Cleanest, Coolest Jelly Moisturizer for Acne-Prone Skin – Real Barrier Aqua Soothing Cream Review

It’s wintertime – and skin is dry. It's a tale as old as time as we all gather indoors around heaters and any moisture from the air is drained whilst we stay close to vents and furnaces. It’s vital to have a good moisturizer on hand – but I did not! I was trying out a few popular brands here and there – until I noticed a low-profile brand, designed to help fix your skin barrier. 

Real Barrier is an off shoot of Korea’s famous ATOPALM. ATOPALM, if you’ve heard, is one of the kings of skin-friendly moisturizers and calming skincare. They have a specialty range for children and work hard to both moisturize and protect skin. In fact, moisturizers are simply their specialty. So, where does their Real Barrier lineage come in? 

Real Barrier specializes in MLE (Multi-Lamellar Emulsion - their patented plant-based ceramides and fatty acids that are designed to mimic the lamellar structure of your skin). It locks in a damaged skin barrier, creating new structures for your skin to heal around and physically recreates your natural skin barrier. It also is blended with hyaluronic acid, free ceramides to seal your skin barrier and other extracts designed purely to calm and hydrate. 

(It's so cute - the little square MLE molecule forms their logo!)

And my eye immediately went to their Aqua Soothing Cream edition. It’s dubbed as a cream-gel formula – a perfect blend between the two with an ‘ice’ effect that cools your skin 5C instantly. My skin was irritated, dry, upset at my inability to find a good moisturizer and the time was upon us. 

Let’s dive into the ingredients that make this so-called perfect moisturizer. 

Chamomile floral extract: deeply calms and refreshes skin irritation, redness and inflammation. Also shown to help calm the nervous system and is rich in antioxidants for skin repair. 

Turmeric extract: powerful extract that helps cool inflammation, soothe skin and provides powerful antioxidants to lift fine lines and refresh skin barrier. 

Azulene: deeply soothing molecule extracted from herbs that protects skin against environmental pollution, refreshes skin and cools itching and redness. 

Panthenol: soothing Vitamin B5 that helps deeply refresh irritation and redness and stimulates skin barrier repair for lasting softer, stronger skin. 

Erythritol: humectant that helps moisturize and soften skin barrier, whilst providing gently hydration. 

Hyaluronic acid (multiple weights): water magnet that helps draw water into skin cells and hold it for lasting, deep hydration that carries your throughout the day. 

Beta Glucan: powerful hydrating agent that soothes irritation, redness and repairs skin barrier for lasting care. 

As a calming, lightweight moisturizer there really isn't a big audience that should definitely avoid this moisturizer. Maybe, in very, very humid weather it might become occlusive - but from the texture, I believe even in the summer the light-weight gel formula would be really suitable to maintain cooling and hydration.

If you have an allergy to any of the essential oils or an additive in this, then it should be avoided definitively - otherwise it's a very safe, soothing and light moisturizer.

So, Real Barrier has an entire range specially designed to heal your skin barrier and deeply hydrate. Why am I obsessed with the Aqua Soothing Cream? Because it’s not really a cream – it's a jiggly, jelly-like substance that instantly cools your skin and is a deep mixture of moisturizing and refreshing. But it walks the line perfectly between sealing in moisture, without being occlusive, but also not being a gel.

It reminded me of the Cosrx 92 Snail Mucin, but where snail mucin can be hard to absorb, this cream instantly took to my face. I was struggling with the irritation of constant dryness and that was gone in an instant. It actually did immediately cool my face and it was genuinely a bit enchanting. I had been waiting for a good moisturizer for so long – it felt amazing. It’s lightweight like a gel, but has cream and ceramides to it to that seal the skin barrier and lock in moisture overnight. 

It’s dreamy, it’s light, it’s an overnight cream – what can’t she do? I don’t really know at this point. After two weeks of use, I’m so happy with the results. My acne has not been the slightest bit triggered, angry or irritated by the appearance of this new product into the regime and I think I’ve found the one. My only complaint is that the 50ml jar is too small for me to layer obsessively. 

Here is the before and after of 1 week use - before my forehead was tight, dry and irritated due to the general lack of hydration. Already, with just one week use - my skin had calmed (due to that soothing chamomile) and felt refreshed and clear. It became a delightful part of my evening ritual. 

I did notice that there is a light stinging when applying the cream over active acne spots or irritation - but it did immediately contribute to calming the redness of these spots.

It’s not the most famous cream that we've ever heard of – but it’s really and quickly become my favourite. It’s jelly wiggle is delightful, it’s texture is flawless and it gives a deep, rich drink to my skin with every use and forms such a thin layer that it fits into my routine with ease. 

If you are in need of a moisturizer; struggling with combination skin or acne-prone skin – this is a perfect cream to add hydration into the mix. It’s soothing, cooling and simpy a dream for drying skin, especially to get through this wintertime. 

Shop the soothing and reviving Real Barrier range on Arktastic! Your top place for South Korea's best products.