What words would you use to describe your ideal skin? Some common responses might include “soft,” “smooth,” or “plump”—the same words you would use to describe a baby’s skin, and that’s not a coincidence! When you were born, your skin contained the highest levels of all of the skin-improving substances you commonly see on a skincare label: hyaluronic acid, collagen, elastin, and more. As you age, your body’s production of these substances slows down and the evidence can show up as fine lines, dryness and loss of firmness.
The best way to delay the visible signs of aging, like wrinkles, lines, and dark spots, is to focus on enhancing your skin barrier function. Tagawa-san, our Chief Scientist at the Tatcha Institute, explains what your skin barrier is in a way that’s easy to visualize: “Skin consists of regular stratum corneum and intercellular lipids: imagine a brick structure and cement that exists in between, and this structure is strong enough to resist even physical stimulation.” This outermost layer of skin acts as your first line of defense between your body and the environment, like sun and pollution. While the natural process of aging can weaken your skin barrier function, environmental factors can accelerate this damage. “When the skin’s barrier function is impaired by external or internal stress, water is evaporated, and skin becomes sensitive.” Your skin naturally renews this layer every 28 days, bringing healthy, new cells up to the surface. Our proprietary complex found in every formula, Hadasei-3™, helps enhance the skin barrier function with lactic acid, amino acids, and other various components naturally produced in the complex’s fermentation process. When used every day, Hadasei-3™ can improve the epidermal skin barrier function to help reveal healthy-looking skin.
Your skin barrier is also responsible for retaining and regulating moisture levels in the skin, and performs best when it is properly hydrated. According to Tagawa-san, “your skin barrier function is not something special; it’s a natural function that your body has to maintain your skin in ideal condition.” In infancy, your body fed your skin barrier nourishing materials like hyaluronic acid and squalane. A moisture-binding molecule that helps skin retain moisture, hyaluronic acid gives skin a hydrated, plump appearance. To maintain the hydration levels in the skin barrier for proper function, squalane, a saturated and stable hydrocarbon, works as an emollient and seals in moisture.
Though your skin produces less of these materials as you get older, you can replenish the skin barrier by incorporating these native-to-skin ingredients into your daily skincare ritual. Inspired by the Japanese concept of shinsei, which translates to ’new birth,’ Tagawa-san created our newest formula, The Dewy Serum, to restore and replenish the key components of healthy skin, lost over time, to help it perform at its optimal level. This serum uses 73% Hadasei-3™ to gently sweep away dull, dead skin cells, then replenishes your skin with hydrating and plumping hyaluronic acid, and emollient squalane derived from sugarcane for healthy, renewed cells in your skin barrier. Together, these three ingredients return to your skin the supple, bouncy radiance lost over time. Our whole collection of Dewy formulas—like The Rice Wash, The Dewy Skin Cream, Luminous Dewy Skin Mist, and Luminous Dewy Skin Mask—harness the hydrating benefits of these native-to-skin ingredients to help renew your skin’s barrier function.
Victoria Tsai
Chief Treasure Hunter
