Everything You Need to Know About The Moisture Barrier
There was a time when a younger, pimplier Danielle faced a particularly bad bout of acne, for what, at the time, felt like seemingly no reason at all. My face was covered in deep, painful cysts that took weeks to heal and months to fade. My skin was red, dull, inflamed, and weirdly itchy. So I went for a facial. And I cried a lot! So much that the esthetician snuck me handwritten advice detailing exactly how to fix my skin along with her number in case I had any questions. Her diagnosis? A seriously compromised moisture barrier.
What is a moisture barrier?
The moisture barrier is the outmost layer of skin, which helps retain water and moisture and defends against external irritants (bacteria, environmental debris, other gross stuff, etc.) that, if penetrated through the skin, cause sensitive reactions and wreak havoc. Basically, if your face was a nightclub, the moisture barrier would be the guy at the door checking IDs and rejecting large groups of guys.
When the moisture barrier is intact, it keeps skin feeling soft and acting calm and healthy. The best example of a perfectly intact moisture barrier can be found on a baby—plump, smooth, and radiant.
Okay, what happens when the moisture barrier isn’t intact?
The moisture barrier is made up of oils that bind skin cells together. When damaged, those oils struggle to bind skin cells together, leaving tiny, invisible cracks in the skin through which moisture can easily escape and irritants can easily enter. The bodyguard is gone, and club skin is looking more like a riot now.
How do I know if my moisture barrier is damaged?
Damaged moisture barriers have become far more common in the last years, for various reasons that I’m not going to get into yet. Here’s a list of symptoms to look out for:
Some of my symptoms included increased breakouts, tightness, dehydration, itchiness, rough skin, and redness.
Yikes. Okay, so what causes a moisture barrier to get damaged?
A lot of things, but the absolute #1 culprit of a damaged barrier is over-exfoliating the skin. This makes sense, given I was using two different chemical exfoliants every single day. Here are some other factors that might cause a damaged moisture barrier.
I want to note that most of these factors might not cause any damage to your moisture barrier. But if you notice yourself dealing with any of the above symptoms, consider any and all of the below factors that may have played a role.
Jeez, that’s a lot of factors. Is moisture barrier damage permanent? Can I fix it?
Depends. If you’ve been overdoing it with too many exfoliants or one of the other factors, but only for a relatively short period of time, you can probably fix it. But, if, for example, you’ve spent years and years over-exfoliating, excessively smoking, consuming lots of alcohol, and not protecting your skin from the sun, yeah, you’re probably going to have some life-long damage. That sucks, and I feel for you.
That being said, it’s never too late to get your skin back into a healthy place. While not all damage can be repaired, a good amount definitely can be.
Phewf. Okay, what do I do?
If you find your skin unusually sensitive or just not acting itself, consider treating your skin how you would a baby’s. So, keep it super simple and gentle until you see some real improvement. The general mindset needs to be on healing the skin and adding back in moisture, rather than trying to slough off persistent issues.
Step one? Put down the damn exfoliants. The issue is a lot of people don’t even realize that they’re using exfoliants sometimes. So, here’s a list of common exfoliants:
Cleansing brushes (like a Clarisonic)
Acid-based serums, creams, peels, pads, liquid toners, cleansers, etc.
Common ingredients you’ll see include glycolic, lactic, salicylic, and mandelic acids
Enzyme-based masks and peels
Scrubs
Washcloths
If your skin is in serious SOS mode, stop all exfoliating products for at least two weeks. Once the skin feels repaired, you can slowly introduce them back into your routine, working your way up to three to five days a week depending on your skin type.
If you’re using a prescription retinoid, talk to your doctor.
What else?
I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but it bears repeating: wear sunscreen. It literally will only help your skin.
Here are some other suggestions:
Use a gentle cleanser
Avoid washing your skin with hot water
Avoid highly fragranced skincare products (especially those that use synthetic fragrances)
Choose moisturizers with ingredients like ceramides, linoleic/linolenic acids, squalene, jojoba oil, etc.
Add a barrier-repairing serum to your routine (my favorite is this one from Krave)
Add a well-formulated oil to the end of your nighttime skincare routine.
Most importantly, listen to your damn skin. We often follow the mindset that if a product stings, it must be working. And while some products make the skin tingle, they should never actively hurt. Pay attention to the products you use—if they make your skin sting, they’re likely causing unnecessary irritation
Got it. Anything else?
Oui, oui! Be patient. Implementing these steps is key to repairing the barrier, but it’ll likely take longer than you’d like to heal even still. On average, I’d say you should see results in two to four weeks, but for some people, it’s going to take longer.
If you use the right combination of products for your skin type, it shouldn’t revert back to an unhealthy state. Remember that a lot of the time, you have control over how your skin acts. So if your skin is acting up, it very well might be your fault. And that’s okay! But also, let’s fix it and make sure it never happens again.
