Understanding Your Skin’s Protective Barrier.

You’ve probably heard us talk about your skin’s protective barrier a lot, and we don’t blame you if you’re out there picturing a barbed wire fence around your precious face – but in reality, your skin’s protective (or lipid) barrier is just a super thin natural barrier that helps to keep the goodies (like hydration) in, and the baddies (like bacteria) out. 

As your skin’s protective barrier is super sensitive, it’s really important that you care for, protect, and replenish yours. Easily damaged, you’ll want to make sure that you guard it from over-exfoliating and over-cleansing (yes, you can get too much of a good thing!) as well as very hot water, and dreaded UV exposure.

It’s so thin that you’ll find that damaging yours with any of the above can easily lead to everything from breakouts, to dryness, to intense sensitivity, and irritation.  

So, how do you protect and replenish your skin’s protective barrier? Well, the good news is that even a damaged protective barrier can get a little relief just by changing up your routine a little. 

1 – Use a gentle, oil-based cleanser. Traditional cleansers can be unnecessarily harsh and foamy, but a great oil-based cleanser will remove dirt and impurities, without damaging your skin’s natural moisture barrier. Our Balancing Cleansing Balm is perfect for this. 

2 – Add a facial oil. Facial oils are a wonderful way to decongest and hydrate your skin, while balancing its natural oil production and helping to both maintain and restore its protective barrier. Add either our Nourishing Treatment Oil or Purifying Treatment Oil to your routine and say hello to brighter, smoother skin, without any damage. 

3 – Hold off on exfoliating for a few days. We know, we know, we also love the incredible smooth feeling of freshly exfoliated skin – but it’s easy to overdo it, and your skin will thank you for taking it easy on the heavy scrub. Stock up on either our Purifying Mask & Polish or our Nourishing Mask & Polish, and stick to gently exfoliating with these skincare superheroes just once or twice a week. 

4 – Use only tepid water. Hey, you’re hot enough! Rather stick with warm water, even if you’re just dipping your face cloth in it. 

5 – Wear sunscreen daily. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it a million times more: SPF is your best damn friend. 

Got any other skincare questions? Just pop ‘em in the comments below – we love hearing from you!

Team L&M x