Your skin barrier is essential for protecting your skin from external threats such as pollutants, allergens, and irritants. When it becomes compromised, you may notice symptoms that can impact your skin's health and appearance. Understanding these symptoms is key to taking steps to restore your skin barrier.
Common symptoms of a damaged skin barrier include dryness, redness, flakiness, itching, and sensitivity. These signs indicate that your barrier and microbiome is weakened, leading to moisture loss and easier penetration of irritants.
Factors contributing to skin barrier damage include excessive cleansing, harsh skincare products, environmental conditions, and certain skin conditions. Identifying the root cause is crucial for effective repair and restoration.
In the following sections, we will explore the causes of skin barrier damage, methods for helping improve a damaged skin barrier and microbiome right now and preventative measures for maintaining a healthy skin barrier overall
What is the skin barrier?
The skin barrier, also known as the stratum corneum, is the outermost layer of your skin, acting as a shield against pollutants, bacteria, and UV radiation. This barrier is vital for maintaining overall skin health.
Extrinsic factors are those which influence our skin outside our body, such as heat, cosmic rays of sunlight and free radical pollution. Of course these are generally out of your control, but a healthy diet, balanced lifestyle and good consistent skincare routine can help prevent some effects from these factors.
The primary function of the skin barrier is to prevent water loss with a waterproof barrier and keep the skin hydrated. It consists of cells called corneocytes, held together by a lipid matrix composed of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids. This matrix fills the gaps between cells, preventing moisture loss.
To maintain a healthy skin barrier, follow a proper skincare routine. Use gentle cleansers and moisturisers that support the barrier function. Avoid harsh chemicals, excessive exfoliation, and prolonged hot water exposure.
Common Symptoms of a Damaged Skin Barrier
A compromised skin barrier can manifest through various symptoms. Recognising these signs is crucial for addressing the issue and restoring balance.
Redness is a visible sign of a damaged barrier, indicating inflammation. Dryness and flakiness are also common, with skin feeling rough, tight, and possibly peeling or developing flakes.
Itchiness is a common sensation as damaged skin becomes more sensitive and prone to irritation. You may feel an urge to scratch, but resist, as it can worsen the condition. Tightness, stinging, or burning are other sensations associated with a compromised barrier.
Increased sensitivity is another symptom of skin barrier damage. Your skin becomes more susceptible to irritants like environmental pollutants or skincare products.
Products you previously tolerated may now cause stinging, burning, or breakouts. If you experience these symptoms of skin barrier damage, take action to repair your skin barrier.
Causes of Skin Barrier Damage
Several factors can contribute to a damaged skin barrier, leading to symptoms of a damaged skin barrier. Understanding these causes helps in protecting and restoring your skin's health.
Environmental factors like pollution and UV exposure can harm your skin's barrier. Pollution particles penetrate the skin and trigger inflammation, while UV rays cause oxidative stress and weaken the barrier. Cleanse thoroughly and apply broad-spectrum sunscreen daily to shield your skin.
Lifestyle factors also play a role. Poor diet choices lacking essential nutrients can compromise your skin's ability to maintain a healthy barrier. Stress disrupts your skin's balance, leading to increased sensitivity and a weakened barrier. A balanced diet and stress management through relaxation techniques or self-care support a strong skin barrier.
Your skincare routine impacts barrier integrity. Overuse of harsh cleansers, exfoliants, or excessive scrubbing strips natural oils and disrupts the barrier function. Opt for gentle cleansers and moisturisers and avoid over-exfoliating to maintain a healthy balance.
How to help your skin barrier with TEMPLESPA
We recognise that a compromised skin barrier and microbiome is something that more and more people are experiencing, for all the reasons and factors we’ve already listed. But not all hope is lost because we’ve dedicated research, time and testing to curating a range of skincare that’ll help support your skin barrier for today and in the future.
Our Hydrate & Soothe range features calming products to help repair a damaged skin barrier and support your microbiome for future healthy and strong complexions with a normal skin barrier function.
Throughout our Hydrate & Soothe range you’ll spot a prebiotic called biolin that encourages the growth and condition of good bacteria, strengthening and helping to prevent itching and redness. It’s the essential ingredient for aiding a damaged skin barrier and supporting your skin in the future.
Starting with cleansing, this step is part of both your morning and evening skincare routines and is to lift away makeup, impurities and SPF to leave your skin clean and fresh. BE GONE Kind-Hearted Cleansing Crème calms and soothes the skin with a fusion of prebiotics, liquorice and aubergine, amongst other vitamins and Mediterranean botanicals.
Next up is toning, and we have a special unsung hero to introduce you to. BE QUIET Soothing Milky Toner is a gorgeous weightless, velvety toner that’s specifically designed and clinically tested for those with sensitive or stressed skin. Skin-loving biomimetic squalane hydrates and softens the skin, Alpine Rose helps reduce inflammation and combat environmental stresses and pollution and niacinamide (or vitamin B3) increases skin elasticity and boosts collagen synthesis, as well as supporting the skin barrier.
A serum will slot into your routine after toning, these are designed with highly concentrated ingredients with targeted actions. You’ll need to stay consistent with a serum as the results aren’t always immediate, they work on the lower levels of your skin on the new cells to encourage healthy, glowing and strengthened skin. Take our BE STRONG Skin Strengthening Serum that’s for weak or fragile skin, such as a damaged skin barrier. Combined with our vitamins, a prebiotic sugar called alpha-glucan oligosaccharide and Mediterranean botanicals, this helps to soothe discomforted skin and reinforces the skin barrier.
Keeping your skin hydrated daily is an essential step for improving a damaged skin barrier, enter BE STILL Settling Moisturiser to make it easy and effective for you. With a texture like liquid silk, it helps to settle the skin, leaving it smooth, hydrated and happier overall! Of course you’ll find our prebiotic biolin, alongside vitamin E for replenishing lost moisture, liquorice root and black oat extracts to calm inflammation and beetroot extract. Don’t forget to add an SPF as the final step of your skincare routine, we’d recommend our LIFE DEFENCE SPF50 High Protection Moisturiser as it has UVA/UVB broad-spectrum protection and suits sensitive, weak skin perfectly.
As a weekly treat, QUENCH Deep Hydration Mask is the perfect partner to help a damaged skin barrier. Not only is it rich in hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and Mediterranean fruit and vegetable oils, but prebiotic biolin helps strengthen your skin barrier along with niacinamide. Apply a generous layer and leave for 10-20 minutes or use as an overnight mask and see how your skin feels and looks as it drinks up the nourishing and supportive ingredients by morning!
How Long Does It Take to Heal a Damaged Skin Barrier?
The timeline for healing a damaged skin barrier varies. Factors from the extent of how damaged your skin barrier is, what the main factors are causing the unbalance, individual skin types and conditions and how committed you are to changing your skin barrier for the better. All these factors and many more can affect how long it takes to improve your skin barrier.
Our main piece of advice is to stay consistent with the changes you are making and be patient. Your skin has a natural cell cycle of around 28 days on average, so you can understand why some changes don’t happen overnight.