People With Great Skin Are Obsessed With Their Skin Barrier—Here’s Why

While our skin barrier is nothing new (we all have one, after all) it’s certainly become a bit of a beauty buzz term in the past couple of years—and for good reason. Growing use of active ingredients like exfoliating acids and retinoids has resulted in many of us, unknowingly, going a little overboard with our skincare… The result? Increased sensitivity, redness, dry skin, and a rise in cases of perioral dermatitis. All common signs of a damaged skin barrier.

This explains why over the past year, there’s been a slew of new products with a focus on soothing and repairing skin, and even entirely new brands dedicated to the sole purpose of looking after our skin barrier.

The thing is, while acids and retinoids are amazing ingredients for brightening, smoothing, and clearing skin, it’s important to know how they impact skin barrier health—and in turn why it’s so important to keep the skin barrier front of mind in your skincare routine. But what exactly is the skin barrier, and why is it so important? Ahead, dermatologist Cristina Psomadakis answers all of our questions about the skin barrier, and offers her best tips and top product recommendations.