How to repair a damaged skin barrier? Why does it matter?
A healthy skin barrier is crucial for problem-free skin. An overwhelming body of research shows that skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, and acne are associated with some level of impaired skin barrier function.
The skin barrier is like a shield on the surface of our skin. It is the outermost layer of the skin, also called stratum corneum). It consists of dead skin cells (corneocytes) and “glue” – a matrix of various lipids (oily substances).
Don’t let the ‘dead' skin cells fool you, the skin barrier is highly functional!
The skin barrier blocks irritants and many harmful substances from entering the skin (and bloodstream) and prevents infections. A robust skin barrier also maintains proper levels of hydration within the skin.
Sufficient hydration levels in the stratum corneum, in turn, ensures the natural exfoliation process (desquamation) is running smoothly.
This keeps our pores naturally clear and our skin glowing!
When the skin barrier is impaired, the skin becomes more susceptible to various skin problems (including acne) because the inflammation in the skin rises.
Dr. Albert Kligman (the co-inventor of Retin A) recognized early on the significance of a robust skin barrier for healthy skin. It also became apparent that the stratum corneum communicates with the living epidermis underneath. This influences the regenerative processes in the deeper layers of the skin.
This was the beginning of corneotherapy: A skincare methodology that aims to maintain a robust skin barrier and boost the skin’s innate immunity.
What does the skin barrier need to function optimally?
Two main components that must be plentiful for the barrier to function properly are skin-identical ingredients and Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF):
- Skin barrier lipids – mainly ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol
- Natural moisturizing factor (NMF), a fluid naturally found within keratinocytes (epidermis cells) that binds water efficiently, keeping proper hydration levels
Ceramides, free fatty acids (mainly linoleic acid), and cholesterol are the main structural lipids of the human stratum corneum. They all get washed off our skin to a degree after we cleanse with a stripping cleanser.
Ceramides are the most abundant of these lipids (around 50%) and are responsible for numerous important functions in the skin.
Ceramides:
- Provide an effective barrier against the loss of water and electrolytes maintaining proper skin hydration
- Are essential for skin barrier function and the skin’s ability to protect itself from pathogens, oxidative stress, and UV radiation
- Are powerful anti-aging agents, maintaining skin elasticity and firmness
Unfortunately, many environmental factors, harsh skincare, age, diet and lifestyle can decrease the level of ceramides in our skin. This can manifest as dryness, visible inflammation, redness, and breakouts.
Reducing products and skincare practices that contribute to excessive washing off of ceramides is a must!
Also, applying ceramides topically can help to restore the skin barrier function, increase skin hydration, and reduce redness and inflammation.
Free fatty acids like linoleic acid and linolenic acid are also very important for skin barrier function. They:
- Help regulate Trans Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL)
- Act as anti-inflammatory agents (also helping inflamed acne)
- Are emollients providing softening and skin moisturizing benefits
- Provide skin protection and nourishment
- Protect the skin from photo-aging
- Reverse skin sensitivity and aid in the skin wound healing
Cholesterol is the third important element making up the skin’s lipid matrix, supporting the skin barrier function when applied topically.
What about Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF)?
The Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF) is a crucial part of keeping our skin healthy and naturally well moisturized.
NMF components are highly efficient humectants that attract and bind water from the atmosphere, drawing it into the corneocytes.
This process can occur even at a relative air humidity as low as 40 percent!
The NMF is located within corneocytes and is mainly composed of free amino acids and their derivatives. They include sodium PCA, sodium lactate, urocanic acid (a natural absorber of UV light), inorganic salts, lactic acid and urea. Inorganic salts include the chlorides, phosphates, and citrates of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
Having adequate NMF levels is extremely important for the biochemical and mechanical properties of our skin. The NMF keeps the skin hydrated, promotes skin elasticity and it helps maintain the skin barrier’s properties.
Hydrolytic enzymes enable the process of desquamation (skin’s own continuous exfoliation process) and can only work under sufficient hydration levels (which regulate pH) in the stratum corneum.
Your natural exfoliation process is largely responsile for naturally clear skin!
Insufficient levels of NMF can manifest as dry or even flaking skin.
Daily washing with soap or conventional face cleansers has been shown to remove the NMF (and skin lipids) from the superficial layers of the stratum corneum. Hence, it is very important to have gentle cleansing practices!
Furthermore, over-exfoliating can be even more damaging, and not just due to skin barrier disruption. It also doesn't allow enough time for corneocytes to mature and accumulate sufficient amounts of NMF.
In addition, aging appears to dramatically reduce the amino acid content in the stratum corneum.
Applying NMF ingredients topically can increase skin’s hydration and prevent skin tightness and dryness.
Is your skin barrier in a chronically dysfunctional state?
If you have been dealing with skin problems for years and nothing seems to work permanently, chances are your skin barrier is not functioning properly.
