3 Simple Effective Techniques To Rebuild Your Skin Barrier
Did you know your skin barrier makes up one-seventh of your total body weight? That’s nearly 15 percent of our body mass! More so, our skin barrier helps protect our delicate insides from harm. Social media is buzzing with talk about how to do our best to rebuild and care for it. Skin barrier health means more than just applying expensive skincare products. Let’s find out how you can protect and care for yours!
Healthy Skin Starts With Protecting Your Skin Barrier
Your skin barrier is the outermost layer of your skin. And it works hard in protecting our vital organs from harm. But, more so, it prevents an array of environmental contaminants from entering our bodies. At the same time, the barrier prevents water from leaving the body unless it needs to via way of sweat.
This process helps your body maintain the right hydration level and prevents you from falling ill or having frequent injuries. The stratum corneum is the outermost layer, and it works like a wall to protect us. These resilient cells, called corneocytes, bind together by mortar-like lipids that make up our skin barrier.
More so, your skin barrier’s function goes beyond how your skin looks and into your overall skin health. Typically, it has three main tasks we need to know. First, our skin barrier protects us from external harmful stressors. They can consist of pollution and UV radiation. Next, it keeps our skin and body hydrated. And last, it aids in transporting essential nutrients to our skin and organs.
Overall, it keeps our bodies in a state of homeostasis, keeping our bodies healthy and balanced. But, of course, we want our skin to look healthy and glowing too. And with a healthy skin barrier, we not only look good but feel good too. For example, if your skin’s barrier doesn’t work efficiently, your skin will not look hydrated, smooth, and healthy. Plus, your skin can be more prone to pollutants and irritation.
How Your Skin Barrier Can Incur Damage
Your skin barrier creates a tight wall-like structure that prevents allergens and viruses from getting into your body. However, when damaged, these allergens and viruses can easily enter your body.
Below, you’ll find several main causes of skin barrier damage:
Over Cleansing
When you cleanse your skin, you need to consider what type of soap you use. Also, you should know what skin type you have as well. Additionally, it’s important to choose a quality skincare product that doesn’t incorporate harsh chemicals. Harsh or abrasive chemicals can damage the outer layer of your skin, especially if you wash too often.
Over-Exfoliating
Equally, while exfoliating is good for your skin, you don’t want to over-exfoliate either. Exfoliation removes dead skin cells from your face and body, which is good for your skin. Removing dead skin allows new skin to form and keeps your skin smooth and healthy. But, if you exfoliate too often, you won’t just be removing the dead skin cells. You’ll also be destroying the healthy ones that form the skin barrier.
Environmental Factors & Genetic Makeup
Pollution and dry air can also cause damage to your skin barrier. That’s why you may feel itchy in certain places, specifically where there is poor air quality. Also, your skin’s genetic makeup can affect the health of your skin barrier. Of course, good genes do play a role in how your skin looks and feels. But with good skincare treatments, you can improve the overall health of your skin.
Moreover, we can experience skin problems like pimples, wrinkles, dark circles, blackheads, acne, and dry skin when we avoid properly protecting and treating our skin barrier. Remember, it’s never too late to take proper care of your skin to improve its overall health and appearance.
Three Effective And Preventive Measures You Can Take
Fortunately, there are three effective and preventive measures you can take to improve the look and feel of your skin. In addition, if you follow the recent skincare TikTok trend, you can follow advice from many skincare advocates and professionals. It’s the latest craze, and all folks talk about and discuss.
More so, if your skin experiences these irritating symptoms and conditions, you can restore it to health.
- Acne
- Discoloration and rough, dry patches
- Inflammation or sensitive areas on your face or body
- Infections such as bacterial, viral, or fungal.
Below, try adhering to these three things you can do to keep your skin in good health.
1 – Reduce Washing & Exfoliating
The most obvious first step is to reduce the number of times you wash and exfoliate. Although this may sound counter-productive, overwashing and exfoliating can and often does damage skin. However, you can afford to cleanse less often and still have healthy skin.
While it’s important to exfoliate, you need to know your skin type and make sure you use the right products. While this might take some trial and effort, you will land on what exfoliate works best for your skin type.
Alternatively, exfoliate just once a day or even every other day, and most likely, you’ll soon see the difference. It’s important to note that even those of us that don’t experience sensitive skin can over-exfoliate as well. Also, make sure you follow a skincare routine developed for sensitive skin.
2 – Moisturize Your Face And Body
To help protect your skin barrier, you should always moisturize your skin twice daily. That means choosing your preferred moisturizer and apply it correctly. A good moisturizer will hydrate the skin barrier and help it to remain strong. More so, this will help your skin stay hydrated and healthy. And this not only applies to your face but your body too.
Of course, you’ll need to find moisturizers and serums that work well with your skin type. For example, if you have oily skin, you’ll want to avoid products that add oils and don’t absorb well into the skin. And if you have very dry skin, you’ll want to make sure your moisturizer penetrates deep into the layers of your skin and provides the proper amount of minerals and oils.
3 – Keep Your Skin Barrier Routine Simple!
Remember, it’s always a good idea to keep your skincare routine simple and easy to follow. However, adding an abundance of products to your skin doesn’t mean it’s the right treatment or will make significant changes. If you’re looking to restore your skin barrier, make sure the products have free fatty acids, ceramides, and niacinamide.
It’s worth noting that Aloe extract and Centella can help soothe your skin, while hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and panthenol are all great at helping your skin retain water.
Don’t forget that the key to protecting your skin barrier is to avoid over-stressing it. In short, it’s easier to maintain your skin’s barrier than it is to repair it.
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If You Want Naturally Glowing Skin You Need To Do This
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