Skin barrier

The skin bar­ri­er is the outer­most lay­er of the epi­der­mis. It con­sists of dead hor­ny cells embedded in a lipid matrix of cera­mi­des, cho­le­ste­rol and fat­ty acids. The image of a wall of bricks and mortar is often used.

Appli­ca­ti­on

It keeps mois­tu­re in the body and patho­gens and irrit­ants out. When it is dis­tur­bed, the skin loses water, beco­mes dry and sen­si­ti­ve, and reacts to care pro­ducts that were pre­vious­ly tolerated.

Good to know

Com­mon cau­ses of a dama­ged bar­ri­er are washing too often, aggres­si­ve cle­an­sing, too many acti­ve sub­s­tances at once and too-fre­quent exfo­li­a­ti­on. An int­act bar­ri­er should be in place befo­re any deman­ding treatment.