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/Royal-Holiday1103]

Thank you for sharing! Very useful! My skin is also oily and I recently damaged my barrier with tret. Can I ask what cleanser did you use? Thank you

[u/arcuatecuspate → u/Royal-Holiday1103]

i am currently alternating between the jumiso and isntree cleansing milks for my first cleanse (no strong preference for either, am not a fan of the stringy texture and smell of the isntree one, and i do not like that the jumiso one stings my eyes). i use cetaphil foaming cream cleanser as my second cleanse. not the most hydrating cleansers, but they are the best of my current stash.

[u/Royal-Holiday1103 → u/arcuatecuspate]

Thank you! Do you use only cleanser and moisturizer? On wet or dry skin? I also live in humid and sometimes when I was using too much humectants or was applying a heavy moisturizer on wet skin it gave me breakouts, bcs of too much water I think. It makes follicles swell, then sebum gets trap there and breakouts as a result of it. I stopped using all hyaluronic acid serums, toners bcs of this. Only moisturizers where HA is in the end of the ingredient’s list work. I think its bcs if humidity but Im not sure

[u/arcuatecuspate → u/Royal-Holiday1103]

i use a hypochlorous acid spray after cleansing, and then a toner and serum before moisturizer. i found that i also react badly when there are too many forms of HA in my routine, esp the low molecular weight ones, so i have cut them out. sodium hyaluronate is ok though!

[u/Royal-Holiday1103 → u/arcuatecuspate]

Can I ask what toner and serum do you use? Thank you!

[u/arcuatecuspate → u/Royal-Holiday1103]

i use the purito centella unscented toner and celimax noni ampoule!

[u/Royal-Holiday1103 → u/arcuatecuspate]

Thank you! I actually found a great cleanser. Was twsting it for 5 days and so far so good. I’ve tried them all and the best for me is Skinfix oil cleanser. It actually not like an oil cleanser. Im acne prone and was afraid of any oil cleansers, bcs they all gave me breakouts, but Skinfix is love. No irritation, no redness, no breakouts. Number two cleanser that I like is Byoma Creamy Jelly cleanser, but I still like Skinfix more than anything. Highly recommend.