Your skin is more than just the reflection looking back at you in the mirror. It is a workhorse that works around the clock acting as your body's first defense from the environment.

When your skin barrier is healthy, your skin is glowing, and radiant. When it's in distress you will start to see symptoms of skin conditions surfacing, like dryness, flakiness and possibly redness.

What Is The Skin Barrier?

As you all know, your skin is the largest organ in your body and has many key functions! It helps maintain body temperature and acts as the primary barrier between your body and the environment. It consists of three different layers: the stratum corneum (aka the epidermis), the dermis, and the hypodermis (aka subcutaneous fat) at the deepest layer. If you’ve ever heard of a burn being third-degree for example, that is referring to the specific layer of skin that is impacted. The stratum corneum, the outermost layer of your skin, is the most crucial part of the skin barrier. It comprised of cholesterol, fatty acids (sebum), and ceramides which consist of lipids and make up over 50% of the skin's function that forms this natural barrier. Your skin’s outer layer is also referred to as the acid mantle. This acid mantle is your body's invisible force-field that keeps moisture in and pathogens out. It's formed from the combination of sebum and amino acids from your sweat to create a perfect pH of 5.5 that is neither too acidic nor too alkaline. You will notice the signs that your skin’s pH balance is off by visible damage to your skin such as dryness, flakiness, early signs of aging, redness, or more than usual sensitivity that normally occurs.

Symptoms of a compromised skin barrier:

• Acne
• Itchiness
• Dry, scaly skin
• Skin infections
• Sensitive or inflamed areas
• Rough or discolored patches

Some common skin conditions like eczema, an itchy skin condition that can be impacted by genes, food allergies, stress, and in some cases, using the wrong skincare products.

Things that can impact the skin barrier and inhibit its function:

• Stress (refer to my Blog)
• Steroid use
• Over exfoliation
• Environmental factors
• Pollutants and allergens
• Excessive UV exposure
• Skincare products
• Diseases such as diabetes

There are so many things you can do to improve your skin's health. While there are some skin conditions that may not have a cure, simple changes in your diet, lifestyle, drinking more water and natural skin care products can greatly diminish the effects of skin conditions and drastically improve your skin's health!

There's so much happening with your skin every day. Your body is constantly renewing itself and building healthy, fresh skin cells. With a little help, you can enhance your skin's barrier function drastically. Ensuring you have the best natural skin care products is one way to maintain a healthier skin barrier.

Deciding to use a natural plant-based skin care is a great way to enhance your skin's health. Ingredients like oils and extracts help repair the skin and some plant-based ingredients are naturally antibacterial and anti-inflammatory to help reduce inflammation and redness.

At Essentials Everything, our skin care line will help you protect your skin barrier, as our products contains compounds that help your skin thrive.  Our products will also help you maintain balanced pH levels which is very important to the health of your skin.