What Is A Damaged Skin Barrier - 5 Signs To Look Out For

A person using a derma roller to treat the signs of a damaged skin barrier.
A person using an O Cosmedics correcto serum to repair a damaged skin barrier.

Peeling Back the Layers on a Skin Health Fundamental

Barrier-impaired skin: a common term in the skincare world, and for good reason! Before we deep dive into the signs of a damaged skin barrier, let’s start at the beginning and understand what the skin barrier is.

Commonly referred to as the acid mantle, the skin barrier is the skin’s first line of defence against environmental aggressors and is made up of a combination of secretions and microbes (healthy microorganisms) that sit effortlessly on top of the skin’s outer protective layer: the stratum corneum.  

Its primal function is to provide an occlusive, almost waterproof covering that keeps the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. A shield made up of sebum (oil from your pores), a lipid matrix of free fatty acids, ceramides, cholesterol (from your skin cells), sweat and trillions of microorganisms (invisible life forms like bacteria, fungi, and viruses) known as the microbiome. This complex mixture provides the skin with everything it needs to fight infection, help your immune system work, heal wounds, control inflammation, and retain water. Its primal function is to provide an occlusive, almost waterproof covering that keeps the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. A shield made up of sebum (oil from your pores), a lipid matrix of free fatty acids, ceramides, cholesterol (from your skin cells), sweat and trillions of microorganisms (invisible life forms like bacteria, fungi, and viruses) known as the microbiome. This complex mixture provides the skin with everything it needs to fight infection, help your immune system work, heal wounds, control inflammation, and retain water.

What is Skin Barrier Damage?

When this powerful shield is out of balance, the skin cannot fight infection, control inflammation, heal itself, retain water or protect against invading free radicals and air pollution. Prevalent well before symptoms appear on the skin, a damaged skin barrier often goes untreated until it reaches a point of visible signs of extreme sensitivity, dehydration, and inflammation. It can also present as acne, hyperpigmentation, and retention hyperkeratosis (excessive skin build-up appearing as textured and bumpy) which, without the guidance of a Skin Expert, can be mistreated in ways that aren’t congruent to the root cause of the issue.

For example, if your goal is to treat hyperpigmentation and premature aging you must first address barrier function simultaneously with ingredients and products that work specifically on these skin conditions, in order to achieve any results with the symptoms of its impairment.

Signs of a Damaged Skin Barrier

If you’re questioning the health of your protective shield, here are some tell-tale signs of a damaged skin barrier to look out for:

Ok, we’ve established the barrier is a protective force for the epidermis but to understand how these tell-tale signs relate to a damaged skin barrier, we’ll need some base knowledge on how the epidermis functions…

Before and After of a damaged skin barrier after treatment with O Cosmedics. In the before photo, the person had breakouts and acne, and the after photo presented a clearer complexion.
Before and After photo of a person's mouth area. The before photo shows dry, flaky chin area with redness caused by sensitivity and inflammation. The after photo shows a clearer complexion with reduced redness.

The epidermis is made up of skin cells (Keratinocytes) which are born at the bottom (basal) layer of the skin. Their life cycle from this layer is roughly 28 days in healthy skin, in which time these cells change in shape, function and composition to arrive at their final destination: the stratum corneum (the skin’s outer protective layer). In this final layer, they are tightly bound together as flat proteins (Corneocytes) and work on protection and water retention by their tightly held bonds. When there is water surrounding these cells and a perfectly balanced barrier sitting effortlessly on top, these flattened skin cells will naturally exfoliate themselves off to make way for new cells underneath to come and take their place: the skin’s life cycle.

However, when the barrier is impaired, it cannot waterproof the skin and the water amongst these cells evaporates into the atmosphere. Water amongst the cells is key to cell turnover and this essential, natural exfoliation process. When cells cannot remove themselves, they begin to pile up causing the outer layer to thicken and extra cells to build up inside the pores, creating blockages and congestion as the skin then appears bumpy, rough, texturised and flaky.

The greatest takeaway: repairing a damaged skin barrier is a non-negotiable, fundamental, first place to start when treating any and all present skin conditions. It's little wonder why O Cosmedics was designed with the highest respect for the skin’s barrier, and that each of its ingredients and products are formulated to treat the signs of a damaged skin barrier and provide skin with barrier support during each and every stage of your skin health journey.

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