Expert Topic by Joanne Rendell
How well is your barrier supported
Written by Skin Therapist Joanne Rendell
I’m always talking to my clients about the best ways to care and protect the outermost layer of their skin for it to work efficiently.
We are all wanting a clear, smooth and glowing complexion, but if we allow our barrier to become weak we start to lose hydration.
To put it simply, the skin barrier works as the bodies No1 defender against external aggressors, it helps to prevent these entering our bodies through our skin – if that isn’t enough for you to want to wrap it up alone without our barrier being intact and without hydration we speed up the process to premature ageing without mentioning the effects it can have on Acne and many other skin conditions.
The skin barrier is very clever and acts as a protective layer – Our skins barrier can become compromised even through applying the wrong skincare, when thinking of the right products to apply over the top you almost want them to act as a cling film over the face bouncing away bacteria and pollutants stopping them making their way into our deeper layers. Locking in moisture is a crucial part of maintaining hydration and regulating what is passing into the body.
Often clients will state their skin feels dry or their lines look deeper without really understanding that the difference in their complexion is due to the skins barrier being weakened, compromising its strength to do the job it is intended for.
“When our skin barrier is compromised, our skin will feel tight, itchy and uncomfortable, it will feel sensitive and often displays red flaky patches”
External aggressors that we want to strengthen our barriers against are heat, UV light, blue light and pollution. It is also important to ensure we keep a healthy diet and ensure our bodies are getting enough vitamins and nutrients without them our skin can become lacking causing our skin barrier to become weak.
Keep your routine simple - you want to be choosing formulations that will heal and protect the skins barrier, whilst acting as a barrier to stop any potential irritants. More often than not when clients tell me there skin is feeling tight or uncomfortable when looking at the routine it’s “sometimes as simple as not using an exfoliants quite as regular.”
So what is a good routine – Cleansing to remove impurities, hydrating the skin and using a moisturiser containing key ingredients like Vitamin C, exfoliating twice per week to help stimulate cell renewal and the use an SPF every day no matter what the weather outside, by following these simple steps is going to support and help your barrier remain strong.
