Superheroes have capes, we have the skin barrier. In case you haven’t heard, the skin is our largest organ, and the outermost layer of it is called the “skin barrier.” This bad boy plays a critical role in our health, including as a barrier from environmental stressors. (1) It also keeps our skin hydrated and helps balance the water content of our bodies. (2) All of this is to say, the skin barrier is important — and it should be supported like the rest of our organs.

What Is the Skin Barrier?

The skin barrier layers contain two crucial molecules: lipids and ceramides.
• Lipids are water-repelling molecules (like a raincoat for your skin) that are essential to maintain the integrity of the skin barrier.
• Ceramides are a specific type of lipid found in the stratum corneum that help bond cells together.(5)

How to Support the Skin Barrier

By now, you know there are many important roles the stratum corneum plays — skin hydration, a barrier from environmental stressors, to name a few — (6), so it’s easy to see why supporting and maintaining our skin barrier function should be up there with drinking enough water on your list of health priorities.

Here are a few ways to support the skin barrier function.*

Hydration

Support hydrated skin by drinking water, moisturizing, and taking HyaCera™ daily.* Hyabest®, the hyaluronic acid found in our ingestible skincare supplement HyaCera™ is a clinically- studied ingredient shown to support hydrated skin. Hyabest® hyaluronic acid also supports our skin barrier function.*

Protection

Protect skin from harmful UV rays and sun damage by wearing SPF (and re-apply the longer you're outside), protective clothing and sunglasses when outdoors. Keep in mind: Sun exposure can creep up on us both on the most perfect beach day as well as in the dead of winter so its important to always protect our skin with these sun safe behaviors.

Keep It Simple

When it comes to skincare, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Over-exfoliation and over-cleansing, or use of harsh ingredients like strong astringents or alcohol-based toner can strip the skin of its natural oils and compromise the skin barrier.

As you can see, supporting the skin barrier is easy when armed with the right tools, most of which you likely have already: water to drink, sunscreen, and moisturizer. And adding an ingestible skincare HyaCera™ helps support the skin barrier function. Your skin deserves some TLC.*

References:

1. Proksch, E., Brandner, J. M., & Jensen, J. M. (2008). The skin: an indispensable barrier. Experimental Dermatology, 17(12), 1063-1072.
2. Rosso, J. D., Zeichner, J., Alexis, A., Cohen, D., & Berson, D. (2016, April). Understanding the epidermal barrier in healthy and compromised skin: Clinically relevant information for the dermatology practitioner: Proceedings of an expert panel roundtable meeting. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608132/
3. Elias, P. M., & Menon, G. K. (1991). The stratum corneum of human skin: The barrier function revisited. Dermatologic Clinics, 10(3), 243-250.
4. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Components of skin - health video: Medlineplus medical encyclopedia. MedlinePlus. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/anatomyvideos/000029.htm
5. van Smeden, J., Janssens, M., Kaye, E. C., Caspers, P. J., Lavrijsen, A. P., Vreeken, R. J., ... & Bouwstra, J. A. (2014). The importance of free fatty acid chain length for the skin barrier function…. Experimental Dermatology, 23(1), 45-52.
6. JA;, van S. J. (n.d.). Stratum corneum lipids: Their role for the skin barrier function in healthy subjects … in dermatology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26844894/