How To Protect Your Skin Barrier During Haze Season

By Dr Isabelle Yeoh

At Forest MD, we are constantly refining our formulas to ensure our high-potency Swiss actives perform at their absolute peak.

When the haze arrives, you may notice that your skin suddenly feels more dry, tight, sensitive or itchy. Some people notice more pimples or congestion, while others find that skincare products they normally use begin to sting.

Your complexion may also look more dull, tired or stressed than usual.

Why does this happen?

One reason may be your skin barrier.

What Is the Skin Barrier?

Think of your skin barrier as your skin’s first line of defence.

It helps keep moisture in while protecting the skin from irritants and environmental stressors. When the barrier is healthy, skin feels hydrated, comfortable and resilient.

During haze season, particulate matter and other air pollutants come into contact with our skin. Add Singapore’s heat and humidity, sweat, sunscreen, makeup and long hours in air-conditioning, and some people’s skin may become more stressed and reactive than usual.

Research suggests that particulate air pollution can increase oxidative stress and inflammation in the skin and may affect normal skin-barrier function.

Studies have also found that environmental pollutants may increase transepidermal water loss (TEWL) — the loss of water through the skin — and affect the structural integrity of the skin barrier.

This may help explain why skin can sometimes feel more dry, tight, sensitive or uncomfortable during periods of poorer air quality.

The good news is that caring for your skin during haze season does not require a complicated routine.

We recommend four simple principles:

Cleanse. Hydrate. Strengthen. Protect.

1. Cleanse Well — But Gently

During haze season, cleansing helps remove sunscreen, makeup, sweat, excess oil and environmental buildup from the skin.

Cleanse once in the morning and double cleanse in the evening for a more thorough removal of makeup, sunscreen and impurities accumulated throughout the day.

If you’ve spent a prolonged period outdoors during heavier haze, cleanse your face when you get home rather than leaving sweat, sunscreen and environmental buildup on the skin for the rest of the day.

What we don’t recommend is repeatedly washing your face or trying to scrub pollution away. Over-cleansing and excessive exfoliation can further compromise the skin barrier.

Your skin should feel clean after washing, but not tight or “squeaky”.

All Forest MD cleansers are gentle on the skin without stripping it. For haze season, Deep Pore Cleansing Foam is a good choice because it cleanses thoroughly while also providing hydrating, soothing and antioxidant support — useful when the skin is exposed to increased environmental stress.

2. Replenish Hydration

When skin-barrier function is compromised, the skin may lose water more easily.

This is why hydration becomes particularly important when your skin feels tight, dry or uncomfortable.

After cleansing, Forest MD Hydrating Soothing Essence provides a light layer of hydration and soothing care before your serum and moisturiser. One of its signature ingredients is tremella mushroom (snow fungus or bai mu er), a superfood mushroom rich in polysaccharides that help draw moisture into the skin. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties also help calm and soothe dry, irritated or sensitive skin.

Hyaluronic acid is another of our favourite hydrating ingredients because of its ability to attract and retain water in the skin.

But hydration alone is not always enough. We also want to support the skin barrier so that it can hold on to that moisture.

3. Support Your Skin Barrier and Antioxidant Defences

Rather than introducing many new active ingredients during haze season, focus on ingredients that hydrate, soothe, strengthen the skin barrier and provide antioxidant support.

Some of our favourites include:

Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
Helps support normal skin-barrier function and has soothing and anti-inflammatory properties.

Ceramides
Important components of the skin’s natural lipid barrier that help retain moisture and support barrier function.

Centella asiatica
Widely used for its calming and skin-recovery properties.

Hyaluronic acid
Helps replenish hydration and maintain moisture in the skin.

Astaxanthin and Vitamin C
Antioxidants that help defend the skin against oxidative stress.

Forest MD Asta Collagen Jelly Serum brings these ingredients together in one lightweight serum, with niacinamide, ceramides, Centella asiatica, hyaluronic acid, astaxanthin and Vitamin C. It also contains other soothing and barrier-supporting ingredients including madecassoside, tremella mushroom and panthenol.

This makes it a useful all-in-one serum during haze season, when the focus is on hydration, antioxidant protection and supporting the skin barrier rather than layering multiple active serums.

Follow With a Moisturiser

After your serum, follow with a moisturiser to help retain hydration and further support the skin barrier.

Choose the texture according to your skin’s needs. Ultra-Light Nutrient Lotion provides lightweight moisturisation and is suitable for combination, oily, sensitive or breakout-prone skin.

If your skin is more dry or needs more nourishment, Muru Muru Age-Defy Cream provides richer hydration together with skin-repair and barrier support.

