8 Amazing Ways To Repair Your Skin’s Moisture Barrier

Everyone wants their skin smooth, soft, supple, and glowing. But due to a hectic lifestyle, exposure to sunlight and pollution weakens and damages your skin’s moisture barrier. But fortunately, there are many ways to repair and protect your skin’s moisture barrier.

Skin's Moisture Barrier 

The skin’s protective layer filled with fatty acids, ceramides, and lipids is known as the skin’s moisture barrier. The skin is made up of multiple layers, each of them performs important functions in protecting your body. 

Mainly skin is made up of three layers of tissue:

• Epidermis - the top layer provides a waterproof barrier and creates our skin tone.
• Dermis - the middle layer contains tough connective tissue, hair follicles, and sweat glands.
• Hypodermis - the bottom or fatty layer is made up of fatty tissue.

The outermost layer is called the stratum corneum which is the outermost layer of the epidermis. It is composed of keratin and it helps protect against bacteria and UV damage It prevents moisture from going away, which helps skin stay hydrated. This is known as your skin barrier. In the same way, all the layers of skin play different functions in protecting our body by providing moisture to our skin.

Cause of  Damaged Moisture Barrier

Increasing pollution and sun exposure is directly or indirectly affects the health of your skin. The reasons that can damage your skin’s moisture layer are:

• Genetic factors
• Contact with allergens, pollutants, irritants
• Ageing
• over-exfoliation or over-washing
• Extreme weather conditions 
• Extreme exposure to sunlight
• exposure to harsh chemicals in soaps, creams etc
• Stress
• Genetic factors

Symptoms Of A Damaged Moisture Barrier

When you find your skin's moisture barrier not functioning well, you can identify it by the following symptoms:

• Itchiness
• Dry skin
• Sensitive and inflamed skin
• Skin infections
• Acne
• Flaky patches
• Dull appearance

How To Repair A Damaged skin Moisture Barrier?

A damaged skin barrier may require between 2 weeks to 4 weeks to become smooth and healthy again. Below are the given steps that can help repair a damaged skin moisture barrier:

1. Maintain pH Balance

2. Natural Oils

3. Ceramides

4. Sunscreen

5. Building a skincare routine

6. Healthy diet

7. Stopping Stress

8. Using or wearing protective clothing

1. Maintain pH Balance

The Skin’s pH level is around 5.5 to 5.7. It changes due to pollutants, allergens, bacteria, germs and viruses. The pH level ranges between 1 to 14 and the pH 7 is considered to be neutral. The pH level lower than 7 is acid and the pH level higher than 7 is base. The acidic pH of the skin helps it to fight outside threats like viruses, bacteria and other pollutants. 

2. Natural Oils

Natural oils have an antibacterial and soothing effect on the skin. It has always proven to be a miracle for the skin. Natural oil repairs the damaged skin's moisture barrier. Natural oils like jojoba oil, almond oil, argan oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, etc have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Creams and lotions also contain natural oils which help retain skin moisture levels.

3. Ceramides

Ceramides are crucial for the healthy functioning of your skin barrier. Ceramides are waxy lipid compound present naturally in human skin that helps in maintaining skins moisture barrier healthy. Using creams containing ceramides helps fight back acne. Ceramides help in skin barrier repair naturally or by using products containing this ingredient. 

4. Sunscreen

The most convenient way to protect and repair the skin’s moisture barrier is to keep yourself away from direct sunlight. Use sunscreen whenever you step out of home either for swimming or for any workout. Your sunscreen plays a role as an antioxidant too and protects your skin moisture barrier and repair it from pollutants and other bacterias.

5. Wear Protective Clothing

Just like sunscreen, your clothes protect you from direct sun exposure. As same mentioned above whenever you step out in the sun, wear clothes that cover your legs and arms and Use a stole to cover your face. Protecting your skin from sunlight reduces the risk of further moisture-barrier damage. 

6. Stopping Stressing

Stress has become a part of life, that influences your autonomic nervous system affecting the moisture barrier of the skin. Stress management is important to improve your mood and also protects the skin barrier.

7. Healthy Diet

A healthy diet plays a very important role in everyone's health and keeps skin healthy by eating healthy foods. Therefore, stop eating or Reduce eating junk food in your diet. Add vegetables and fruits that have antioxidants, vitamins, protein, and lots of minerals that repairs skin moisture barrier healthy.

8. Build A Skincare Routine

Building a skincare routine is a must nowadays that gives your skin a healthy look. Based on your skin type choose your product and incorporate those products in your skincare routine as multiple products will not give you those effects that the right product can give you. You need to know the sequence correct time and method of product applications that suits your skin type. 

Tips To Protect skin Moisture Barrier

• Know your skin and skin type and pay attention to your skin.
• Take a shower every day and exfoliate your skin.
• Always clean your makeup before bedtime.
• Do not use harsh products like shampoo or soap.
• Always apply sunscreen while stepping out in sun.
• Always moisturize your skin after a shower or face wash.

Take Away

The outermost layer of your skin protects it from bacteria, viruses, allergens, and other pollutants. The damaged moisture barrier needs to be repaired that make your skin healthy and supple again. Follow the mentioned steps to repair your skins moisture barrier. Itching, flaky skin and inflammation can cause disturbance to your skin barrier. Using ceramides, maintaining pH moisturizes your skin and helps to repair your skin's barrier.