how to care for skin with a damaged skin barrier

Having a healthy skin barrier is integral to having healthy skin! Your natural skin barrier is a collection of lipids and ceramides that your skin produces to keep good things (like moisture) in and bad things (like allergens and pollutants) out. 

Your skin naturally produces ceramides, which make up about 50% of your skin barrier, but production usually starts to slow down at around age 30. Fewer ceramides = a weaker skin barrier! 

Other factors can weaken your skin barrier as well; here are a few examples: 

  • over-exfoliating
  • over-cleansing or using harsh products that strip skin of its natural oils
  • extreme weather (hot or cold) 
  • skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis

If you have a weak or damaged skin barrier, your skin will benefit from some TLC, and from products that will help you replenish and rebuild it. Here’s what we recommend. 

step one: cleanse

While removing makeup and daily grime from your skin is important, cleansing deeply can also help remove potential irritants from skin! Choose a gentle formula like our oil to milk cleanser, which works *without* stripping your skin of its natural oils.

step two: tone

Toning with rosewater will help hydrate and soothe dry or stressed skin while also balancing its pH. 

step three: ceramide serum

Replenishing your skin with ceramides is *key* to restoring a healthy skin barrier! We formulated our ceramide barrier serum with 5 different types of ceramides, which mimic your skin’s natural barrier. Combined with other lipids that help seal in water and lactic acid to boost absorption, this serum helps your skin retain moisture and defend itself against external stressors.

step four: moisturize

Oils like our chia facial oil work as occlusives, meaning they create a protective barrier on the surface of the skin. This helps further lock in moisture, as well as nutrients from the other steps in your skincare routine!

step five: SPF (AM only)

Duh! Skin in any condition needs to be protected from harmful rays. Along with providing UVA *and* UVB protection, our daily spf sunscreen also protects skin from the effects of pollution. 

we hope you found this helpful! if you have any questions, feel free to shoot us a DM on Instagram or email info@cocokind.com :)