How to Heal Your Skin Barrier in ONE WEEK | Dermatologists Explain — Transcript

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1. 0:00So, your skin is itchy, it's irritated,
2. 0:03it's stinging, it's red, it's blotchy,
3. 0:06it's sensitive. In this video, we're
4. 0:08going to be talking about first,
5. 0:10sensitive skin and irritated and damaged
6. 0:12skin barrier, but how to heal this in 1
7. 0:14week.
8. 0:15>> Yeah, I feel like this is something I've
9. 0:16struggled with personally more in the
10. 0:17past
11. 0:193 years of my life than my entire life
12. 0:21before. So, this is an incredibly
13. 0:23important conversation. Sensitive skin
14. 0:25and healing a damaged skin barrier in 1
15. 0:27week.
16. 0:28>> Here we go.
17. 0:31>> [music]
18. 0:33>> Shout out to Haruharu Wonder for
19. 0:34sponsoring this video. Absolutely
20. 0:37phenomenal products and we're going to
21. 0:38be highlighting two of their products in
22. 0:39this video, which I think you'll all
23. 0:41absolutely love. Now, let's talk about
24. 0:43the skin barrier because I think it's a
25. 0:44complex topic that's quite difficult to
26. 0:46understand if you just think about, oh,
27. 0:48damaged barrier in general, what does
28. 0:50that mean? But, I think for a lot of
29. 0:51people you've experienced a damaged
30. 0:52barrier. I know that I have. I get this
31. 0:54redness and irritation under the eyes
32. 0:56that flares, it never fully goes away,
33. 0:58and that's because I've never fully
34. 0:59allowed my skin barrier to heal before
35. 1:00testing the next product. And so, I
36. 1:02think a lot of us have experienced
37. 1:04damaged skin barrier in some ways, and
38. 1:05once it starts and you get in that cycle
39. 1:07damaged skin barrier, it's very
40. 1:09difficult to get out of unless you're
41. 1:11very deliberate about how to improve it.
42. 1:13So, let's talk about what is the barrier
43. 1:15in the first place. So, it all kind of
44. 1:16starts towards the top of the skin and
45. 1:18work our way down. At the very tippy
46. 1:19top, we have the stratum corneum. This
47. 1:21are your dead skin cells. They are just
48. 1:23sitting on top of the skin. They are no
49. 1:24longer active, have no nuclei, but they
50. 1:26do create a really good barrier. This
51. 1:28helps prevent things from getting in.
52. 1:29They also help prevent water loss from
53. 1:32the skin. And then you can move down
54. 1:34from there, and you have kind of this
55. 1:36wall of skin cells. And oftentimes
56. 1:39between these skin cells, we'll talk
57. 1:40about like bricks and mortar. So, skin
58. 1:42cells are your bricks that make up the
59. 1:43wall. The mortar is visualized as
60. 1:46ceramides. And this is an ingredient we
61. 1:48have heard and talked a lot about.
62. 1:50>> So, ceramides make up about 50% of the
63. 1:52mortar between the bricks, and then you
64. 1:53have other lipids as as You have
65. 1:55cholesterol, you have fatty acids, and
66. 1:57then you have other smaller molecules
67. 1:59that play a role here. And all of these
68. 2:00play a role in your skin barrier, but
69. 2:02there are other things that play a role.
70. 2:03You know, the the polarity of your
71. 2:04cells, the pH of the acid mantle, for
72. 2:07example, right? So, if you introduce
73. 2:09really high pH things above seven, that
74. 2:11can damage the acid mantle, that can
75. 2:13damage and disrupt the lipids in your
76. 2:15skin barrier. So, there's more to it
77. 2:16than just the structural elements.
78. 2:18There's also the conditions under which
79. 2:20they live, including the microbiome that
80. 2:21play a role. And once any of these
81. 2:23things are disrupted, you a damaged skin
82. 2:25barrier.
83. 2:26>> Right. And so, the microbiome being the
84. 2:27bacteria that lives on our skin, it's
85. 2:29actually harmonious and symbiotic with
86. 2:31us, meaning that it thrives sometimes,
87. 2:33then we thrive. But if it's disrupted,
88. 2:36we're disrupted, and so is our skin.
