Your skin feels tight. Your moisturiser suddenly stings. Your favourite serum leaves you red. Before reaching for another product, stop and take a closer look at your skin barrier.
Your skin barrier is the outer protective layer of your skin. It helps retain moisture and protect against environmental irritants. When it becomes compromised, skin can become dry, flaky, red, tight and unusually sensitive.
What Can Disrupt Your Skin Barrier?
Often, it’s not one product — it’s too much, too often. Over-exfoliation, harsh cleansing, frequent scrubbing, hot water and layering several active ingredients can all contribute to irritation.
If your skin is suddenly reacting to products it once tolerated, your routine may need simplifying rather than expanding.
Fragrance & Essential Oils: The Unlikely Irritant
When your barrier is irritated, consider choosing fragrance-free and essential-oil-free skincare. Fragrance may appear as “fragrance” or “parfum” on an ingredient list. Essential oils such as lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, citrus, cinnamon and tea tree can also irritate or sensitise some skin types. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to avoid them permanently. But while your skin is recovering, reducing potential irritants can be a sensible approach. Natural doesn’t automatically mean gentle.
Less Is More
When skin becomes irritated, changing everything at once can make matters worse — and makes it difficult to identify what your skin is reacting to.
Instead: simplify, moisturise, protect and give your skin time.
Look for moisturising ingredients such as ceramides, glycerin, fatty acids and hyaluronic acid.
The Bottom Line
At Nouri Bay, all of our formulas are designed to support the skin barrier as a foundation. Our whole collection is fragrance free and essential oil free, vegan and made without unnecessary ingredients. Discover our range today as you work towards a healthy, comfortable skin barrier.