How To Repair a Damaged Skin Barrier

Recently I had been feeling that my skin was getting dry and tight, but it took me quite a long time to realise that it was because my skin barrier was compromised. 

I had been exfoliating almost every day for weeks (stupidly following some "simple" routine for breakout prone skin I saw in a magazine), giving it a few days rest a couple of times here and there, thinking maybe my skin type had changed and became dry because of central heating and dehumidifiers, and while that may have contributed, it was definitely not the main cause.

Now that it feels like my skin is ruined I'm on the search for nourishing and gentle products that can help accelerate recovery and repair my damaged barrier, and some ingredients that could help are:

Ceramides: Maintain the barrier function and prevent trans-epidermal water loss. 

Find it in Elizabeth Arden HA Ceramide Capsules £45 and The Inkey List Ceramide Treatment £15

Shea Butter: Antioxidant, soothing and moisturising while being non comedogenic.

Find it in Avène Skin Recovery Cream £17.50 

Vitamin B5: It is hydrating, anti-inflammatory and stimulates the skin's repair process.
Find it in The Ordinary Amino Acids + B5 £5.90 and La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Lavant B5 £12

Centella Asiatica: It helps soothe and repair the skin as it is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

Find it in SNP Prep Cicaronic Soothing Cream £18 

Hemp Seed Oil: It's soothing, anti-inflammatory and helps repair the skin barrier and seal in moisture.

Find it in Simple Hemp Calming Facial Moisturiser £8 and Garnier Organic Hemp Sleeping Oil £12

Other ingredients to look out for are Peptides or Amino acids which can be moisturising and calming, and Niacinamide which can help reduce redness. Some of the products on the list already contain these ingredients as well.

So pictured above are some products I will be looking out for in my next shopping trip. I will let you know how it goes, and remember: exfoliating every day is never a good idea.

xo