The Science Behind Medical-Grade Moisturizers

CosMedical Technologies’ moisturizers do more than just improve the hydration of skin. Instead, they reinforce a healthy skin barrier, preventing water loss and improving firmness.

 

What Is The Skin Barrier?

The outer layers of skin are made up of corneocytes and a lipid bilayer in a brick-and-mortar type architecture. The corneocytes are like bricks that store water; the lipids are like mortar that hold the corneocytes together, preventing water from seeping out. When we talk about the skin barrier, this moisture-retaining “wall” is what we’re referring to.

Particularly as skin ages, the skin barrier can lose its structure. With less organization, it becomes less dense and corneocytes drift further apart, making it easier for water to leak out — like a wall where the bricks are spread out further and further, the barrier breaks down. This makes it harder for irritated or older skin to stay hydrated.

Hydration And Dryness

It’s simple: healthy skin requires a healthy skin barrier.

If the skin barrier remains strong, then skin will stay hydrated. Properly hydrated skin is firmer and denser, helping eliminate lines, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation, and it glows brighter and feels smoother.

If the barrier is weak, on the other hand, then skin will appear dry, dull, rough and clammy, and it becomes more prone to visible signs of aging such as lines and wrinkles.

Environment plays an important role in skin health. During the winter, for example, the air is drier both indoors and outdoors, causing skin to lose moisture more easily and deteriorate. An abundance of HEV light from screens and artificial lighting can also damage the skin barrier.

The Role Of Moisturizers

Skincare products can be applied to help preserve the strength, function and density of the skin’s corneocytes and lipid bilayer, counteracting these environmental challenges and reinforcing the barrier to keep skin hydrated and vibrant.

Here are a few examples of how our medical-grade moisturizers can accomplish that:

Vitamins — vitamins can have powerful skin-moisturizing properties, especially by promoting collagen production. Vitamin A, like in our Multi-Complex Night Crème, and vitamin C, like in Vita-C 20 or Vita-C Peptide Spray, increase the rate at which new skin grows. This healthy, young skin increases the skin layer’s firmness, helping it retain more moisture.

Peptides — the pentapeptides in our bestselling Ultra Benefits® similarly boost collagen production, improving skin firmness and tightening the skin barrier for improved moisture.

Lipids — Vita Soothe contains bioidentical lipids that add to the lipid bilayer. This prevents water from slipping through the cracks of dry skin, providing intense moisture.

Exfoliants — exfoliants like glycolic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid found in AHA Marine Moisture Crème, remove dead corneocytes from the skin surface, promoting new growth of healthy, younger cells. These new cells are denser to form a more tightly-packed skin barrier, improving skin moisture.

There are a number of ways to keep skin hydrated and healthy, and the best moisturizing product for your patients will vary depending on their needs. Ultimately, all our medical-grade moisturizers work by reinforcing the skin barrier to help preserve water for brighter, beautiful skin.

Shop all our moisturizing products here.