James Welsh on Moisturizers: He Trusts the Barrier-First Formulas

"Rhode Barrier Butter surprised me in a very, very good way. I'm not a huge fan of the brand, but I'm not not a fan; I'm interested in the sense that I want to try everything Rhode has to offer because I feel like their products are good at worst and excellent at best. It has that thick, almost comforting, medical-feeling kind of texture to it, but this feels very elevated as far as the sensorial experience goes. The claims that Rhode make are that it helps strengthen the skin barrier, delivers deep long-lasting hydration, plumper and more toned-looking skin, softer fine lines over time, and an immediate glow. And honestly, it does 99% of that. I think Rhode are very good at their marketing without all the marketing fluff in their product descriptions. I feel like they never overpromise, so you're not left massively disappointed, even if you do find the products basic. Looking at the ingredients, there are five different weights of hyaluronic acid. Nothing new, but it's decent, it does the job it needs to do, meaning you get those different layers of hydration, giving you that plump glow-from-within kind of feeling and look. But then there's polyglutamic acid, which is kind of like a much better hydrator in my opinion."

"This is still a favorite that I'm emptying time and time again. [...] This is a better than basic barrier supporting moisturizer. It says it's created for dry, dehydrated, and sensitive skin, which it works great for, but my oily T-zone loves this moisturizer too. We have 150,000 ppm of squalane to replenish your moisture, keep your skin soft, and help support the skin barrier. They also have Quaxil in here, which is a patented complex of glucose and xylitol. I think they've removed that from their packaging, but [...] that's still on the ingredient list, and this helps improve moisture retention and helps reduce transepidermal water loss over time. The brand also claims the cream helps balance excess sebum and minimizes the appearance of enlarged pores while maintaining a lightweight, non-irritating finish. I disagree with that pore claim, I didn't see any difference for me, but as far as moisturizing goes, if you want [...] a moisturizer that does the basics, this is that, but in a 2026 version. It's lightweight, watery, it looks like a thick cream but then just melts into this watery texture, and that's what I look for in my creams. It's perfect for my dry cheeks."

"I've used the Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream for years, I've gone through so many tubes of this stuff and it's one of those moisturizers I just cycle back to all the time. It's not stimulating collagen and it's not giving me peptides and it's not smoothing out fine lines and wrinkles, but I actually think a really good moisturizer is so important when you're talking about well aging. It's built around the barrier and lipids, it's used in hospitals and dermatology clinics, and it's got ceramide MP along with cholesterol and fatty acids in the formula. What I've always loved about this cream compared to other ceramide creams is it doesn't feel like some waxy layer on my skin, it doesn't feel thick and suffocating. It's rich, but it's not overwhelmingly heavy, which is always an issue for me with well-aging moisturizers."

"Their Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion became an instant hero product of theirs, loved for its lightweight, non-irritating formula. Today it's still one of Clinique's bestselling products worldwide."

"I bring out Krave Beauty Great Barrier Relief [...] when my skin is truly bad because it is guaranteed to heal my skin, and heal it fast. It contains tamanu oil which helps with redness, and ceramides which replenish and strengthen the skin barrier. If you have eczema you will love this product."

"If you're a fan of CeraVe, Aura, Illiyoon, I think you will love this brand, their real barrier Extreme Cream is an award winner of course, improving barrier function, barrier strength, in turn improving hydration, with ceramides and other essential ingredients for your skin barrier to penetrate quicker for faster healing and deeper moisturization."