January 2021 - Reskin Clinic

What Does a Compromised Barrier Look Like?

When we have a compromised barrier function our skin becomes more vulnerable to external attacks from things such as pollution, pathogens, microorganisms, the weather etc. It also loses the ability to hold onto the natural hydration in the skin. This hydration is vital to keeping our skin healthy, inflammation down, and its ability to fight attacks from those external forces. Our overall cellular functioning throughout the skin also requires moisture, and I always find a more hydrated skin is more tolerant to most things especially active skincare.

So what are the symptoms of a compromised barrier function? I have listed these below, this list is by no means exhaustive but these are the most common signs.

Skin tightness (constant/after cleansing)
Flaking, dehydrated skin
Oiliness combined with flaking/tightness
Redness or sensitivity
Dullness
Breakouts
Under the skin bumps/spots
Premature ageing
Dermatitis

Desquamation

I thought it was important to mention this as this process in the skin can be dramatically reduced due to our barrier being disrupted. The process of desquamation is the natural shedding of those old skin cells on the surface of the skin to allow for the cycle of the epidermal cells to keep going. Our epidermal cells start off at the base layer of the epidermis and move up, as they do this they become hardened and more resilient to allow for the protective ability needed at that top layer. Once they have reached the top, a chemical process dissolves the bonds between these cells to allow them to shed off and become house dust. This chemical reaction requires moisture to happen, and if our barrier is impaired we lose that all-important moisture and the desquamation process is affected. This results in our skin looking dull, flaky, and our whole epidermal skin cycle slowing down.

What can impair your barrier function?

You might have read the list above and thought that your skin is experiencing some of the signs of an impaired barrier, but what might be causing it?

Below I have listed a few factors that can cause the skin to become compromised, again this is not an exhaustive list but if you feel you are currently suffering from the symptoms it is always a good idea to get professional advice.

Over-exfoliation
Incorrect cleansing products
Sun damage
Pollution
Cold weather/wind
Hormones
Stress
Smoking
Diet
Dry atmosphere
Medication
Diet

As you can see there are many elements that can affect the resilience of our skin, and we probably encounter more than one of these on a daily basis. Our skin is designed to cope with a lot and sometimes all that is needed is to maybe just stop using a certain product and leave your skin to repair and rebuild on its own, other times it may need help. I have included a few products below that are my go-to remedies for compromised skin. But remember this is a general recommendation and without a skin assessment you won’t get individual advice.

Dermaviduals DMS Cleansing Milk

I see so many compromised skins due to incorrect cleansing products used, so your cleanser is the foundation of your skincare regime and a big player in the integrity of your barrier. The Dermaviduals cleanser is gentle, effectively removes makeup and impurities without negatively affecting the skin. There is nothing in this cleanser that the skin doesn’t recognize or that can upset the protective element of the skin.

Skin Omegas

Our skins natural lipids are made up of these essential fatty acids, so adding these supplements into your diet will help keep those lipid levels high and your lipid bilayer making up the skins barrier function nice and strong.

Byonik Supreme Seal

This product is a must for repairing barrier disruption. Containing a high content of ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol that make up our barrier lipids. It reduces that water loss and restructures the skin’s barrier. It’s also a great product for healing conditions such as eczema and dermatitis.

Byonik Concur Cream

Another product full of those essential lipids, the Byonik anti-pollution Concur cream Contains repairing, healing, and hydrating actives as well as the powerful anti-ageing peptide Matrixyl Synthe 6 promoting the production of collagen, elastin and the all important Hyaluronic acid for hydration.

These are just a few of my recommendations for compromised skin, but my advice is to always see a professional that can give you individual recommendations for your skin and investigate why your skin is behaving the way it is.

To make an appointment to see myself please click here, I offer virtual consultations during lockdown or for anyone that cannot get into clinic to see me. If you are interested in purchasing any of the recommendations above please email me here.

Thank you for reading

Rebecca x

The Barrier Function- Our Very Own Coat of Armour

My focus this month is on skin health and keeping the skin youthful. I wouldn’t be the professional that I am if I don’t start this off with the Natural Barrier Function. Yes, I hear you…” here she goes again” but there’s a very good reason I talk non-stop about this incredible function of the skin.

So let me start by asking you, why when you jump into a swimming pool does your body not flood with water???

Well, that would be because of the amazing ability of our skin to protect our entire body, our vital organs, bones, muscles, everything inside! Waterproofing is just one of the many, many functions our skin is designed to do. Pretty impressive for something that is just 0.5-1.5mm thick!!

And what makes the skin have this protective ability is the barrier function.

The barrier function is made up of 3 main elements:

The lipid bilayer

The corneocyte cells in the top layer of the epidermis (stratum corneum) are flattened and hardened to give them a protective ability. Between these cells we have the epidermal lipids, if you imagine a brick wall, the cells are the bricks and the lipids are the cement. These cells also have a water-retaining mechanism called the Natural Moisturising Factor compromising of humectants enabling the cells to hold large amounts of water.

This combination of essential oil and water elements creates a complete barrier to prevent anything from getting in and also water loss from within the skin. All cellular and enzyme activity that takes place in the skin does so in solution with water so keeping the water content high is vital to skin health.

The Acid Mantle

The acid mantle is an invisible film that covers the surface of the skin. It creates the PH level, a healthy skin’s PH level is more towards the acidic end of the PH scale, normally sitting between 4.7-5.5. This acidic environment works to repel and inhibit any pathogenic bacteria or micro-organisms that may try and get into the skin. It also provides the ecosystem for the resident natural bacteria that lives on the skin.

Microbiome

Just like the gut, we have living active cultures on the surface of the skin (good bacteria) that fight off any bad bacteria, viruses or pathogens that may try to attack or invade our skin. As mentioned above this bacteria feeds off our sebaceous secretions.

As you can see there is a lot that goes into building and fortifying both the physical resistance and chemical shield. So you can imagine if one element goes out of kilter it can have a knock-on effect, not just to the other elements of the barrier but to the deeper layers of the skin that the barrier is designed to protect.

The formation of these components of the barrier function starts from within the lower layers of the skin. So the quality of the barrier ultimately relies on the quality of the cells, and the cells rely on what they receive nutritionally and topically to be at the top of their game.

In my next blog, I will be discussing what can happen when the barrier is compromised and the ways in which we can keep it from becoming impaired.

If you do feel you have issues with your barrier function or any other aspect of your skin please get in touch, you can contact me by email here or book an appointment with me here. During lockdown, I am offering online consultations free of charge.