The signs of barrier dysfunction can include:
- Dry, tight, uncomfortable skin
- Dermatitis and rosacea
- Rapid skin aging
- Persistent, angry acne
- Acne scars are very slow to heal
- Skin feels dehydrated (even flaking), yet oily and acne-prone
- You react to most skincare products you try (in rashes, more breakouts, etc)
For acne sufferers, disruption of skin barrier is often caused by:
- Overuse of anti-acne topicals and exfoliants
- Stripping face washes
- Irritating natural ingredients
- A skincare routine that uses too many actives and products (more than your skin barrier can tolerate)
There is a lot of evidence that surfactants (emulsifiers) widely used in face washes and face creams contribute to disturbing the skin’s barrier function.
Despite the research-based evidence, however, most skincare products recommended for acne fail to address the skin barrier.
Not just that, they are often very disruptive to the skin barrier!
The mission of the Other Skincare Company is to fill that gap.
The Other Skincare Company – gentle, plant-based skincare that delivers skin-identical ingredients back to your skin
The company focuses on natural products for problem skin adopting the principles of Corneotherapy. They formulate skin barrier boosting products using skin-identical ingredients, especially ceramides in high concentrations alongside high-performance plant actives and vitamins.
As mentioned, skin-identical ingredients are compounds that are a part of what our skin barrier is composed of. When used topically, these ingredients are clinically shown to dramatically boost and repair the skin barrier resulting in restored skin integrity and health.
Also, to further avoid stripping the skin from essential lipids they do not formulate traditional face washes and moisturizers that use high percentages of surfactants and emulsifiers.
This is super important!
Instead, they use an innovative, self-emulsification process that enables them to create effective products using a very small % of ultra-mild, plant-based, biodegradable emulsifiers.
A closer look into the products I tested
The lovely formulator and brain behind the Other Skincare Company, Elitsa, reached out to me in back 2019. We soon realized our approach to skin and skincare is very similar and I decided to test out her beautiful products! I share my thoughts on each below, after testing them for over half a year.
Their hydrating, barrier-boosting spray moisturizer called Phantom is a beautiful product that helps dehydrated skin. I love to use it under a thin layer of my raw shea butter during winter months or during low humidity days. The combo helps a lot in keeping my skin moisturized, but is great to use on its own, too! It is light yet moisturizing.
Keep Calm oil cleanser is a truly amazing product! It deeply cleanses the pores, removes makeup and mineral sunscreen, and washes clean with water without leaving a greasy after-feel. Just apply on dry skin, massage for 30-60 seconds, then start adding water and rinsing.
This is when it turns into a milky solution and it is super gentle, yet cleanses well!
Another way to gently cleanse the skin is by using the right micellar water. Micellar water is basically a toner with a very small amount of surfactant (cleansing agent) added to it. The percentage is usually around 1% of surfactant (versus up to 30% in a regular face wash!) which is actually enough to cleanse the skin without irritating the skin barrier and messing up with the skin pH.
This gentle micellar water with NMF molecules is very gentle, but cleanses really well! If your skin doesn't like the usual cleansers, or your tap water is heavily chlorinated (and hence drying for your skin), you can use such gentle micellar water like so:
- Take a (reusable, preferably) cotton round and soak it with the micellar water, then gently swipe over your face
- Take different cotton round and soak it a little with bottled or filtered water, and gently remove any residues of micellar water from your skin. This isn't strictly necessary since the amount of surfactants is minimal, but I always like to rinse out any micellar water to be on the safe side
How about battling acne while caring for the skin barrier?
Gentle, but effective cleanse? Check.
But what about those persistent breakouts or downright painful cystic acne?
We can still use some powerful acne actives if we choose the right formulas that also care for our skin barrier and help to gently reduce inflammation.
Actually, my FAVE product from this line was, unexpectedly, PLANT VOODOO – Clarifying Concentrate.
I was over 8 months into breastfeeding and getting my period back, which can often mean more breakouts as my own cycle was returning and hormones balancing again. This serum really helped to keep those stubborn chin comedones and acne in check!
I could use it nearly daily when needed (despite containing 1% salicylic acid, it was NOT drying for the skin, only drying up pimples!).
Not only is there acne calming and barrier strengthening linoleic acid, but also salicylic acid (which can be very helpful for acne when in a non-drying formula like this one) and a natural alternative to retinoid, bakuchiol.
Linoleic acid is golden for acne-prone skin!
By using this product, you don’t need to resort to pure oils (which some people just don’t tolerate) to balance the sebum fatty acid content and reduce inflammation.
Here is the breakdown of the ingredients to give you a better picture:
Watermelon Seed Oil – Very high in essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid, which is very anti-inflammatory and healing for acne-prone skin. Watermelon seed oil is very light, nutritious and penetrates the skin rapidly without leaving a greasy after-feel. Watermelon oil is also very high in vitamin B (especially niacin), magnesium and zinc which makes it invaluable for any troubled skin.
