- Welcome back to another episode of Skincare Nerds.
I'm Joanna
and today we're talking about one of my favourite topics
of all time.
I can't believe it's taken us this long to cover it.
We're talking about the skin barrier today.
So your skin's barrier refers to the outer most layer
of your skin, which is your epidermis.
So this barrier helps to keep irritants
and pollutants out and keep water in.
(laughs)
If you're into skincare,
you may have heard the term transepidermal water loss.
Your barrier is largely responsible
for reducing transepidermal water loss.
So there's three elements to your skin's barrier.
Firstly, we've got your microbiome
or all the bacteria that help to maintain healthy skin
on the outermost surface.
Then we've got your acid mantle
which to keep a healthy balance,
should sit at a pH of around five to 5.5.
And then we've got your lipid barrier,
which is made up of cholesterol,
fatty acids, and ceramides.
So an impaired barrier.
Again, if you're into skincare,
that's probably another phrase that you've heard.
So an impaired barrier
refers to when this defence,
being your barrier is compromised
which can lead to a whole raft
of complications that trust me,
you don't wanna deal with.
There's a number of factors
that can cause an impaired barrier
or contribute to an impaired barrier.
So these include overexfoliation with both chemical
and physical formulas like scrubs, for example,
the use of retinoids or overuse of retinoids.
If you've ever tried vitamin A,
you might've noticed
you have a little bit of a retinoid response,
which would cause a little bit of redness,
sensitivity, flaking.
Then we have the overuse
of stripping or drying ingredients like surfactants
which you'll often find in different kinds of cleansers,
using the wrong products for your skin.
For example, if you've got dry skin
and using products designed for oilier skins,
then we've got environmental factors.
So a change in humidity.
That always dries out my lips, for sure.
I'm dealing with that right now.
And then of course, sun exposure as well.
So how would you know if you had an impaired barrier?
Well, luckily, our skin kind of talks to us in a way
and this is how I always know that something's going wrong
with my skin because it will start to show up.
If your skin feels tight after cleansing,
that can be an indicator of an impaired barrier
as well as if you experience redness,
sensitivity, dryness, flaking or even texture as well.
Breakouts can worsen as well with an impaired barrier.
And also, if you have existing breakouts,
you might find that the healing time is much slower.
And an important note is dehydration.
So oily skins can still be dehydrated
because it refers to a lack of water in the skin.
So if you have an oilier skin,
an overproduction of oil can sometimes be an indicator
that your barrier might be impaired.
So why is it so important to maintain a healthy barrier?
So it really is important to maintain
a healthy skin barrier to prevent skin dehydration.
And then also to keep those pollutants
and irritants that I mentioned earlier out of the skin
because they can wreak havoc
on our skin and on our bodies in general.
So if you suspect you might have an impaired barrier,
lucky you, this is what you need to do.
Start by going back to basics
and opting for a gentle cleanser,
moisturiser and SPF to start with.
Ingredients like fragrance and essential oils
can cause more irritation.
So they're best to avoid if you can.
Stick to the most blend products you possibly can.
Yeah, the white bread of skincare, which isn't bad.
I love blend products.
I think they absolutely, there's a place for them,
especially for sensitive skin.
Products containing fatty acids and ceramides
can be really beneficial in repairing that lipid barrier
I mentioned earlier, as well as moisturisers within mixture
of humectants, emollients and occlusive ingredients in them.
Some products I love to recommend for people struggling
with an impaired barrier, because trust me,
as someone with rosacea,
I've had an impaired barrier more than most.
So these are some of my top picks.
Dermalogica UltraCalming Barrier Repair,
SkinCeuticals Epidermal Repair,
and Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 which is rich in ceramides.
The Ordinary Amino Acids and B5.
Amino acids are one of the building blocks of skin.
And B5 is a great repairative ingredient.
So that's definitely a good product
and it's affordable as well.
Speaking of affordable, something that's not affordable
is the Osmosis Rescue Serum.
That is one of my favourite products for inflamed skins
and great for those who suffer with conditions like rosacea.
So I really love to recommend that product
but it's about $224.
So she's not for everyone.
Actually affordable options,
we've got La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5
that is also a great product,
really good for keeping moisture in the skin
and helping with any dryness
or irritation you might be experiencing.
And then a great daily moisturiser I like to recommend
is the Bioderma's Daily Soothing cream.
I actually use that product very regularly
even though I don't have an impaired barrier right now
but it is just a really nice gentle cream
suitable for sensitive skins.
So those are definitely my top picks for impaired barriers.
But if your issues do persist
and you've got persistent redness, persistent dryness,
flaking sensitivity, it is best to go and seek the opinion
of a dermal therapist or a dermatologist
and see if they can help you a little bit further.
An interesting point is when would you know
that your impaired barrier is fixed?
So look for signs of any irritation dryness.
If those start to resolve,
that's probably when you're back on track.
So your skin's natural cell turnover
is about 28 days when you're in your early 20s.
So that starts to decrease as you get older.
So it may take longer
as you get older for that barrier to repair itself.
I would give it at least a couple of weeks
of just the gentle products
and then start to re-introduce any active products.
You can start to use things
like hyaluronic acid and (indistinct) pretty quickly.
Those are nice repairative ingredients as well.
So they shouldn't cause any disruption on the skin
but wait a little while to re-introduce your retinoids
and resurfacing acids like AHJs.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the comments below.
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if you wanna see more Skincare Nerds.
And if you're interested in any other videos I've done,
I've done a lot.
So take a peak.
- [Instructor] That side.
- This side.
Sorry, I should have known that. (laughs)