89. 2:38>> Right. And so, for example, we found
90. 2:40that people with rosacea, when they have
91. 2:41really damaged skin barriers, sometimes
92. 2:43they have a dysregulation of the mite
93. 2:46that lives on your skin. So, there's a
94. 2:47demodex mite, and once it starts to
95. 2:49overgrow, it can start to cause rosacea
96. 2:52in some people, right? So, this
97. 2:53dysbiosis
98. 2:54>> of the microbiome can also be a
99. 2:56contributor.
100. 2:56>> So, here are five practical tips to heal
101. 2:59your skin barrier in 1 week. And the
102. 3:01first tip that I have is to stop
103. 3:03anything that could potentially be
104. 3:04making your irritation worse. And I am
105. 3:07super guilty of this, because I'm always
106. 3:08trying new products, and I never stop
107. 3:11new products or new irritating products
108. 3:14for long enough to actually see the
109. 3:15results. And so, the entire time that
110. 3:17you're healing your skin barrier, you
111. 3:18need to stop things like your
112. 3:20exfoliating acids, like glycolic acid,
113. 3:22lactic acid, or salicylic acid. You're
114. 3:25using a scrub for whatever reason on the
115. 3:27face, which you shouldn't be using, or
116. 3:28even your retinol in this scenario. So,
117. 3:31I would stop those things during this
118. 3:32period and focus just on things that are
119. 3:34going to be reparative.
120. 3:35>> So, not only do you need to stop using
121. 3:37the things that often do good things for
122. 3:38your skin, like your retinol, vitamin C,
123. 3:40active ingredients, but you do need to
124. 3:42be more aware of other things that might
125. 3:44be problematic for your skin that
126. 3:46weren't before. If it's fragrances, or
127. 3:48if it's surfactants, you may be able to
128. 3:50use these things, like that lotion, that
129. 3:52face wash you like cuz it smells good.
130. 3:53But these things that may just
131. 3:55cohesively work in your life don't now,
132. 3:58and even if they might, you need to stop
133. 3:59them. You need to give your skin a
134. 4:01chance to completely reset.
135. 4:02>> During this healing process, you would
136. 4:04want to cut these things out that are
137. 4:06high risk for irritation. So, like Dr.
138. 4:08Maxwell said, some certain surfactants
139. 4:10like cocamidopropyl betaine, maybe
140. 4:12normally it's fine for you. Under these
141. 4:13conditions, you may want to stop using a
142. 4:15cleanser that has this surfactant in it.
143. 4:17Fragrances definitely going to be a big
144. 4:19culprit. Essential oils going to
145. 4:21definitely be a big culprit. And then I
146. 4:22think as part of this, you also want to
147. 4:25try to identify what potentially
148. 4:27triggered this in the first place. So,
149. 4:29for example, a lot of people use
150. 4:30niacinamide, which we think is a
151. 4:32phenomenal ingredient. It's even a
152. 4:33barrier-building ingredient in some
153. 4:34cases, but as more people have used
154. 4:37niacinamide, some people have developed
155. 4:38a sensitivity to it. So, you may have
156. 4:40now developed, for example, a
157. 4:41sensitivity to the niacinamide or
158. 4:43another ingredient that you've used
159. 4:44consistently in your routine. And so
160. 4:45many of my patients come in and say,
161. 4:47"Hey, I've been using these forever. It
162. 4:48can't be this." The reality is it
163. 4:50probably is something that you've been
164. 4:51using forever that you've now developed
165. 4:52some type of allergy or irritation to.
166. 4:54And so, trying to identify the
167. 4:56ingredient or the product that triggered
168. 4:58this in the first place, and then
169. 4:59removing that is also going to be a
170. 5:00critical step. Hard to do, but it's
171. 5:02definitely something that will help you
172. 5:03in the long run.
173. 5:04>> So, now we've given you two things not
174. 5:06to do, and we'll make the other three
175. 5:07steps about what you should do. And
176. 5:09we'll break it into what we often do
177. 5:11when it comes to skin care. There's a
178. 5:12lot of do's, three in fact. One is
179. 5:14cleanser. We'll talk about your
180. 5:16cleansing step. We'll talk about two,
181. 5:18active ingredients, your treatment step,
182. 5:20as you are treating the sensitive
183. 5:21damaged skin. And then three is your
184. 5:22protect step. So, for protection, we're
185. 5:24going to be talking about occlusion and
186. 5:25how to lock everything in and help
187. 5:27protect that skin.
