Understanding the Hydrolipidic Protective Barrier

Our skin is one of the largest organs of our body and is made up of various layers. Each layer plays a crucial part in keeping the skin hydrated, protecting it from external irritants, and maintaining its proper functioning.

However, daily exposure to environmental factors like UV rays, dust, and chemicals in skincare products can damage our skin’s hydrolipidic protective barrier. 

This blog provides insight into what a hydrolipid barrier is and how to properly care for it to have healthy, smooth skin.  

What is a Hydrolipidic Protective Barrier?

Hydroplipidic barrier goes by many names: hydrolipid barrier, hydrolipidic film, hydrolipid layer, lipid barrier, and acid mantle. This protective layer is made up of sebum, water, lipids (sphingolipids), and sweat. 

Inside this layer, the skin cells are connected with lipids that contain natural fatty acids, ceramides, and moisture which are all essential for keeping the skin healthy. 

It is present on top of the epidermis (the topmost layer of the skin) and works as a natural defense system for your skin. Some of the most prominent functions of the skin barrier are:

• Protecting skin against external factors
• Keeping the skin moist
• Maintain the skin’s natural pH level
• Prevent TEWL (Transepidermal water loss)
• Maintain skin’s elasticity.

Another function of this layer, which some people believe in and others don’t, is that it gives our skin that special aroma, our own unique scent that has been there from the dawn of time. 

Composition of Skin Barrier

Our skin is made up of three layers 

1. Epidermis (the top layer that we see)
2. Dermis (middle layer)
3. Hypodermis (deepest layer)

The epidermis is further divided into five layers: 

1. Stratum Basale: it is responsible for producing new skin cells and melanin.
2. Stratum Spinosum: it provides flexibility to the skin and consists of Langerhans cells that protect the body from infections.
3. Stratum Granulosum: The granular layer contains keratin that helps prevent water loss. 
4. Stratum Lucidum: this is present in thick skin– on the palms and soles. It has a barrier function. 
5. Stratum Corneum is the top layer that protects the skin against external pathogens and helps retain moisture. 

We don’t want this blog to turn into a biology lecture, so we won’t go any deeper into the skin. The hydrolipid barrier resides exactly on top of the stratum corneum and is a thin invisible film. 

The hydrolipic film is made up of two phases: the water phase and the lipid phase. The water phase contains sweat which gives our skin a slightly acidic pH level. The lipid phase is made up of sebum, an oily substance produced by sebaceous glands. This helps retain moisture, prevents water loss, and keeps your skin hydrated. 

Now you know how complicated our skin is and how hard it works to keep our skin moisturized, smooth, and healthy. 

Hydrolipidic Protective Barrier and Your Scalp

Hydrolipid skin barrier is present all over our body, including the scalp. Just like anywhere else on the body, it helps protect your scalp against external irritants, keeps it moisturized, prevents dry skin and flaking, and balances the scalp’s pH level.

It also helps in maintaining a healthy scalp microbiome and promotes healthy hair growth. However, when the hydrolipid barrier is damaged due to any reason, such as overwashing or harsh chemicals in hair products, it makes it difficult for your scalp’s microbiome to function properly, which can trigger some common skin conditions such as dry scalp, dandruff, scalp eczema or seborrheic dermatitis.

What Damages the Hydrolipid Barrier?

It is essential to preserve and care for the lipid barrier as it helps keep the skin moist and aids in preventing common skin conditions like dry skin, eczema, or atopic dermatitis. But the question here is what might be damaging your hydrolipid protetcive barrier? 

There are various factors that can damage the skin barrier, but the most common ones are:

• Aging
• Overwashing
• Over-exfoliating
• UV rays
• Chemicals in skin care products
• Hard water
• Excessive rubbing of skin
• Air pollution
• Cold, dry air
• Dehydration 
• Certain medical conditions 

These are some common factors. However, it is important to understand that these triggers may vary from person to person.

Symptoms of a Damaged Skin Barrier

When the lipid film is damaged, it makes it difficult for your skin to stay hydrated, making you more vulnerable to dryness. Your skin may also feel and appear dull. Some other common symptoms that you may notice are:

• Excessively dry or oily skin
• Itchy skin
• Irritation
• Redness
• Skin tightening
• Discoloration of skin
• Burning sensation
• Flaky skin
• Uneven texture
• Increased sensitivity
• Inflammation
• Skin rashes. 

