As one of the recognized foundations of skincare, many people take for granted that moisturizing is simple. However, does simplicity mean you can't go wrong?
The water we drink is absorbed into the blood circulation through the gastrointestinal tract, and the water is transported through the blood vessels to various parts of the body to be sent to the skin, where it is "replenished" into the vascularized dermis.
The part of our skin that feels dry and flaky is the stratum corneum of the skin. There are no blood vessels here, and layers of water penetrate and replenish. If we try to "hydrate" the cuticle by drinking water, the effect is minimal.
Many people believe that hand patting can promote blood circulation, thereby promoting the absorption of skincare products. However, the truth is that not only does patting fail to promote absorption, but the patting process also accelerates the volatilization of certain ingredients in skincare products.
In addition, frequent tapping and friction may also lead to impaired skin barrier function, and problems such as redness, swelling, and low sensitivity will also follow.
Both of the above misunderstandings have common problems:
The operation is quite violent, but it has little moisturizing protection effect on the stratum corneum.
So the question is, how can we keep the moisture of the stratum corneum? Then we need to understand how our stratum corneum is dehydrated.
The natural moisturizing factor contained in skin keratinocytes can absorb water molecules and maintain the moisture content in the cells. When the moisturizing factor is insufficient, the stratum corneum will be dehydrated.
The hydrophobic bilayer lipid layer on the skin also helps our stratum corneum retain moisture. If the lipid layer is reduced, our stratum corneum cannot hold water.
And if you want to help the stratum corneum lock in water, prevention is always better than remediation.
The priority of moisturizing is to reduce irritation to the skin barrier.
➊ Do not use high-concentration, highly irritating skincare products to challenge the bottom line of the skin barrier;
➋ Pay attention to the damage to the skin barrier caused by environmental factors such as ultraviolet rays and dryness;
➌ Reduces vigorous tapping, pulling, rubbing, and pressing, which are mechanical irritations to the skin barrier.
Our skin's moisturizing ability can continue to function only when the skin barrier is stabilized.