188. 5:28>> So, first you really want to just use
189. 5:30the most gentle cleanser that you can
190. 5:32possibly find. So, this is low-irritant
191. 5:34surfactants, low proper pH,
192. 5:37barrier-restoring ingredients,
193. 5:38fragrance-free, eczema-seal if they have
194. 5:41it and it's relevant, skin-safe if it's
195. 5:43approved. All of these things, these
196. 5:45these credentials that are going to make
197. 5:46it such that you can trust this is going
198. 5:48to be great for sensitive skin. And so,
199. 5:49I really like Vanicream products,
200. 5:51especially for those who have sensitive
201. 5:52skin. I think they're super trustworthy.
202. 5:54Of course, Remedy follows very similar
203. 5:55formulation principles when it comes to
204. 5:57cleansers as well. So, cleansers from
205. 5:58Remedy, cleansers from Vanicream, any
206. 6:00other options?
207. 6:01>> So, this is actually where someone might
208. 6:03love that CeraVe creamy cream cream
209. 6:05cleanser. Even though it's not our
210. 6:07particular aesthetic, it really does
211. 6:08great for very damaged skin. And then if
212. 6:10you want one with like a really good
213. 6:11lather that's still very hydrating, I do
214. 6:13love the La Roche-Posay gentle
215. 6:15moisturizing hydrating foaming wash. I'm
216. 6:18going to get the name right because they
217. 6:19have so many cleansers. La Roche-Posay
218. 6:20gentle foaming moisturizing wash. It's
219. 6:22one of their newer ones, very balanced
220. 6:24for sensitive skin.
221. 6:25>> Okay, I have to check this out. It's
222. 6:26part of their AP line, which is one of
223. 6:28my favorite lines of all time. Then
224. 6:29let's go on to the treatment phase. And
225. 6:31this is where you're really just going
226. 6:32to try to rebuild the skin barrier with
227. 6:35this brick and mortar sort of concept in
228. 6:37mind where you want to restore what is
229. 6:38essentially getting lost, give your skin
230. 6:40the ingredients it needs to repair
231. 6:42itself.
232. 6:42>> You know, some of these are my favorite
233. 6:43ingredients. Like, here's where we're
234. 6:44going to talk about Centella, like the
235. 6:46antioxidants that soothe the skin,
236. 6:47neurosensine, which is a peptide that's
237. 6:49in very few ingredients. It might be
238. 6:50proprietary to La Roche-Posay, I'm not
239. 6:52sure. Panthenol, vitamin B5, which is
240. 6:54soothing, great for the skin, a
241. 6:56stabilized form of pantothenic acid. And
242. 6:58you have bisabolol, you have all of
243. 7:00these great ingredients that really just
244. 7:01target the inflammation of the skin,
245. 7:04calm it all down, and then help other
246. 7:06hydrating ingredients work better.
247. 7:08>> Right. And another ingredient that's
248. 7:09really great here, which is also a
249. 7:10microbiome ingredient, is Bifida Ferment
250. 7:12Lysate. We've talked about it many times
251. 7:14in our sensitive skin videos. Has been
252. 7:16shown to reduce sensitive skin in a lot
253. 7:18of patients. And so, very, very
254. 7:19effective ingredients in this. And one
255. 7:21of the ingredients that's in the Haru
256. 7:22Haru products, actually in both of the
257. 7:24Haru Haru products.
258. 7:25>> Right. So, for all these active
259. 7:26ingredients that are going to help
260. 7:27restore your skin, we would talk about
261. 7:28the Haru Haru products here.
262. 7:31>> The Haru Haru Black Rice Probiotic
263. 7:33Barrier 2% NAD+ Serum Mist. And I really
264. 7:37do love the vehicle for Oh, look at that
265. 7:41diffuser. I hope you can see this. The
266. 7:43light is behind this and this is a
267. 7:47beautiful way to apply this product.
268. 7:50This good.
