Repair your fence while surrounded by nature. Photo: Tempe Denton Hurst
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We're at the point in skin care where we feel like our walls are really in need of a makeover. A few weeks ago, Paula's Choice, a brand that I consider the gold standard in skin care, emailed me their latest innovation: a barrier repair moisturizer. Around the same time, RoC Pharmacy announced its three-piece septum repair line. A few months ago, Hailey Bieber's Rudd released a barrier repair cream like The Ordinary, as well as a barrier repair serum in case things have gone too far. The issue of barriers is so important that one beauty expert, Simidar Jackson, has built his entire brand around it: From Otherworlds, which launched in June with a single product (Light Beams, a barrier repair serum) and quickly became Accelerate. Sephora's incubation program received the Glossier grant.
The truth is that you can actually mess up your skin barrier. The septum, also called the stratum corneum, is the top layer of the skin. A healthy layer that resists bacteria and toxins and maintains moisture balance throughout the skin. A compromised barrier results in dry, irritated and flaky skin, sometimes accompanied by acne. One of the main causes of barrier dysfunction is over-exfoliation, which is exactly what the beauty industry, Reddit users, and YouTube and TikTok influencers have been telling us to do for a long time. Gels and peelings. You don't need any serious training to use it.
A quick poll of my skincare-obsessed friends revealed that many of them use active ingredients (retinol, glycolic acid, or tranexamic acid) every night to achieve glass skin. They are trying to get rid of an annoying sagging spot from a few years ago, hide wrinkles on the forehead, or avoid wrinkles altogether. They focus on the goal and therefore align skin care with that goal rather than with the skin's natural processes. I think this is normal, especially in a world where the quality of skin care ingredients is measured by their effectiveness and visible results. But all this led to the formation of a lot of new, sensitive and irritated skin, creating a cycle of damage and repair. Between P50, high-potency vitamin C, and an active-ingredient-rich cleanser (sometimes all in one routine), it's almost inevitable that we'll reach that point in the cycle where everyone is trying to fix the problems they've created. .
The irony, of course, is that maintaining a healthy barrier is the best way to achieve the glass skin that so many people crave. The tendency to use too many active ingredients is also Jackson's experience. He decided to launch Light Beams after working with clients who he felt were using great products but weren't seeing results. “About 95 percent of the time, they were exfoliating and over-processing the skin,” he says. The light beams are designed to prevent and treat barrier disorders when they occur.
But honestly, we don't really need any products to help remove the barrier. The skin is able to renew and regenerate without intervention; It will just take longer than if you used moisturizers and serums containing ceramides. According to Jackson, a 30-year-old can completely restore the skin barrier in about four to five weeks if he sticks to cleansing with water only. This will restore your skin to its original condition, whether it is oily, acne-prone or dry.
If you choose to use a moisturizer, do you really need a special cream to keep your skin soft and healthy? Also no. A simple moisturizer such as Vanicream or CeraVe is sufficient. As someone who is sensitive to fragrance, I'm no stranger to simple moisturizers that just hydrate. And after years of using barrier-safe moisturizers (from First Aid Beauty's Ultra Repair Cream to Dieux's Instant Angel), I tend to stick to just a few ingredients. First of all, glycerin. As Ryu once said, glycerin requires hyaluronic acid as an active ingredient; It is very effective at locking in moisture and drawing moisture out of the air, keeping your skin hydrated. Also, ceramides: These fats are naturally present in the skin, and the synthetic version (which you find in skin care products) helps replenish it because we produce less ceramides as we age. These two, as well as the peptide when I feel like it, have never let me down. Given the weather, I simply choose thicker pants in the winter and lighter ones in the summer.
I recently started using a retinol product: AlphaRet from Skinbetter, which I chose because dermatologists recommended it for people with sensitive skin. I use it a maximum of three nights a week (sometimes two) and have noticed that my skin is getting better every day. Because of this, I constantly use moisturizers and sunscreens and add otherworldly light rays to protect myself from the worst symptoms of irritation. My septum looks healthy at the moment.
This article was originally published in The Strategic Beauty Brief , a weekly newsletter from our beauty editors on must-haves, must-haves and must-haves. Register here .
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