If your skin becomes very dry, red, peeling or uncomfortable, simplify your routine rather than continuing to layer multiple active products.

4. Don’t Forget Sun Protection

A grey or hazy sky does not mean there is no ultraviolet exposure.

There is also growing scientific interest in how UV radiation and air pollution may interact to increase oxidative stress in the skin. Certain components of air pollution can be photoactivated by UV radiation, potentially adding to environmental stress on the skin.

So continue using sunscreen every morning.

Forest MD Silk Sunscreen SPF60 can be used as the final step of your morning skincare routine.

Sun protection is especially important if you are prone to melasma, post-acne marks or pigmentation after inflammation.

Reapply when appropriate if you are spending prolonged periods outdoors, perspiring heavily or frequently wiping your face.

Give Your Skin Extra Support at Night

Night-time is a good opportunity to replenish hydration and support skin recovery after a day of exposure to environmental stress.

After cleansing and applying your essence and/or serum, apply Forest MD Stem Cell Sleeping Mask every evening, followed by your usual moisturiser.

The Stem Cell Sleeping Mask provides soothing, hydrating, antioxidant and anti-ageing care in one lightweight step. It contains Swiss apple stem-cell culture extract together with Vitamin C, Swiss garden cress, carnosine and peptides.

Swiss garden cress and Vitamin C provide antioxidant support against pollutants, free radicals and oxidative stress, while Swiss apple stem-cell culture extract and peptides support skin renewal and help improve the visible signs of ageing.

The Stem Cell Sleeping Mask has also undergone independent clinical testing, with improvements observed in the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines after 28 days, as well as in skin firmness, hydration and elasticity.

Its lightweight gel texture makes it suitable for daily use, including for sensitive skin, without the heaviness of a rich overnight cream.

Used every evening, it helps soothe and hydrate the skin overnight while supporting its recovery, so that the complexion looks fresh, rested and radiant the next morning.

For Very Dehydrated or Stressed Skin: Seal In Moisture

If your skin feels very dry, dehydrated or tight, Forest MD Intensive White Lotus Oil can be added to your evening routine for additional nourishment and moisture retention.

Pump two pumps of Hydrating Soothing Essence into your palm, add two to three drops of Intensive White Lotus Oil, mix them together and apply over the face and neck.

This combination is also useful around the delicate under-eye and lip areas, which can become dry or sensitive during haze season. Gently pat a small amount over these areas for additional hydration and soothing care.

Adding a little facial oil can also help reduce transepidermal water loss (TEWL), helping your skin hold on to moisture for longer.

Intensive White Lotus Oil is formulated with 100% natural plant oils, including camellia, lotus and blue magnolia oils, together with squalene, to provide additional nourishment and help dry or dehydrated skin retain moisture.

It does not need to be added every night if your skin is already adequately hydrated. Use it when dryness, tightness or dehydration is more pronounced.

What Should You Reduce When Your Skin Is Stressed?

If your skin begins to burn, sting, itch, peel or become unusually red during haze season, temporarily stop products or treatments that may further irritate or disrupt the skin barrier. These include:

• Strong acids and exfoliating pads
• Facial scrubs and cleansing brushes
• High-strength retinoids
• Intensive exfoliation
• Multiple active serums layered together
• Any product that appears to aggravate your skin

Focus instead on gentle cleansing, hydration, moisturising and soothing, barrier-supporting skincare.

Once your skin feels comfortable again, your usual active ingredients can be reintroduced gradually, according to your skin’s needs and tolerance.

When the skin is irritated or reactive, a simpler routine is often better tolerated.

If redness, itching, swelling or irritation persists or continues to worsen despite simplifying your skincare, seek medical advice rather than continuing to add or change products.

A Simple Haze-Season Routine

Morning Routine

Evening Routine

Keeping Skin Healthy During Haze Season

At Forest MD, our approach has always been that healthy skin starts with a healthy skin barrier. During haze season, rather than doing more to your skin, pay attention to what it is telling you.

If it is dry, hydrate it.

If it is irritated, simplify.

If it feels comfortable, keep your routine consistent.

Skincare should support your skin, not overwhelm it.

References

• Parrado C et al. Environmental Air Pollutants Affecting Skin Functions with Systemic Implications. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023.
• Impact of Airborne Particulate Matter on Skin: A Systematic Review from Epidemiology to In Vitro Studies. 2020.
• Khunger N, Dash A. Impact of Air Pollution on Skin Pigmentation: Mechanisms and Protective Strategies.International Journal of Dermatology. 2025.