269. 7:54It's a fine mist. It's a fine mist. The
270. 7:57key
271. 7:58Not a bad taste. So, one of the keys
272. 8:00here it gives a wide it does have a a
273. 8:03wide distribution. I've actually really
274. 8:05gotten to the
275. 8:07the exact mist some are too much, some
276. 8:09are too little, some are too wide, some
277. 8:11are too narrow. What I like about mists
278. 8:13in general for barrier is that if you
279. 8:15have a barrier mist whether it's
280. 8:16hypochlorous acid or something like this
281. 8:19because it's so lightweight and it
282. 8:20evaporates it gives you that immediate
283. 8:21cooling effect on the skin which I think
284. 8:23most people have damaged barrier they'll
285. 8:25actually like that sensation quite a
286. 8:26bit. And what's nice from an ingredient
287. 8:28perspective in this is it does have that
288. 8:30bifida ferment lysate which is a really
289. 8:31incredible probiotic ingredient very
290. 8:33good for sensitive skin. It also has
291. 8:35ceramides in it which are the key
292. 8:37ingredients to helping to repair the
293. 8:38skin barrier and the 50% of the skin
294. 8:40barrier that makes up that mortar
295. 8:42between your cells.
296. 8:43>> And when you think about ceramides and
297. 8:45like Dr. Dray mentioned this also has
298. 8:46lipids, it also has cholesterol for that
299. 8:47complete mortar between the skin cells.
300. 8:49I've always harped on this and I haven't
301. 8:51talked about it lately is that people
302. 8:53with eczema, atopic dermatitis their
303. 8:54skin does not make ceramides
304. 8:57as well as most individuals. An
305. 8:59interesting thing about changes with
306. 9:01aging skin is you also don't make as
307. 9:03much ceramides. You don't make as many
308. 9:04ceramides, you don't make as many oils,
309. 9:06lipids. And so people over time get more
310. 9:08sensitive, more dry skin and it's so
311. 9:10under appreciated in aging skin care.
312. 9:12And so hydration like this that restores
313. 9:14those lipids to your skin is so
314. 9:16underrated. It's extremely important for
315. 9:18restoring damaged skin but also skin as
316. 9:20we get older.
317. 9:20>> Right. And then I think that this to me
318. 9:23is really the hero when it comes to
319. 9:25barrier repair. Something like this that
320. 9:28you layer in your routine that is a
321. 9:30replacement for those actives that could
322. 9:32potentially be adding to the irritation.
323. 9:34This is the type of a that I would truly
324. 9:36go for. This is the use case scenario
325. 9:38for an essence or a milky essence like
326. 9:40this, in my opinion. So, what this is is
327. 9:43just this beautiful lightweight
328. 9:45emollient milky texture. This product's
329. 9:49actually viral on social media, and I
330. 9:51think it's because of how good it feels
331. 9:52on the skin, because I think a lot of
332. 9:54people, even influencers who try lots of
333. 9:57different products, have an irritated
334. 9:58skin barrier, and so they end up
335. 9:59gravitating towards a product like this.
336. 10:01Like you can see, it's very milky, and
337. 10:03that milkiness just feels so good on
338. 10:06sensitive skin. But, it's not just milky
339. 10:08for no reason. This has those barrier
340. 10:09restoring ingredients. It actually
341. 10:11mimics the natural skin barrier. So, it
342. 10:13has the ceramides, the cholesterol, and
343. 10:15the fatty acids in the ratio that our
344. 10:16normal skin barrier has it. And if
345. 10:18you're like James Welsh, you're going to
346. 10:19pat it into the skin really nicely,
347. 10:21while also having a very soothing voice,
348. 10:23which I don't have. And uh it just feels
349. 10:26so good. It feels so calming on the
350. 10:28skin, and it has those incredible
351. 10:30ingredients, and it's fragrance-free.
352. 10:31>> You know, packaging is so unimportant in
353. 10:35terms of how things will work for your
354. 10:36skin, but I love good packaging. I think
355. 10:39the elegance of the packaging actually
356. 10:40meets the elegance of the formulation of
357. 10:42this product. It just plays well with so
358. 10:43many skin types, and it's a great
359. 10:45foundation for hydration and soothing
360. 10:48your skin.
