Skin-Barrier Myths You Should Stop Believing
Your skin barrier is the outermost layer of your epidermis. And it is the layer that protects skin from getting irritated and locks oils in, keeping your skin moisturized and healthy. That said, it is so important to keep it as healthy as possible, and that won’t happen unless you understand it better. Here are some skin barrier myths that you should stop believing or doing right now.
1 || The More You Exfoliate The Better
Not at all… Intense daily exfoliation can actually destroy your skin barrier stripping it from its all natural oils. A damaged barrier can cause breakouts, redness and decrease your skin resistance to UVA and UVB rays. The best way to know that you need to slow down on exfoliation is by noticing your skin, if it is flaking, peeling or stinging then you definitely need to exfoliate less and moisturize more.
2 || Acidic Skin Is Bad
The truth is, healthy skin barrier should be slightly acidic. This acidity is important for stopping the growth of harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi that damage your skin and lead to infections, breakouts, irritation and other skin conditions.
3 || Skin’s Oil Glands Are The Same
Oil glands concentration differs from one area to another. For example, your face has more oil glands comparing to other body parts. This helps your face to stay moisturized naturally. Your body skin on the other hand needs more outside hydration to stay moisturized. That said, moisturizing once a day is not enough, you should do it twice or whenever is needed.
4 || Skin’s Thickness Is The Same In All Areas
Of course not… Your face skin specifically your eyelids is much thinner than the rest of your body skin. This means your face can be damaged from chemical effects such as pollution, toxic products and skin treatments, and from physical effects such as sunburns, wounds and face-mask irritation. So it gets dry, cracked and burned from chronic sun exposure and wounds and when this happens it should get appropriate skin care.
5 || You Can’t Fix Damaged Barrier
It’s never too late. Your skin barrier function is protecting you. But with all the sun rays exposure, bacteria, pollutants it can get damaged and loses its function. The good news is that, it can be fixed but you just need to act fast. As physical and chemical effects do not only lead to itchy skin, breakouts, rashes and fine lines, they also make your skin more prone to future exposure to the elements.
6 || Ceramides Irritate A Damaged Skin Barrier
Ceramides are fats that help form skin barrier and retain moisture. They are actually a great ingredient to use when repairing a damaged skin barrier because they help to heal it.
7 || You Can Use Actives With A Damaged Skin Barrier
The best thing to do is to take a break from actives while your skin barrier is compromised. Active ingredients make your skin more sensitive and vulnerable so they may worsen the damage if not used correctly. So avoid actives such as retinol, vitamin C, glycolic acid and salicylic acid as they may do more harm than good.
