There’s been a lot of buzz around the skin barrier recently. The skincare powers that be might have you questioning: Is mine damaged? Am I protecting it and preventing it from becoming damaged? And, frankly, what even is the skin barrier? Well, kind of like a bouncer at a fancy new nightclub, it’s the skin barrier’s job to put up a blockade, not allowing just anyone—errr, anything—in. When that bouncer isn’t doing their job correctly, though, things start to go a little haywire. You get what I'm saying, right?
Essentially, the barrier is your skin’s first line of defense. It’s meant to keep stressors such as irritants, allergens, and bacteria out but let the good ingredients, like water and oil, in. However, an impaired barrier is more lax, meaning it has some holes in it that let the aggressors sneak through and lead to dryness, redness, and overall irritation.