Black Cumin Seed CO 2 Extract – The seeds are loaded with over one hundred nutrients, including linoleic and alpha-Linolenic acids, zinc, calcium, folacin, iron, copper, phosphorus, riboflavin, thiamin, carotenes, proteins and more. Thymoquinone has been scientifically proven to provide anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. Due to the supercritical CO2 extraction used, cumin oil in this product has 3 times higher % of Thymoquinone than a cold-pressed oil!
Blackberry Seed Oil – Naturally loaded with a stable form of Vitamin C this oil can slow skin aging, support the production of collagen and brighten the skin. Blackberry oil is also high in numerous phytonutrients and essential fatty acids, vitamin E, beta-sitosterol, carotenoids and lutein all deeply nourishing, anti-inflammatory, soothing and free radical scavenging compounds.
Pomegranate Seed Oil – This oil contains up to 75% Punicic acid (Omega 5) which is nearly exclusive to pomegranate. Punicic acid is highly nutritious and able to balance the pH and condition the skin. It is also anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and cell regenerating. Also, very rich in sterols it works with conjunction with ceramides and essential fatty acids to aid the skin barrier's function, which is very important for efficient barrier repair.
Ceramide NP + Soybean Seed Extract – Major “skin-identical” ingredients, ceramides are lipids found in the skin that promote skin barrier boosting properties, reduce trans-epidermal water loss, and offer protection from environmental stress. Topical application of ceramides has been shown to dramatically increase skin’s hydration and improve barrier function. The soybean extract acts as a delivery system providing essential fatty acids and sterols for a better abstention of the Ceramides.
Salicylic Acid – Also known as BHA, salicylic acid is naturally occurring in various plants like White Willow and Meadowsweet herb. Used for over 2000 years for various health issues it is one of the most common ingredients in anti-blemish formulas. Salicylic acid exfoliates the skin and since it is an oil-soluble compound, it is able to deeply penetrate the pores and dissolve excess sebum build-up. Salicylic acid is the only anti-acne agent accepted for natural skincare formulations and is a great asset for calming acne when used properly!
Mangosteen Peel Extract – Mangosteen is absolutely saturated with nutrients and it has numerous health benefits. Most beneficial for the skin are the compounds Beta Mangostin, Gamma Mangostin and especially Alpha Mangostin. Mangosteen extracts in this formula contain 40% alpha-mangostin, clinically demonstrated to have anti-acne, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.
Bakuchiol – Bakuchiol is the first 100% natural alternative to Retinol without any known side effects (no irritation, sun sensitivity and is pregnancy safe). Significantly improves multiple dermal functions, stimulates collagen production, and provides hydration, clinically proven to reduce multiple signs of aging, significant reduction in roughness, dryness, fine lines, wrinkles and improvement in skin tone, elasticity, firmness and brightness. Bakuchiol also helps maintain the integrity of skin lipids and has broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal properties. Based on the results of a recent study, formulations containing 1% Bakuchiol + 2% Salicylic acid showed a nearly 70% reduction in acne lesions.
Blue Chamomile CO2 Extract – This is a very calming extract that brings relief to inflamed and irritated skin. The 3 main active constituents are chamazulene, matricin and α-bisabolol. Fast-acting, non-toxic and non-irritating, this essential oil is obtained through Supercritical CO2 extraction and it resembles much closer the characteristics of the plant itself than a traditional steam extraction method.
Thyme extract – A medical herb used for centuries against bacteria, viruses, fungus and infections, thyme has just recently been scientifically evaluated for its anti-acne properties. In a study 10 essential oils were investigated and among the 10 thyme oil exhibited the strongest antibacterial activities towards P. acnes. In another study thyme extract exhibited stronger anti-bacterial activities than Benzoyl Peroxide and no side effects making it a lot gentler alternative. Thyme's main constituent against the acne-causing bacteria is Thymol and we source the extract with the highest concentration of Thymol we can find in order to deliver potent anti-bacterial properties.
Rosemary Extract – A potent antioxidant, yet gentle on the skin microbiome! It acts as a natural preservative and helps the product stay fresh and potent
How to use Plant Voodoo Clarifying Concentrate?
I find the Clarifying Concentrate acts pretty quickly on pimples that are already present or forming. Therefore, you could use it just when needed after you cleanse in the evening. It should be fine in most cases to use it daily when used occasionally like this.
You could also use it more consistently to work on preventing more acne from coming, and in that case, it may be a good idea to keep the long-term usage at about 2-3x per week (increase if needed if you don't observe any dryness, and decrease if your skin dries out a bit).
I really hope you find this info helpful! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section!
Much love,
Sara
P.S. Some of the above links are affiliate links. Thank you for your support!
Wondering how to bring your skin back to its balance? Which skincare practices to implement for clear skin with a beautiful glow? Sign up HERE for my FREE online course “Healing Adult Acne – Skincare Secrets”, where you can evaluate your skincare routine, get tips for picking the right cleanser, healing adult acne and more!
Are these products ok for dry skin?