How to repair your skin barrier and rehydrate dry skin
How t0 repair your skin barrier and rehydrate dry skin
use a facial oil!
They feel luxurious, bring back your skin’s brilliance, improve your skin barrier, and they’re a great way to protect against TEWL: transepidermal water loss.
Yes! That’s a thing. Cold, dry weather conditions will take moisture from your skin. Oils create an occlusive barrier between your skin and the environment keeping in both your natural moisture and the moisture from your products.
what step in my routine should I use an oil?
Definitely your last step after moisturizer, even if the oil says to use it at the serum step. Serums in theory should be able to pass transdermally through the outermost layer of your skin (the stratum corneum) to the fresh, living cells in lower layers (stratum luciderm, stratum granulosum).
Oils don’t go deep enough and tend to hang around the stratum corneum to condition the dry, flat skin cells. Which is great and we want that to happen, just after all of your other products have had a chance to be absorbed to deeper layers.
Because oils are occlusive and water repellant (which we love), anything applied over the oil may not truly touch your skin or be available for absorption. Your products will be most effective with an oil as your last step as it locks in moisture.
how do I choose an oil?
We’ll make that easy for you! Choose a “dry” oil for everyday wear. Choose a “wet” oil for being outdoors in cold weather or when performing your gua sha home practice. Our favorite everyday dry oil rn is squalane.
so oils don't make for good serums... then what does?
Our infographic below outlines some basic things to look for in each of the product steps for a routine that promotes bright, dewy skin. Pop in for a facial and we’ll make customized recommendations for your skin based on type, condition, and goals.