361. 10:50And in addition to that,
362. 10:52because it's not like a rich cream, you
363. 10:54will be able to layer a richer cream and
364. 10:56occlusive on top of this to help lock
365. 10:58everything in and protect your skin even
366. 11:00further. And not only does this have the
367. 11:02bifida ferment lysate in it for the
368. 11:03microbiome, it also has NAD 2%, which
369. 11:06you're going to be seeing more and more
370. 11:08in skin care over time. A lot of Korean
371. 11:10brands have adopted this broadly, and it
372. 11:12can be very helpful for the skin. In
373. 11:13this case, it's going to also help with
374. 11:15that skin barrier.
375. 11:16>> Both are absolutely phenomenal products.
376. 11:18They're available on Amazon. You can
377. 11:19check them out. We'll put a link below.
378. 11:20Now, let's talk about the last step,
379. 11:22which is your sort of occlusive step at
380. 11:24night, and then maybe in the morning,
381. 11:25that's more of your sunscreen. I think
382. 11:27both of these steps are actually very,
383. 11:28very important. So, one way that you can
384. 11:30look at this occlusive is to just keep
385. 11:32it super simple, minimized ingredients,
386. 11:34and then do what we call slugging, which
387. 11:37is using pure petrolatum on the face.
388. 11:39So, pure Vaseline would be the move here
389. 11:41if you wanted to keep it as simple and
390. 11:43as straightforward as possible,
391. 11:44something we recommend during the
392. 11:45winter. Not everyone likes that texture,
393. 11:47but it's a great option.
394. 11:48>> Yeah, I mean, it really is the most
395. 11:49effective way to lock in moisture, and
396. 11:50we have previous products like we showed
397. 11:53where you get hydration, all of your
398. 11:54soothing ingredients are already on your
399. 11:56skin. Petrolatum is the perfect way to
400. 11:58lock it in. It's extremely
401. 12:00hypoallergenic. Nothing is probably more
402. 12:02hypoallergenic than this, and it locks
403. 12:04in hydration better than anything else.
404. 12:06>> And then on the opposite end of the
405. 12:08spectrum, I think this is where we get
406. 12:09into barrier paste. So, something that
407. 12:11we use generally for diaper rash. And I
408. 12:13actually think that this is a similar
409. 12:15scenario, right? Your barrier is
410. 12:17disrupted when you have diaper rash,
411. 12:20right? So, it's coming in contact with
412. 12:21urine, feces, warm, humid environment.
413. 12:25This causes the skin to start breaking
414. 12:26down, the microbiome is disrupted,
415. 12:28right? So, all the conditions that we're
416. 12:30really describing, except you're not
417. 12:32putting urine and feces on your face,
418. 12:33hopefully. But, you're in this
419. 12:35environment where your skin barrier is
420. 12:36now broken down, and what do we find to
421. 12:38be the most effective on my daughter in
422. 12:40general is to use a zinc-based barrier
423. 12:43cream. It works incredibly well, almost
424. 12:45instantly, within a day or two, can heal
425. 12:47a damaged skin barrier. So, any
426. 12:48zinc-based diaper rash cream,
427. 12:50fragrance-free is going to be very
428. 12:51effective here. Aquaphor has great
429. 12:53options for this. Desitin has great
430. 12:55options for this. Even the orange and
431. 12:57and blue bottle, I'll show a picture of
432. 12:58it here, actually works really well for
433. 13:00my daughter as well. And you can use
434. 13:01this on the face to help repair a
435. 13:03damaged skin barrier during this 7-day
436. 13:05healing period.
437. 13:06>> Yeah, I'm surprised this hack has lived
438. 13:07so long, but topical zinc is very
439. 13:09gentle, very inert. It does have some
440. 13:11soothing properties of its own. Now, I'm
441. 13:13going to say this here, and I'm actually
442. 13:14going to probably make a shoot another
443. 13:15video about this in a minute, but the
444. 13:18zinc paste, like Dr. Shah said, it's
445. 13:20actually really good barrier. And what
446. 13:23it does is almost the opposite of
447. 13:24Vaseline. Vaseline is amazing at keeping
448. 13:26everything in. Zinc oxide barrier is
449. 13:28almost better at keeping things out. So,
450. 13:31that's why I would personally prefer
451. 13:33petrolatum to locking everything in. The
452. 13:35zinc paste I think is better for those
453. 13:36areas where you're getting irritants and
454. 13:38allergens and things on your skin, but a
455. 13:40great way to still help heal your skin
456. 13:42if it's disrupted.
