Protect Your Skin Barrier Function With Natural CBD Skincare

Smooth, hydrated, supple skin: Who doesn’t want to step out into the world with skin that feels healthy and comfortable?

When weather conditions or harsh skincare products take their toll, however, skin can feel anything but its best. If your skin feels dry, irritated, and sensitive lately, it may be your skin barrier.

Let’s dive in to what your skin barrier is, and how we can best support its function for healthier, happier looking skin—no matter what time of year.

What is the skin barrier? Is it different from barrier function? 

The skin barrier, or Stratum Corneum, is the outermost layer of the skin that protects us from our surrounding environment. The term “skin barrier function” refers to the strength of our skin barrier and how it’s working to keep our skin and bodies safe from bacteria, germs, and microorganisms—and how it’s helping to help our skin retain crucial water. 

Our skin comprises proteins, lipids (oils), and fats, and they work in conjunction to help our skin look and feel its best—think strong, hydrated, supple skin. When our skin is out of balance due to natural aging processes that deplete the amount of lipids or because of harsh environmental conditions (harsh weather, harsher products), our skin barrier weakens, leaving skin feeling and looking dry, sensitive, irritated, and red.

A weakened skin barrier isn’t just a nuisance, however; weak barrier function can allow germs and irritants to penetrate the skin and lead to inflammation or even infection. 

So, how can you best protect your skin barrier function?

Begin with a gentle cleanser 

Dry winter weather, cold wind, or heat blasting indoors: If this sounds like your everyday reality, you’re not alone. The winter months can wreak havoc on skin, leaving it feeling parched, itchy, irritated, and inflamed—all signs of a weakened skin barrier.

And warm weather can have its own caveats (looking at you, chlorinated pool water!). While our first instinct may be to reach for our favorite exfoliator or harsh cleanser yet again to try and rid our skin of dry patches, this can only exacerbate unwanted conditions. 

Instead, choose a gentle, natural skin cleanser formulated with a sensitive skin barrier function in mind. We love the Essential Lipids Delicate Barrier formula by Laurel Skin, a California-based brand committed to slow farmed beauty that’s free of water, alcohol, and fillers.

Essential Lipids uses gentle but highly effective botanicals to support a healthy skin barrier, and can be used as a cleanser and/or a moisturizing facial oil to help heal and repair the crucial lipid barrier that helps skin perform as it should—and to restore the look of health. 

Prep skin with a hydrating mist 

After cleansing skin, prep it to receive the beneficial ingredients of your serum and moisturizer with a hydrating toning mist that helps to keep your skin barrier healthy and happy.

We’re partial to Josh Rosebrook’s miraculous Hydrating Accelerator formula, a beloved blend of botanicals blended to “plump, protect and support the skin’s innate healing abilities.” The ultra-fine mist penetrates the skin barrier to hydrate on contact, and to improve the efficacy of your other skincare products. 

We love spritzing a few pumps on our face after cleansing, and again after applying our serum. Bonus: This super hydrating mist can also be used to help set your makeup. And did we mention it smells like heaven?

Indulge skin at the source with a hydrating CBD face serum 

With skin slightly damp from your toner, apply 2-3 drops of MASK CBD Skincare serum. In three formulas to target your skincare needs, each MASK CBD facial serum is infused with full spectrum CBD to ensure your skin reaps the benefits of this soothing, anti-inflammatory cannabinoid, while a rich blend of proven botanicals works to further calm skin, moisturize it, and deliver powerful antioxidants below skin’s surface. 

Lock in moisture with a restorative balm

Once your skin has received the myriad benefits of the MASK CBD face serum, lock in moisture with an occlusive balm that delivers serious moisture without weighing skin down.

We can’t get enough of Josh Rosebrook’s Vital Balm Cream, a powerhouse formula that immediately calms skin and leaves it looking dewy and radiant while helping  “to fortify the skin barrier and restore thirsty skin, regardless of skin type or condition, working to repair visible damage and slow the appearance of skin aging.” 

We’re partial to the original formula for its otherworldly blue tansy scent, but it’s also available in  an essential-oil free version that’s altogether unscented for more sensitive skin.

Added bonus: Treat yourself to a CBD sheet mask 

Now that you’ve got your daily “barrier function skincare routine” down, consider adding a booster to use once or twice a week, like a MASK CBD sheet mask.

Formulated to complement the three serum formulas, MASK CBD sheet masks cool and calm on contact, and deliver a boost of natural, plant-based ingredients and CBD to skin, further caring for your skin barrier and helping to quell irritation, dryness, redness, and inflammation.

Plus, they’ll up the radiance factor in just a few short minutes, leaving your skin looking and feeling happier and healthier. Your skin barrier will thank you!