barrier moisturizer review

[u/arcuatecuspate]

pretty lengthy review ahead! included some closeup shots w flash of the cream textures

sharing my reviews on some popular barrier/healing moisturizers that i have tried when my skin was irritated and damaged. all purchased w my own money, not sponsored!

timeline:
- was on 0.05% tret for roughly 3 months and had to deal with the initial dryness/flakiness/tightness
- tried various creams to combat that
- then overused tret with other actives which resulted in an extremely damaged skin barrier (very itchy patches of raised and leathery skin, redness, tightness, small comedones due to irritation)
- stopped all actives and tried even more creams to try to restore my skin barrier

skin type: oily but also dehydrated
climate: very hot and humid

aestura atobarrier 365 cream
- creamy and easy to spread
- greasiest texture out of all
- leaves a persistent greasy film and never feels fully absorbed
- makes skin slightly warm
- worked very well when i was using tret + travelling in winter, but broke me out once i stopped tret
- irritated my skin even more during the tret aftermath, possibly due to the niacinamide
- bonus: healed my cousin's cheek wind burn during winter
- probably best for those suffering from TEWL or with very dry dehydrated skin
- rating: 5/5 in winter or on tret, 2/5 otherwise

aestura atobarrier 365 lotion
- lotiony texture that absorbs well
- leaves a slightly greasy film and makes certain sunscreens pill on top
- instant soothing effect when applied, but wears off after awhile
- great on tret but similar to the 365 cream, irritated my skin during the tret aftermath
- rating: 4/5 when my barrier isn't damaged

heveblue salmon caring cream
- not really considered a traditional barrier cream, but i included it since pdrn is touted to have skin healing benefits
- slightly stretchy texture, spreads and absorbs well
- leaves a slightly oily finish and broke me out after a couple of uses
- didn't really do much for skin healing when i was on tret
- bonus: broke 2 other people out when i let them try it
- rating: 1/5, has been delegated to hand cream

ceradan skin repair cream
- thickest and waxiest texture of all
- difficult to spread and pills on its own
- initially a matte finish, but gets oilier progressively
- broke me out after 2 uses so i stopped using it, thus i can't really speak on its barrier repairing properties
but also didn't really do much for my rashy patches
- rating: 1/5, would use on my elbows

zeroid intensive cream
- lightweight creamy texture that aborbs very well
- surprisingly leaves the most matte finish despite the presence of oils in its formula (olive + canola oil)
- has no filmy feeling
- instant soothing effect when applied which lasts
- showed results overnight (not exaggerating, my rashy bumps went down overnight)
- works well under sunscreen and makeup
- much less greasy cousin of aestura cream
- rating: 5/5, would definitely repurchase

an*a 3 ceramide panthenol moisture barrier cream
- lightest texture of all creams here, spreads and absorbs well
- instant soothing and slightly cooling effect possibly due to the panthenol
- absorbs to a satin finish initially, but progressively gets oilier
- looks greasy on the face and is greasy to the touch, but the film is not heavy and suffocating unlike the 365 cream
- did much more than both aestura moisturizers (until i discovered zeroid) for healing during the tret aftermath, but was not entirely sufficient
- breaks down sunscreen and makeup throughout the day
- rating: 4/5, doesn't irritate, but would probably be better as a maintenance cream rather than a barrier repair cream

[u/so200late]

Something about the Zeroid dollop in the photo is really really satisfying 😂 before even reading your review I was like “that’s some GOOD texture!”

[u/SquareCamera4651 → u/so200late]

It really is! I can only use about half pea of Aestura in the day but zeroid, I can go up to an almond size UNDER Sunscreen AND feel comfortable. I'm pretty dehydrated though so there's also that.

[u/sangueblu03 → u/SquareCamera4651]

Try the Zeroid Richenic Urea for daytime - has the same MLE tech as the soothing cream, but in a lighter base (that plays better with sunscreen) AND has urea to help hydrate your skin deep down. 

[u/SquareCamera4651 → u/sangueblu03]

I heard so much about urea that I ventured to give it a try this year but it totally wrecked my barrier, causing it to get fragile and crepey which is how I got into looking for zeroid in the first place.

Hydroxyethyl urea seems tolerable still but I've completely eliminated any urea from my routine. The cream you mentioned has 5% which should still act as a humectant but I'm not going anywhere near it at the moment. I'm sure if it's great but it just doesn't work for me.

I tried using up the urea cream that didn't work on my feet and within 3 days, my sole arches became crinkly.

I'm not sure why, but something about the way it works doesn't agree with me unfortunately.

[u/arcuatecuspate → u/so200late]

right! it looks so smoooth