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What are the best ingredients/products to repair your skin barrier ( NMF) for acne-prone skin?
  • Zuleikha
    Hi BeautyBrains, it's been years since I've asked a question but was hoping you could help me figure out what do ..

    I'm a 26 yr old Afro-Canadian female with a medium to dark complexion and I have done glycolic peels every 2 weeks ( 30%) for the last 6 months in an effort to improve my PIH /treat blackheads and improve overall texture and appearance of my skin. 

    however I've noticed since i've taken a break that the top layer of my skin is a lot thinner (however much collagen is being built below), so much so that i'm more sensitive to the cold and my skin gets red ( oddly enough i never had redness ever ) and there's more consistent dryness/peeling

    What are the ingredients/products  i should look for to help repair my stratum corneum , that wont cause more blackheads??

    I thinking about doing the following... will this work?? what products/ingredients should i be looking for?

    1. A gentle/mild face wash "sls free & non-comodegenic"  - ( to prevent over stripping my skin.) 

    2. Glycolix Elite Glysal  10% glycolic acid pads /2% salicylic acid pads ( to prevent clogged pores) or Skinceuticals LHA solution

    3. Skinceuticals firming cream ( i read somewhere that the ingredient in this "ectoin" helps promote skin repair)

    however i've been reading great things about  "medline Remedy skin repair lotion"

     I'm not sure where to start? and if it's even possible to rebuild and thicken the top layer of skin ? 

    thanks for any help you can give!!!

    Zee!
  • sarahf
    Hi Zee,

    I'm not a brain, so just take this FWIW--but would you be able to stop using the glycolic for a little while (I'm referring to the glycolix pads you metioned)?  There are lotions called "barrier repair" that are supposed to help your skin's barrier function.  One that I use is called Cerave lotion (in US, avail in drugstores, I don't know about Canada).  I think it might cause blackheads for you, but you could stop using it if that happened (or once your skin was doing a little better).  It's very moisturizing and soothing.

    Sarah
  • Zuleikha
    Hi Sarah

    Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I've heard of Cerave.. .....  I am totally up for stopping the Glyolic however the issue like you mentioned is that i'm  worried the barrier repair will cause blackheads all over again and then i'd have to restart the process of chemical exfoliation...

     I guess my thoughts were that if i used a dermal repair that used non-comodegenic ingredients then I could just use a glycolic or a retinoid ( I may be the only one that thinks this but Tazorac works wonders more so that Retin-A/micro for me)  as maintenance 1/week......

    And there are a lot of skin repair lotions so i'm having trouble knowing what to look for in them to ensure i get a superior product.. ?? ie. is Cerave better than Remedy and why? etc

    The other question would be .. how long does it take to repair the skin's barrier function? &  how do they work essentially?

    ahhh soo many questions.. thanks for you comment :)

    Zee
  • sarahf
    I think what the barrier repair products do is protect your skin so that it can repair itself.  I don't know if they actually repair the skin so much as protect it from dehydration, etc. so it can do its own repair more easily.  Products like Cerave contain "skin-identical" type ingredients that just kind of supplement the type of "stuff" that your skin would contain that help it function effectively as a barrier against the elements.  (Does what I'm saying sound as clueless as I feel in describing this, lol?)  But I don't know the science really or whether one is better than another--I just like Cerave.
  • lindygirl1960
    My two cents. I think Sarah is right. Give your skin time to repair itself. 

    If you want to use an exfoliant that works more gently you could try using a simple AHA or a BHA. Something that works little by little, over time, instead of all at once? 

    You would have to be careful though. As I understand it using an AHA (or was it BHA??) product was what started Sarah's issues with rosacea.

    But whatever you decide to do, let you skin heal itself first!
  • sarahf
    Yeah, I suspect it was only a matter of time before I got rosacea but aha/bha exfoliants were what first set it off--as I recall, I was trying them for melasma--or else it was to self treat what I misdiagnosed as facial warts but turned out to be seborrheic keratoses.
  • pompom
    I would recommend a gentle cleanser like La Roche Posay Toleriane Dermo Cleanser and a good barrier repair cream like Atopiclair. Posay also has Cicaplast that helps me recover in case of sunburns, or facial psoriasis wounds etc.
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