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Prequel

Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream.

Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream
Balms & Ointments

About this product

A lightweight yet nourishing face and body moisturizer formulated with ceramides, colloidal oatmeal, and a lipid complex to support and repair the skin barrier.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

89%

Yay

7 experts · Strong agreement
Guru Certified
Broad expert consensus
7Gurus
7Yay
0Mixed
0Nay

What they liked

  • Absorbs quickly without greasy residue
  • Fragrance-free
  • Works on face and body

What they flagged

  • Not cosmetically elegant under makeup
  • Too lightweight if you prefer rich creams

What the gurus are saying

The 1% colloidal oatmeal and multi-ceramide blend earn consistent praise for soothing irritation, eczema flare-ups, and rosacea while feeling surprisingly lightweight and non-greasy. Gurus note it hydrates without that heavy, suffocating texture barrier creams often have, glides on easily, and works well for anyone needing to repair compromised skin or tolerate actives like tretinoin better. At $18 for a large tube, it's flagged as exceptional value, though those wanting a richer, more luxurious feel may find it sits on the lighter side.
Synthesized from 7 expert reviews · most recent take June 2026

Type

Balms & OintmentsCream

Key actives

Vitamin ECeramides

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

Opens a search for this product. We do not sell anything ourselves.

More from Prequel 28 products · Guru Score 94% How it works Independent by design. Every take comes from a creator we have no relationship with. We do not ask anyone to review, and affiliate links never move a score.