The redness caused by a damaged skin barrier may appear as pink or red in people who have a lighter skin tone. In people who have dark skin tones, it may appear as brown, purple, or greyish. 

How to Restore Hydrolipid Skin Barrier

The hydrolipid skin barrier may sound like a complicated thing but taking care and restoring it is very easy. All you have to do is follow a proper skincare routine and make a few lifestyle changes.

Cleansing

• Cleansing your skin is essential to remove harmful bacteria, viruses, and dirt from your skin. 
• Cleanse your face with a gentle daily face wash, and do it twice daily, especially before going to bed.
• Make sure that you remove makeup from your skin before going to sleep.
• You can cleanse your body and scalp by taking a bath daily with shampoo and body wash for sensitive skin, as these are free from any harsh chemicals that may damage the hydrolipidic protective barrier.
• Always use lukewarm or cool water to take a bath instead of hot water. 
• Exfoliating the skin is also important, do it at least once a week. However, use water-based exfoliators instead of chemical ones. 

Moisturizing

When our skin barrier is damaged, one of the most common symptoms you will experience is dry skin due to excessive water loss, which makes it even more crucial to keep your skin moisturized in order to restore the barrier.

• Moisturize your skin at least twice daily with a fragrance-free moisturizing cream.
• Don’t forget to moisturize your skin after taking a bath.
• Moisturizing your skin within three minutes after taking a bath is most beneficial for your skin. 
• Choose a moisturizer that contains ingredients that can help restore the hydrolipid barrier, such as glycerin, Provitamin B5, hyaluronic acid, and petrolatum.

These humectants help provide hydration to the skin, prevent water loss, and restore the skin barrier. 

Protection From Sun

UV rays are one of the most common reasons that damage our hydrolipidic barrier. It damages it without us knowing about it. So you must protect your skin from the direct sunlight as much as possible.

The best way to do this is to use a sunscreen that has an appropriate SPF for your skin and the environment you live in. It can help protect your skin against harmful sunrays and thus protected from UV rays, allows the skin barrier to replenish itself. 

Maintain Skin’s pH level

Maintaining your skin’s pH level is very important to help it work properly. Skincare products can have different pH levels that range from 3.5 to 8 on the scale. While our skin’s pH level is a little acidic and around 4.7. 

It is suggested that you use skin products that range between the pH level of 4 and 5 to keep your skin microbiome healthy and help it function proeprly. So next time when you buy any product make sure to consider its pH level. 

If you follow these three simple steps, the chances of your lipid barrier becoming damaged become much less. 

Restore Lipid Barrier With Pathenol

Pathenol, also known as Provitamin B5, is a derivative of vitamin B5. It is often added to skin care products as an active ingredient due to its various benefits, such as:

• Helps support the skin’s natural healing process
• Improves the skin texture by assisting in skin cell renewal.
• Soothes itching and irritation on the skin
• Helps retain moisture in the epidermis
• Attracts moisture from the environment into the skin
• Helps strengthen the skin’s protective barrier
• Aids in hydrating the skin.

Due to its various benefits for the skin, Dr. Eddie used it in the formula of Happy Cappy Eczema shampoo. It not only helps in soothing the symptoms associated with eczema but also protects the skin and its hydrolipidic barrier, and moisturizes and enhances the feel of the skin.

However, it is essential to understand that the results may vary from person to person depending on the severity of their skin condition.

When you go shopping for your skincare products, make sure that they have panthenol in them or shop Happy Cappy Products, as these are free from any skin-irritating chemicals like fragrance, phthalates, paraben, sulfate and are vegan-friendly. 

Conclusion

A hydrolipidic protective barrier is an invisible film that is present on the topmost layer of our skin. It works as a natural defense system for your body. This barrier protects your skin against environmental irritants, retains moisture in the skin, prevents excess water loss, and maintains the skin’s pH level. 

Any damage to the hydrolipid barrier can make your skin dry, itchy, irritated, inflamed, and prone to developing common skin conditions like eczema. So it is essential that you take extra good care of your skin in order to maintain a healthy barrier.

You can do this by keeping your skin clean with a hypoallergenic cleanser and the skin hydrated with a moisturizing cream for sensitive skin. 

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Dr. Eddie Valenzuela

Dr. Eddie Valenzuela is an award winning pediatrician and the founder and CEO of Pediatric Solutions, LLC.

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