My Skin Barrier Journey: Reintroducing Ascorbyl Glucoside

A form of inactive Vitamin C

 

Hello my beauties!!!

So if you read my last post you'll know that for the past 6 weeks I've been trying to repair my skin barrier which I damaged by over-exfoliating. However last week I started incorporating The Ordinary Ascorbyl Glucoside Solution 12% back into my routine. In this post I will be recording my experience and how the whole process is going. I took this out of my routine on the 5th of December 2020 as well as TO Lactic Acid 5%. This is because it's an acid with a high pH which also increases cell turnover and makes your skin more photosensitive. Ascorbyl glucoside is one of the more stable forms of Vitamin C and is a lot more gentle at lower concentrations such as 12%. However, when your barrier is compromised it needs ingredients that are soothing and calming which strengthen it and keep it healthy. This means that whilst repairing your barrier you need to stick to skin pH-friendly products that balance the skin and reduce the chance of irritation. So you need to check that the products you use fall between 4.7 and 5.75 on the pH scale.

As you can see on the pH scale (above) the skin is slightly acidic, so using products with a higher pH can increase chances of irritation and sensitisation on the skin. That's why it's so important to get the balance right when you have a damaged skin barrier. Of course there are products that are higher in pH that the skin can tolerate but that is down to a healthy microbiome which protects your skin from harmful bacteria in the environment. If your barrier is compromised then your microbiome becomes unbalanced, therefore you should use skin pH-friendly products to fix this.

This is all a long winded way of explaining the importance of removing actives from your routine when your skin barrier is damaged... Phew, we got there! If you want to know how my reintroduction of ascorbyl glucoside went, then read on...

Monday- When I applied it for the first time I noticed some slight irritation and a few red spots on my cheeks. However there was very minimal redness or inflammation which was a good sign. It also absorbed really well into my skin and left it feeling smooth. I then applied the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume over the top to soothe and calm my skin.

Wednesday- Today I had less red spots and no redness at all, other than a slight tingling sensation. Overall I'm really happy with how my skin's reacting to the vitamin C serum. I think my skin just needs time to readjust to using a product with a higher pH. If I continue with this gradual approach then hopefully my skin will be more acclimatised to Ascorbyl Glucoside by the end of the week.

Friday- I noticed there was no irritation or any red spots and my skin felt the same as when I applied it regularly (before I damaged my barrier). I feel like I'm getting closer to integrating it back into my routine, along with my other actives. Next week I'm going to start using it in the morning to boost the efficiency of my sunscreen, as well as to fight free radicals and sun damage.

This week I've been using TO Ascorbyl Glucoside Solution 12% daily with no irritation or redness at all. I now only use the Cerave Moisturising Lotion over the top followed by the Avene Cleanance Mattifying Sunscreen SPF 50+. I also used TO Lactic Acid 5% for the first time in 5 weeks and although there was a slight tingling sensation there was no visible redness or irritation. I then followed up with the LRP Cicaplast Baume and the tingling went away after about 15 minutes. Next week I'll use it twice and see how it goes, then all being well, I'll increase it to three times a week. However I don't think I should exceed that amount, as over-exfoliating is what got me into this mess! Then after that I'll incorporate niacinamide back into my daily evening routine to help control my oil levels.

I hope you got some tips from my experience to help you reintroduce actives back into your routine, as well as an insight into how I personally repaired my skin barrier. However, this is just what worked for my skin and won't necessarily work for you. These are the steps I chose to follow and so far seem to be working (woohoo!). It's been a long journey and has required a lot of patience, listening to my skin and amending my routine accordingly. I've learnt a lot about the skin barrier in general and what products help to repair it, as well as how to address the issues that come with it. My best tips for a damaged skin barrier are 1) Give your skin time to heal, 2) Focus on both moisture and hydration, 3) Look out for signs of irritation and what's causing them, 4) Cut out all actives and focus on products that soothe, calm and repair.

Look out for another update on My Damaged Skin Barrier Journey where I'll let you know the outcome of reincorporating actives into my routine and whether my skin has fully recovered or not...

Who Cares, We Care, Skincare :)