High school biology taught us many things. An easy one to remember is that the skin is the body’s largest organ, and, essentially, an armor for our body against the outside world. Adults carry about eight pounds and twenty-two square feet of it. Without it, we would literally evaporate! Therefore, it’s crucial that we know how our skin works and how best to protect our skin barrier.
What is the skin barrier?
The skin barrier is the outermost layer of skin also called the Stratum Corneum. Skin cells combined with lipids such as ceramides, sebum, fatty acids, and cholesterol, hold our cells together like a brick wall.
When functioning in a harmonious way, they create a protective shield, keeping in essential moisture and keeping out damaging environmental elements such as bacteria and other irritants.
The skin barrier is also sometimes referred to as the lipid matrix, moisture barrier, acid mantle, or lipid barrier. It is slightly acidic which naturally helps our skin stave off bacteria.
Why is our skin barrier important?
The skin barrier functions as the primary barrier between the body and the environment. It protects us from the many harmful elements we can’t help avoiding in our daily lives.
Traci Cassell is Vice President, Anti-Aging for Coast Southwest. Traci has more than a decade’s experience in the personal care industry, expanding Coast Southwest’s strategic emphasis on innovative anti-aging skincare and haircare solutions. Traci partners with suppliers from around the world build Coast Southwest’s sophisticated ingredient portfolio, which is based on cutting-edge, cosmetic science and advanced raw material technology. With expert knowledge in all phases of product development, marketing, and brand-building, she and her anti-aging category team technically support Coast Southwest sales representatives and advance customer projects through personalized collaboration with the company’s state-of-the-art applications laboratory.
The skin barrier is delicately balanced. Environmental stressors such as UV, pollutants, viral infections, and chemicals can wreak havoc on it. When our skin barrier becomes damaged, that damage reduces the protection it is able to provide. , creating damage ranging from atopic skin conditions to visible signs of skin aging.
As consumer knowledge and concern increase about the daily exposure to harmful irritants and the potential damage they can cause, we are seeing more personal care products on the market that offer environmental protection and skin healing benefits to help improve the skin barrier function.
How do you know if your skin barrier is compromised?
If your skin is depleted of something, or if the skin barrier has been damaged, your skin will show it. Redness, irritation, dehydration, and skin-sensitivity are all signs of an impaired skin barrier. Additional indications can include:
- Dull, thin texture
- Dehydration
- Excessive dryness, uneven texture, rough patches, and flakiness
- Tightness after washing
- Stinging upon product application or rinsing
- Broken capillaries
- Erythema or redness such as excessive blushing, itching, or burning
- Small, rash-like bumps or breakouts
Multiple symptoms, open wounds, rash and itch, may warrant medical examination. A defective skin barrier can be a serious condition allowing infection to set in.
What can cause an impaired skin barrier?
Multiple reasons can create a compromised skin barrier.
- Genetics – Paler skin can have a thinner barrier making it more susceptible to irritation. A sensitive skin type can receive a medical diagnosis of an allergic reaction.
- Aging – As we age our skin barrier weakens. “Ultimately it’s about hydration – we’re born with a body composed of 75 percent water, yet die with closer to 0 percent; we dry up as we get older ,” Dr. Howard Murad states. Maintaining hydration balance is key to the skin barrier functioning properly.
- Overcomplicated skin care regimens – Combining too many active ingredients or using actives too often for your skin type can create skin irritation. Products with harsh physical exfoliants can scratch and open up small cracks in the skin.
- Environmental factors – Exposure to pollution, sun, extreme temperatures can cause free radical damage. “Our skin is bombarded by the air, water and sunshine, and we have strong evidence that these elements contribute to extrinsic aging of the skin, wrinkles, pigmentation, urticaria (hives) and even eczema,” said Lana Kashlan, an American board-certified consultant dermatologist and medical director at CosmeSurge Dubai Marina.
- Stress and diet – Skin barrier recovery and healing is slowed down by stress and a poor diet.
Fortunately, there are ingredients and solutions designed to help combat problems and repair the skin barrier so it can return to a healthy and balanced state.