457. 13:43>> Yeah, and I think great especially at
458. 13:45night. It's not something you're going
459. 13:46to want to use during the day, but a lot
460. 13:48of times they also have these zinc based
461. 13:50creams also have petrolatum in them or
462. 13:53they have other healing things. And so,
463. 13:54a lot of times even in burn units zinc
464. 13:56oxide is is frequently used to repair
465. 13:58damaged skin barriers. And so, zinc
466. 14:00oxide incredibly effective here. And
467. 14:02then finally, something that's sort of a
468. 14:03hybrid between the pure petrolatum world
469. 14:06and the zinc based barrier butt pastes
470. 14:08is something like a Cicalfate from Avene
471. 14:11or a
472. 14:13um a uh
473. 14:14a
474. 14:15uh
475. 14:16What's the one from La Roche-Posay?
476. 14:17>> Cicalfate.
477. 14:19>> Cicapair?
478. 14:22>> No.
479. 14:22>> Cicalfate is La Roche-Posay and then
480. 14:25Sicalfate
481. 14:27is Avene. So, both of these are good
482. 14:30options. They're actually very different
483. 14:32textures and I actually think the Avene
484. 14:33one must have zinc in it. Um I haven't
485. 14:35looked at the ingredient list, but it
486. 14:36feels very zincy when you rub it in. And
487. 14:39I've used it in the past like when I've
488. 14:40had laser done for example uh during the
489. 14:43healing process.
490. 14:44>> That's a great idea. So, with these
491. 14:45three steps, so you have two things to
492. 14:47avoid, the three steps to do, you're
493. 14:49going to add a gentle cleanser, hydrate
494. 14:50your skin, you're going to add active
495. 14:52ingredients to help heal the skin soothe
496. 14:55the skin, and you're going to lock it
497. 14:56all in with whichever vehicle is your
498. 14:58preference. And these are the top tips
499. 15:01to heal your skin barrier fast.
500. 15:03>> And the final tip is to be wearing
501. 15:05sunscreen of course. And then this is
502. 15:07the scenario in which I would recommend
503. 15:09a zinc based sunscreen because of zinc's
504. 15:11anti-inflammatory benefits, not because
505. 15:13I think that chemical sunscreens are bad
506. 15:15for example. And actually EltaMD is a
507. 15:17brand that was born out of these damaged
508. 15:19skin barrier your units where they
509. 15:21developed this technology initially for
510. 15:23those reasons. So, zinc plus a chemical
511. 15:26filter, it's a hybrid sunscreen, but
512. 15:28that zinc has really profound
513. 15:30anti-inflammatory benefits. And so, in
514. 15:32the morning, I prefer a zinc-based
515. 15:33sunscreen, whether it's from Vanicream
516. 15:35or EltaMD. This is going to give you
517. 15:36those added additional reparative
518. 15:38benefits, lower risk of allergy and
519. 15:40irritation, but I really really like the
520. 15:42zinc more for the healing benefits, not
521. 15:44just because it's a physical sunscreen.
522. 15:46Both of these products are absolutely
523. 15:47phenomenal. Actually, I like a lot of
524. 15:49the products from Huda or Wander, and
525. 15:50right now they're all on sale for Prime
526. 15:52Day, so definitely check them out. We'll
527. 15:54put a link below. This is going to be
528. 15:56the best prices of the year. So, follow
529. 15:58these tips for 7 days, be religious and
530. 16:00deliberate about this, cuz a lot of
531. 16:02times cutting corners here is going to
532. 16:03set you backwards. Stick with this for 7
533. 16:06days, see how your barrier responds to
534. 16:07it, and then really try to identify what
535. 16:09it is that really triggered this all in
536. 16:11the first place. Thank you all so much
537. 16:12for tuning in. Please like, comment, and
538. 16:14subscribe, and we'll see you in the next
539. 16:15video. See you next time.