Routine for Damaged Skin Barrier
In my long article about adult acne, I talked about the need to rebuild the skin barrier before and treat acne spots. But I didn’t give complete routines. Here is the routine I’m currently using to rebuild my skin barrier, which was badly damaged by wearing masks & the heatwave during my road trip.
In general, you know the skin barrier is damaged when your skin hurts a lot, is redder than usual, more inflamed, and there may or may not be breakouts.
After a rather painful breakout in August, skin that suddenly felt tight, and rosacea which I’ve never had before, here I am (finally) without any breakouts. My pores are clean. I’m not wearing foundation (just a bit of lipstick & blush). The marks from recent breakouts haven’t faded yet but they can easily be covered up with concealer if I wanted to.
Here are the before/after photos 6 weeks into this routine. The breakouts are gone, my skin has less texture and no longer feels tight or hurts; I just need to deal with the marks now.
Note: there are some products in this routine that I need to finish because I bought them at a high price, but there are better options on the market (I’ll point them out each time). Go with the version you prefer; the idea is to provide a routine with the type of products to use. You don’t have to use the same products. Every skin is different.
Morning
- Spritz of thermal water or floral water
- Treating & hydrating serum : The Ordinary Buffet + Copper Peptides 1%, full of amino acids, very hydrating and soothing (thanks to the copper peptides) (detailed review, The Ordinary link, Lookfantastic link)
- Moisturizing cream with SPF : Immortal SPF 15 from Antipodes (Lookfantastic link, Antipodes link, Amazon link), very hard to spread, but it’s non-comedogenic. I’ll finish it then go back to my Nuxe + Esthederm cream. It’s good for winter but not worth its price
- Special eye contour sunscreen: Mineral Eye UV Defense SPF 30 (Skinceuticals link, Lookfantastic link)
- If makeup: Lipstick & a bit of concealer and that’s it
Evening
- Remove makeup with a special makeup remover pad
- Cleanser: Rosette, blue sulfur one (YesStyle link, Amazon link)
- If rinse-off mask: Aura from Antipodes with manuka honey (Sephora link, Marionnaud link, Lookfantastic link, Amazon link, FeelUnique link, Antipodes link) – every evening
- Treating/hydrating serum:
- either NIOD CAIS 2 with copper peptides (detailed review, NIOD link, Lookfantastic link) with NIOD MMHC 2 with 15 hyaluronic acids (detailed review, NIOD link, Lookfantastic link)
- or The Ordinary Buffet + Copper Peptides 1%, full of amino acids, very hydrating and soothing (thanks to the copper peptides) (detailed review, The Ordinary link, Lookfantastic link)
- Treatment serum: The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% (detailed review, The Ordinary link, Sephora link). If you don’t like Zinc, you can just buy the Niacinamide powder from the same brand (detailed review, The Ordinary link)
- If Korean sheet mask: masks from Tony Moly or Papa Recipe (Yesstyle link, lookfantastic link) – 3 times a week
- Moisturizing cream: Pai’s regulating cream (Nuoobox link, lookfantastic link), there are better options on the market for this price, but I need to finish it. It’s hydrating, non-comedogenic, but not worth its price. I would have recommended Benton Steam Cream instead (Yesstyle link, Amazon link, lookfantastic link, Jolse link)
- Lip care: Dior Lipglow (shade 001, Sephora link)
- Eye contour: Melchior & Balthazar argan oil (detailed review)
- Patches Compeed on areas that haven’t healed yet (bleeding, painful, or too red) (Amazon link)
Recap
| Morning routine | Evening routine |
|---|---|
| Uriage Thermal Water | Makeup removal Face Halo pads |
| Hydrating serum: Buffet + Copper Peptides 1% from The Ordinary | AND Face cleansing: Rosette Blue cleanser Uriage Thermal Water |
| Moisturizing cream with SPF | Hydrating mask: Aura by Antipodes |
| Sunscreen for the eyes: Mineral Eye UV Defense SPF 30 | Hydrating serum: or NIOD CAIS 2 AND NIOD MMHC 2 or Buffet + Copper Peptides 1% from The Ordinary AND Niacinamide 10% + 1% Zinc from The Ordinary |
| Moisturizing cream: Benton Steam Cream Eye contour: Melchior & Balthazar argan oil roll-on |
For more routines & products, check out my article on adult acne here and treatments for maskne here