Smart skincare
For healthy skin, it can take two to four weeks to repair the barrier function. To achieve a radiant, fresh and healthy appearance, using the right ingredients to protect and heal our skin is half the battle. Combining them with a smart delivery system is critical.
The importance of the skin barrier cannot be overemphasized and a “less is more” approach with your products is an easy way to protect and mend your skin barrier. Advanced ingredient delivery systems play a key role in delivering active ingredients at a lower dose for optimal results. Skin penetration of active ingredients is greatly enhanced without compromising the skin barrier or microbiome.
Furthermore, the performance, bioavailability and efficacy of the active ingredients is significantly increased. Formulators who look for ingredients using this intelligent technology, such as those offered by Infinitec Activos, will be able to create smarter formulations to provide consumers with products that deliver better results.
Preventative and protective strategies
Build up your barrier! The best offence, in this case, is defense. Thicker skin is the best defense. Thicker, denser skin not only looks healthier but it also reduces the chance of microbes entering the skin. So how can one achieve a thicker skin? Infinitec offers a variety of delivery systems that provide smart solutions for treating and protecting the skin barrier.
- Retinol ingredients have long been studied and are known to thicken skin. Ironically, they can be irritating and also cause damage to the skin barrier. To help avoid this problem, look for encapsulated retinols, such as Infinitec’s VitAlease (also available in BHA and BHT free retinol).
- Severn percent retinol is encapsulated in natural carnauba wax enabling high-load retinol use-level claims with maximum entrapment efficiency, excellent stability over 12 weeks, and enhanced skin penetration, and bioavailability. The fast-action penetration doesn’t disrupt the skin barrier or the microbiome, thereby, alleviating irritation potential.
- Looking for a retinol alternative? Consider Infinitec’s X50 Skin Barrier Cosmetic Drone®with advanced delivery technology targeting keratinocytes. Studies show improved epidermal thickness in 28 days, in addition to reduction of TEWL (trans epidermal water loss).
- The ultimate anti-pollution ingredient with EPIGENETIC protection is Infinitec’s marine-derived, Omega-3 rich Activys® Anti-Pollution from Infinitec. It fights off the effects of pollutants in our cell micro-environment to offer targeted protection against heavy metals, particulate matter, and oxidative stress, showing an immediate effect against pollutants.
- Infinitec’s Golden C® is a revolutionary Vitamin C delivery that consists of pure AA combined with glutathione and conjugated to gold for delivering pure Vitamin C to the skin. It’s 100% stable and 100% skin penetration. Not only does it provide the brightening effects expected from Vitamin C, but it induces collagen synthesis and increases anti-oxidant levels boosted by the synergy with glutathione. Due to the smart delivery technology, the irritation potential is significantly lower, while the anti-oxidant capacity is 55 percent higher than free ascorbic acid.
Healing strategies
An impaired skin barrier can lead to increased skin permeability, creating countless skin disorders, such as redness and irritation. We already discussed some preventative options, but how can we heal the skin barrier?
- Improve ceramide synthesis with Naturethic’s Healerine® Reishi Mushroom Ferment. A natural ferment derived from the Reishi mushroom for skin healing and tissue regeneration, this ingredient and prevents water-loss to balance skin hydration levels. It up regulates four gene expressions to promote cell growth, cell migration, cell proliferation, and ceramide synthesis, while down regulating the enzyme HYAL4, which is involved in HA degradation.
- Reduce inflammation with Infinitec’s Activys® RedOut. This delivery system targets redness that tackles skin immuno-modulation and reinforces skin barrier function to help reduce facial flushing and chronic redness, especially, in atopic-prone condition and skin hypersensitivity. It’s based on curcumin and pine bark extracts encapsulated in a marine-derived carrier, specifically, developed for sensitized skin.
- Increase hydration both topically and internally. For topical use, choose from a variety of molecular weight sodium hyaluronates offered in Coast Southwest’s EndiMoist™ product line. Hyaluronic acid’s unique capacity to bind water and increase moisture content in the skin helps keep hydration levels balanced.
Your epidermis is showing
While the epidermis is the visible portion of the skin and a reflection of internal health and vibrance, the function of the skin barrier is of the utmost importance. Once working optimally, skin cells work back to their normal behavior and won’t have to spend all their energy fighting off external stressors.