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
Yay
"These are some of the best products I've tried, and I love and respect that they're fragrance free, for the face and the body, 18 and 20 dollars for 10 fluid ounces, with 1% colloidal oatmeal. When I try to use these during the day under makeup it's not the most cosmetically elegant moisturizer I've ever tried, but I'm not going to expect the same things from this as I would from a $60 priming moisturizer at this price point."
Yay
"Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream, which is 18 bucks. It's got safflower seed oil, glycerin, shea butter, dimethicone, soybean oil, and then the stand on this one would be colloidal oatmeal. It's really nice. A great thick cream for your skin. Prequel is a really nice brand overall, fragrance-free. They've got a lot of good stuff. They're still releasing nice stuff and new things and typically very gentle products, which is what I like."
Yay
"It's their Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This is an awesome face and body lotion. It's a really nice cream that does contain ceramides. It's also got urea. Comes in a 10 oz tube and it's a great price point."
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"It's their Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This is an awesome face and body lotion. It's a really nice cream that does contain ceramides. It's also got urea. Comes in a 10 oz tube and it's a great price point."
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"One of my favorites of theirs is their barrier repair skin protectant cream. This is an amazing body cream. I love it."
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"This is their Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream, this is a really great body lotion to have in your arsenal because this contains serum eyes, it's got five ceramides plus the cholesterol that it needs to actually deliver the ceramides into your skin. This is a very soothing lotion that's going to help to repair your skin barrier. It's got colloidal oatmeal in it, it also has shea butter and glycerin. Of the three, this is going to be the more lightweight of the three lotions, easier to spread."
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"The Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream is calming and soothing for the skin, it's good for eczema skin or itchy skin, but what I love about this is that it has ceramides in it and it's so hard to find a body product that has ceramides. This contains five ceramides, so this has gotten into my rotation of body lotions that I use every time I get out of the shower. It comes in a nice big 10 oz tube and the Prequel pricing is very reasonable."
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"The third one that gives me my ceramides is this Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This is a really nice cream. I have used it all up. There was a recall on this, mine wasn't in the stock numbers of the ones that were recalled, so I was able to finish using it. I don't think that they've restocked this though. I don't know why it's been out of stock so long. The recall was a long time ago. Hopefully they'll get it sorted and figured out so we can have this back."
Yay
"This is the Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This is your dermatologist approved and created option. I would say it's not like glamorous, but it's also not sterile and clinical in any way. It's kind of that good in between. [...] It's just incredibly effective, especially if your skin is pissed off, angry, irritated. We have 1% colloidal oatmeal in here. That's [...] a great skin protectant. Helps with itching, irritation, eczema flare-ups. I think this is approved by the eczema society or something. It's great for rosacea, kind of providing this protective barrier and soothing the skin. We have beta glucans and allantoin in here as well to soften the skin, calm irritation, ceramides to help strengthen the skin barrier and support its resilience. And then we have a lipid complex of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids, which is basically like the perfect ingredient that is going to mimic your natural barrier. For the price, it's such a bargain."
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"This is the Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This is your dermatologist approved and created option. I would say it's not like glamorous, but it's also not sterile and clinical in any way. It's kind of that good in between. [...] It's just incredibly effective, especially if your skin is pissed off, angry, irritated. We have 1% colloidal oatmeal in here. That's [...] a great skin protectant. Helps with itching, irritation, eczema flare-ups. I think this is approved by the eczema society or something. It's great for rosacea, kind of providing this protective barrier and soothing the skin. We have beta glucans and allantoin in here as well to soften the skin, calm irritation, ceramides to help strengthen the skin barrier and support its resilience. And then we have a lipid complex of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids, which is basically like the perfect ingredient that is going to mimic your natural barrier. For the price, it's such a bargain."
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"The night cream has to be the Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream by Prequel, which is obviously a dermatologist developed moisturizer, and it's really made for those with really dry, irritated skin like eczema, psoriasis. I would say it's one of the more cosmetically elegant, skin barrier calming, soothing moisturizers I've used in a long time. We have 1% colloidal oatmeal in here to help soothe and moisturize the skin as well as calm any irritation, especially itchiness. A multi-ceramide blend as well to support the skin barrier and retain moisture, helping to just keep your barrier strong and working and functioning the way it should. We have allantoin in here to help moisturize and soothe and calm the skin, and adenosine as well, and along with all this soothing, calming, and repairing, it's also hydrating, moisturizing, it leaves you with a nice natural looking glow. It's a product that I can use morning and night. This is actually a moisturizer for body and face, and when it comes to body and face products, I'm like no way can I use something on my body that also works just okay on my face, I feel like they need two different things, but this somehow is non-greasy and so quickly absorbing, so moisturizing that it works on my dry knees and dry back of the arms and on my oily T-zone."
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"It just glides on. It's somehow hydrating, yet thick enough to feel like you're using a Ceramide cream. It just suits both perfectly for face and body. Once I finished my other creams, I jumped on this one because it's huge. 260ML for $18. My skin just loves it. My rosacea has transformed to the point where I can happily sit on camera without wearing a tinted sunscreen and any makeup. I don't get asked what my redness is anymore. Those comments about why is your nose red, why are your cheeks so red, I just barely get them anymore. And that just happens to coincide with using this product."
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"As I mentioned, use it morning and night, especially in winter. I think coming up to summer as somebody with oily skin, this might be a little bit heavy for daytime, it's not heavy, but I don't think I can go out into hot weather with it. But in the evening when I'm at home and everything's a little bit cooler, I feel like I need this moisturizer. At this point, I feel like this is something that I've seen such improvements with as far as irritation relief, redness relief, barrier repair. Along with other atobarrier moisturizers, it's just in the cycle of moisturizers that I use consistently every evening. I already have an open one in my dressing room but I'm going to open a new one here because I'm going through this like crazy."
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"I find barrier healing and repairing creams to be quite suffocating, quite thick, quite boring to use, especially as somebody who loves dewy, glowy skin. They often don't give you that glow that you want. But not only does this feel incredibly hydrating and look hydrating on the skin, it's also almost like instantly soothing and calming and repairing. They've got their 1% colloidal oatmeal in here which is going to help soothe the skin, moisturize the skin if it's dry, if it's itchy, if it's flaky, or if you just had a reaction to a product or anything basically. [...] It has this instant soothing and cooling sensation to it. Allantoin in here as well to help moisturize the skin and then multi-ceramides too, so providing barrier support. [...] It's just such a pleasant product to use and for the price, $ [...] 18 for 296 ml, that's so good. [...] There is so much for such a decent price. If my skin is destroyed and it needs to repair, other than my Aura ataro cream, this is the one I go for for a guaranteed quick repairing and healing kind of product."
