As of late, there has been a lot of talk about the skin barrier, and even more specifically the skin’s acid mantle. Drawing a blank? Your skin barrier is the outermost later of your epidermis, while the acid mantle is a protective, slightly acidic, film over the outer most lay of the skin barrier. This acid mantel is comprised of natural oils, amino acids, and sweat.

Here’s the bad news, all those years of scrubs, extra foamy cleansers, alcohols, and harsh essential oils have been damaging your acid mantle. How can you be sure? Symptoms of a broken skin barrier are skin inflammation, sensitivity, and dry patches. A compromised skin barrier can also lead to rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, and acne. 

Here’s the good news, you can easily repair your skin barrier and acid mantle, but you’re going to need to streamline your routine to the basics. 

1. Use a cleanser, serum, and moisturizer that have pH levels close to skin’s natural pH level of 5.5 or are slightly more acidic. Our skin becomes more alkaline as we age, and an increase in enzymes that deplete collagen. Incorporating more acidic products can help to restore pH and help fight the signs of aging. 

2. Choose products that have ingredients that help to repair the skin barrier like hyaluronic acid and ceramides. Always apply your serums and or moisturizers within 60 seconds of cleansing to improve product absorption and retain skin’s moisture.

3. Lastly, you knew this was coming, wear a quality, paraben free SPF that protects your skin from it’s most aggressive stressor, the sun! 

FYI- All fācit products are formulated with barrier maintaining/supporting pH levels. These pH levels are listed with our product ingredients on our site.