🧴 Skin Barrier Repair Moisturizer Formulation Simulator

Damaged Barrier, Elevated TEWL

Placeholder: broken lipid mortar lets water escape fast.

• 38 g/m²/h: Baseline TEWL (Severely elevated, placeholder)
• ~24%: Hydration (Dry stratum corneum, placeholder)
• ~16%: Lipid integrity (Mortar largely missing, placeholder)
• Low: Ceramide share (Depleted lipid class, placeholder)

Brick-and-mortar breakdown

Corneocyte bricks intact, mortar between them fractured.

Why TEWL climbs

Gaps in lipid matrix let water vapor pass unchecked.

Drawing Water Into The Stratum Corneum

Placeholder: glycerin and HA pull moisture inward, plumping cells.

• Classic: Glycerin (Small humectant molecule, placeholder)
• Large: Hyaluronic acid (Holds many water molecules, placeholder)
• +: Hydration shift (Rises with humectant share, placeholder)
• Still high: TEWL alone (No sealing without occlusive, placeholder)

Osmotic pull

Humectants attract water from air and lower dermis.

The catch

Humidity-dependent — needs an occlusive partner to hold gains.

Filling Gaps Between Corneocytes

Placeholder: fatty acids and cholesterol smooth rough surface texture.

• Gap-filler: Fatty acids (Slot between cell edges, placeholder)
• Gap-filler: Cholesterol (Native lipid class, placeholder)
• Smoother: Texture (Reduced roughness, scaling, placeholder)
• Modest gain: Lipid integrity (Partial repair only, placeholder)

Surface smoothing

Emollients slip into micro-gaps, softening flaky texture.

Limits

Fills gaps but does not fully rebuild the barrier alone.

Sealing The Surface, Rebuilding The Mortar

Placeholder: film blocks evaporation, ceramides replace missing lipids.

• ~99%: Petrolatum (Occlusion efficiency, placeholder)
• Breathable: Dimethicone (Lighter occlusive film, placeholder)
• Signature: Ceramides (Direct mortar replacement, placeholder)
• Drops sharply: TEWL (Combined sealing effect, placeholder)

Occlusive film

A surface layer physically blocks water vapor escape.

Ceramide rebuild

Ceramides insert directly into the intercellular lipid matrix.

A Balanced Formulation Wins

Placeholder: combined ratio beats any single ingredient class.

• Lowest: Best TEWL result (With balanced formula, placeholder)
• ~50–60%: Ideal humectant share (Rough target zone, placeholder)
• ~30%+: Ideal ceramide share (Sufficient mortar rebuild, placeholder)
• Worse: Single-class result (Always underperforms mix, placeholder)

Why balance matters

Each ingredient class solves a different piece of the problem.

Tuning the mix

Adjust sliders to explore trade-offs in real time.