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"Prequel Barrier Therapy has become one of my go-to barrier healing products. The value for money is great, it's huge and I can't use it up as fast as I want to. This is a brand actually created by a dermatologist, and it's really going to help if you have red, dry, itchy, flaky, irritated skin, while not feeling heavy, thick and plasticky. It contains colloidal oatmeal to soothe and relieve itchy skin and ceramides to support the skin barrier."
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"Prequel's Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream is huge, it's massive and it takes me forever to get through, but we have 1% colloidal oatmeal, allantoin, multi ceramides and adenine, super soothing, healing, calming, out of all the barrier repair moisturizers I've used this has to be the most soothing and calming when it comes to itching and irritation."
Yay
"This is their Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. [...] If you want a one-and-done, you don't want to think about your body care, you just want to get out and put on one thing. [...] It's got niacinamide, copper tripeptides, hyaluronic acid, squalane, ceramides, mandelic acid, maltobionic acid for smoothing texture, and prebiotics. This is your all-in-one. It has a slightly funky smell, but it's just the products in here. I love this. If I just want a no-brainer, just want to jump out of the shower, throw something on, and know that I'm doing a really good job at protecting the skin barrier on my body, this is the one I've been reaching for."
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Yay
"It is very lightweight, it is not a super rich heavy cream, so if you're somebody who likes a really rich thick formula this maybe a little too on the lightweight side for you. It did leave my skin feeling moisturized and hydrated, didn't dry down with a tight film. The following day my skin was moisturized. It doesn't feel greasy, sticky, there's no odd residue."
Yay
"I particularly like a body moisturizer with colloidal oatmeal because that is often what we recommend to eczema patients who also struggle with their skin barrier. Of course, I love my Prequel Barrier Therapy, and now we have Barrier Therapy Rich for people who want something a little bit more enveloping."
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"I particularly like a body moisturizer with colloidal oatmeal because that is often what we recommend to eczema patients who also struggle with their skin barrier. Of course, I love my Prequel Barrier Therapy, and now we have Barrier Therapy Rich for people who want something a little bit more enveloping."
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"My all-time favorite moisturizer for helping people tolerate tretinoin is the Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream from Prequel. It has 1% colloidal oatmeal. It's super gentle. It's not going to break people out. It comes in a huge tube so you can use it on face and body. And if you pair this with your tretinoin, I guarantee you will have more success if you were previously getting a ton of irritation."
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"After that, I will go in with my Prequel Barrier Therapy Cream. This is just like a really soothing lotion. It has colloidal oatmeal. It's meant for people who have eczema or sensitive skin. So, it is like the most comforting thing to put on after you've done full body exfoliation and your skin just looks so gorgeous. I love it so so much."
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"It is absolutely beloved."
Introducing Barrier Therapy, A Rich Skin Protectant Cream For The Face & Body | Dr. Sam Ellis
"This contains a lantoine which I absolutely love it moisturizes and soothes the skin and also adenosine which has similar properties. [...] This is truly a rich velvety luxurious cream that you can apply head to toe. I find that for so many of my eczema patients and other patients who I recommend regular moisturization to, they're really hesitant to use body lotions because they don't like any residue on their skin or they don't want it to feel heavy, and I feel like this is such a perfect balance of rich nourishing cream that doesn't leave that kind of residue. [...] It's not just about the ingredients, it's about the formula overall and creating something that people are inspired to use, that they want to use on their body so that they can be consistent because ultimately it is about being consistent with your skin in order to get it to its healthiest state. [...] You can use this on your face and your body so if you're experiencing any types of irritation or sensitivity this is amazing, but also if you just need a day-to-day head to toe moisturizer this is fantastic. This [...] cream is really amazing if your skin is feeling at all sensitive in any way or if you're craving something a little bit more rich and silky."
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"One of my favorite budget friendly moisturizers is from my skincare brand Prequel, it's the Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This is a huge bottle and it's only 18 bucks. This is formulated to be used on the face and on the body so you can literally apply this from head to toe. It has 1% colloidal oatmeal which is also a very soothing ingredient so if it's dry or if it's irritated from some of the actives that you've been using this can be incredibly soothing. This is also going to help fortify your skin barrier so things like topical retinol and Alpha hydroxy acids cause less peeling, flaking and stinging."
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"The Prequel Barrier Therapy Cream, which has things like ceramides to fortify the skin barrier and oatmeal to soothe the skin, is one of my absolute go-tos when my skin is feeling sensitive. That support of my skin barrier has helped me do things like tolerate my retinoids better and just calm my skin when it's not feeling so hot."
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"The Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream is a moisturizer that was really designed for face and body. It has oatmeal in it to help soothe the skin, but the reason I love this so much and the reason I'm bringing it into this routine is the number of DMs I've gotten on Instagram saying this is the product that helped me tolerate my retinoid better, this is the product that allowed me to finally use tretinoin or retinaldehyde or whatever has been like overwhelming."
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"The moisturizer I use by far the most this year on my face and on my body is the Prequel [...] Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream. This was accepted by the National Eczema Association, and when it was formulated I really was not keeping myself in mind, [...] it was more keeping my eczema and my super dry skin patients in mind, but I have used this so, so much. The reason I love it the most is because it has really helped me tolerate my tretinoin better. For years I've been trying to use tretinoin on my face more consistently, and it was not until this year, when I was layering this product over my tretinoin, that I was able to tolerate it seven nights a week. This moisturizer is formulated for face and body, and to me it hits that perfect sweet spot of super nourishing but rubs in very, very quickly. One of the biggest barriers I always have with my patients is getting them to actually be consistent with their skincare, and a lot of that has to do with texture and not enjoying the actual application process, and that's what I love the most about Barrier Therapy: it is so nourishing yet absorbs into the skin so quickly, it doesn't sit on your skin and it's just an easy thing to apply every single day. This also has 1% colloidal oatmeal, which is one of my absolute favorite ingredients, it really helps soothe the skin, and then it's loaded up with other skin soothing and barrier strengthening ingredients like ceramides to really ensure that your skin is protected."
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"I use the Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream because it has oat to help be soothing and it has ceramides to support the skin barrier."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Ceramides

Ceramides are part of the skin's own barrier, and moisturisers built around them have evidence for holding water in and settling the tightness and flaking that come with a damaged barrier.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream?

A lightweight yet nourishing face and body moisturizer formulated with ceramides, colloidal oatmeal, and a lipid complex to support and repair the skin barrier.

Is Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream worth it?

Yes. All 7 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 89%.

What is Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream's Guru Score?

Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream holds a Guru Score of 89%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 7 expert reviewers we have collected. It is also Guru Certified, our mark for products that hold broad approval across many expert reviewers.

Who is Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream best for?

Prequel Barrier Therapy Skin Protectant Cream is generally suited to dry skin and sensitive skin.

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