A Facialists Notes On The Skin Barrier

I have decided to start a series titled “A Facialist’s Notes On…” (I think I will use the AFNO abbreviation) and I’ll be talking in depth about a skin concern or wellbeing topic, sharing tips, tricks and a basic understanding of what it is and why it’s helpful to understand from a skincare perspective.

Today, I’m going to teach you a little bit about the skin barrier and why it’s so important to keep it healthy. Side note, it was actually ‘National Skin Barrier Day’ the other week (yes, I know… who would’ve thought it?), and I didn’t speak about it, so instead today is the day.

The skin barrier is something I talk about a lot in the clinic and on my socials, and the main reason is that it’s so overlooked. I’m actually sick and tired of watching videos online of people dermaplaning their face and stripping the skin with harsh peels and scrubs to achieve this so-called ‘glass skin’ look. FYI, it’s not glass skin that’s healthy and radiant, it’s raw skin that’s damaged and vulnerable, and anyone showcasing that as healthy skin needs an unfollow, in my opinion.

Clients are having these treatments because they’ve seen an influencer post about them or they’re trying to fix existing skin concerns, and yet for many of them, it’s actually making things worse.

So, what is the barrier?

The barrier is the outermost layer of the skin, made up of the stratum corneum. It’s your front line of defence. The part of your skin that keeps everything balanced, protected and running smoothly. When it’s impaired? That’s when things start to unravel, and it can lead to a whole host of problems including acne, redness, dryness, sensitivity and even skin infections.

It’s made up of skin cells and lipids (fatty acids and cholesterol), and if you think of it like a brick wall, your skin cells are the bricks and the lipids are the cement holding everything together. On top of that sits the acid mantle, which is an acidic film made up of sebum, sweat and amino acids, and you can think of that as your security guard patrolling the wall.

When your barrier is healthy, your skin feels comfortable to be in. It’s balanced, calm and not constantly causing problems. When it’s damaged, well your security guard has left the building and your wall has started to crumble. This allows all sorts of things to come in that shouldn’t be there. Your skin becomes more vulnerable to bacteria, irritation, sun damage and TEWL (trans-epidermal water loss), which leads to dehydration. You may also notice more sensitivity, pigmentation and general reactivity.

So what causes a damaged barrier? Honestly, quite a lot. The biggest one I see is stripping the skin and physically removing the barrier through things like harsh scrubs, facial brushes, dermaplaning and peels that don’t support repair at the same time. On top of that, layering too many active ingredients, stress, poor lifestyle habits and environmental damage all play a role.

So why does this actually matter?

Well, long story short, you could be spending hundreds of pounds on skincare, but if you’re damaging your barrier, it’s a complete waste of money. If your barrier isn’t intact, you’re simply not going to get the results you’re expecting.

So how do we repair it?

No matter what is going on with your skin, whether that’s acne, pigmentation or sensitivity, I would always focus on repairing the barrier first. Once the barrier is healthy again, everything else you use can actually start doing its job properly instead of trying to compensate for underlying damage.

The products I work with are designed to support a healthy barrier, and my go-to products for repair are the Nimue Pre & Post Serum, Nimue TDS (which is similar but more targeted depending on your concern), and the Nimue Element Barrier, which helps protect the skin from further environmental damage (and no, this is not your SPF, you still need that too). You can shop these here.

How long does it take to repair?

If you’re consistent and looking after your skin properly, you should start to see improvement within a few weeks. It’s not an overnight fix, but once your skin feels stronger and more stable, you’ll find that everything else starts to respond better and treatments become far more effective.

If your skin is constantly reacting, feeling sensitive or simply not behaving the way you want it to, it’s usually a sign that the barrier needs some attention. You can book a skin consultation with me here or fill out my free skin check-in form here, and we can start rebuilding your barrier properly.

I hope you found this useful.

Thank you so much for reading,

Emmaline