s vital for healthy skin cells and a healthy skin barrier).
Best Skin Barrier Repair Products - Oils, Serums and Moisturizers
It doesn’t matter if you want to use just a face oil, face serum or moisturizer or if you want to use all three. The best skin barrier repair products will mind the cellular makeup of the skin and do its best to offer support for what our skin needs to optimize the skin barrier. This includes skin-identical ingredients like glycerin, sodium PCA and squalane, as well as emulsifier-free moisturizers (avoiding ingredients like cetearyl alcohol, sorbitan olivate and polysorbates to name a few). Instead opt for “emulsifiers” that help to create lamellar creams like lecithin, behenyl alcohol, glyceryl behenate and some beeswax derivates. This will ensure that your moisturizer isn’t also emulsifying your skin barrier. For oils, choosing plant oils that are higher in linoleic acid will also help improve skin barrier repair. Certain actives like resveratrol and peptides are also nice to see in your skin barrier repair products as they help encourage skin cell renewal and offer a healthy dose of antioxidants to help combats the harmful effects of oxidative stress on our skin.
Best Skin Barrier Repair Products - Ingestible Beauty
When it comes to repairing the skin barrier, the ingredients in your topical skincare products matter. But so does what you’re putting into your body and how you’re living your life. High stress and a diet high in high glycemic load meals negatively impacts cellular turnover, sebum production and skin pH. Managing stress, getting adequate (and regular) sleep, regular exercise and a healthy diet full of whole, nutrient-dense foods isn’t as complicated as some would make it out to be and is full of health benefits not just for your body but also for your skin barrier. Certain supplements like hydrolyzed marine collagen and antioxidant-rich greens powders can help offer skin barrier repair from the inside, out. Hydrolyzed marine collagen helps to support the production of collagen within the dermal layer of the skin, as well as provides important amino acids that are necessary for optimal skin cell functioning. Greens powders, depending on their ingredient profile, can help provide important antioxidants and skin cell nutrients necessary for skin barrier repair and skin cell health.
The best skin barrier repair products included in a holistic skincare regimen must include both topical and ingestible products. And skin barrier repair takes time, as much as skin redness can reduce dramatically within even 1-2 weeks, it’s important to remain patient with your progress - skin cell turnover ranges from 28-48 days after all, depending on age and other factors.
