When you use skincare products to hydrate, moisturize or exfoliate to make your skin look younger and healthier, you are applying all those serums and creams on the outermost layer of the skin: the skin barrier. According to Healthline, the human skin has many layers, and they all perform various functions to protect the body. The stratum corneum is the outermost layer of the skin, and it is made of “tough skin cells” called corneocytes attached together by lipids that have “cholesterol, fatty acids, and ceramides.” Each skin cell has “natural moisturizers,” and now it makes sense why we need to add all those nourishing ingredients to keep our skin healthy because we are born with them, but lose them over time. According to WebMD, the skin barrier plays a crucial role in regulating water loss to keep your skin hydrated. Also, it protects you from external factors like pollution, infections, UV rays, and toxins that can cause havoc on your skin, and some of them can be genetic, like eczema and rosacea.
