Things to Avoid to Protect the Skin Barrier

Our skin barrier isn’t the whole skin—rather, it refers to the a section of the top layer called the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum contains skin cells held together by the lipid matrix, a web of fatty acids, ceramides, and cholesterol. This layer is super-thin, yet provides massive protection. It prevents harmful environmental toxins and pathogens from penetrating the and causing havoc inside the body. It also prevents water from within the body from evaporating.

When the skin barrier isn’t functioning properly, you might notice more itching, rough patches, sensitivity, discolouration, dryness and scaly skin, and frequent bacterial, fungal or viral infections.

The strategy for getting your lipid skin barrier back into better shape isn’t just through healing and treatment. Lifestyle changes are often necessary—but don’t worry, they’re not huge, and they won’t break your bank. Our miraculous human body can regenerate a healthy skin barrier with time, care, and avoidance of a few things that wear it down.

1. Limit Extreme Washing

Sometimes in the daily effort to be clean, it can strip our skin barrier. Daily hand washing is essential to good hygiene. Washing after entering the door or as part of culinary preparation is also reasonable. But scrubbing the skin roughly each time, double washing, or using extremely hot water to wash your hands or body can strip the skin barrier.

2. Harsh chemicals

Harsh chemicals can often be dehydrating, drawing out water from your skin. They can irritate, leading to inflammation.

3. Reduce fragrances

Artificial fragrances can be extremely drying for the skin, due to high alcohol content. Often, high amounts of synthetic fragrance are included within certain skincare and body care products. Have you ever had a chapstick or hand cream that seemed to work for only 30 minutes? Alcohol used within the product to make it smell nice may have counteracted the moisturizing benefits. When your skin barrier is compromised, natural essential oils may also be irritating. As a best practice, avoid all fragrances from being in direct contact with the skin until it recovers.

4. Reduce exfoliation

If exfoliating causes the skin pain, take a break. With a compromised skin barrier, exfoliating will only cause further damage. Instead, you need to allow time for your skin barrier to regenerate. This includes washing tools like towels or sponges and sugar or salt scrubs.

5. Don’t complicate your routine

If you’ve identified a weakened skin barrier, don’t panic. Layering on many new products at once won’t help. Instead, stick to a simple, familiar routine of cleansing, moisturizing and protecting. These three steps are your foundation. Additional hydration with toners or serums can also help, but make sure you’re applying a product that you feel safe using. Introducing something new and untested to stressed skin can lead to unwanted outcomes.

Our fragrance-free Bond | Body Salve contains only premium botanical oils and waxes, making it a skin barrier saviour. The formula contains Oat Oil, which provides relief from itching and calms inflammation. Camellia Oil absorbs rapidly into the skin’s deeper layers and helps your body retain moisture. Kokum Butter forms a protective barrier. It’s formulated without water, so it’s an ideal final step to your body care routine as a deeply moisturizing and fortifying shield against external stressors.