Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream (Reformulated) | Holy Grail Or Epic Fail?

Alright guys, today I'm going to be reviewing for you the Estura Auto Barrier 365 Cream. This is a fragrance-free facial moisturizer I got in one of the Korean advent calendars and I've seen a lot of your comments asking, what do you think of that moisturizer? Have you tried it yet? I've been trying it out and I'm really excited to chat with you guys about it. So Estura is a popular Korean brand. It's kind of like the Korean equivalent of maybe a CeraVe or a Cetaphil in that it's sort of a dermatologist recommended type brand. Surprise, surprise, I learned that this moisturizer recently, as of 2024, was reformulated and I think this has a lot of people upset, understandably, because the old formulation of this did not have niacinamide. Now, niacinamide is actually a great ingredient for a moisturizer. It's a B vitamin that's an antioxidant, it has anti-inflammatory properties. It's actually very helpful for the moisture barrier, which is exactly what you'd be looking for in a product such as this, aimed at eczema-prone skin, people with barrier issues. Niacinamide's also great for redness and for hyperpigmentation. However, some people are sensitive to niacinamide. They find it burns, it stings, it causes skin irritation and it actually has become challenging to find products, especially moisturizers, especially ceramide-containing moisturizers to be specific, that do not have niacinamide. So they've added niacinamide in the reformulation, so this no longer is an option for those of you who are sensitive to niacinamide. This texture of this product, I believe, is also different than the older formulation and I'll get into the texture, but a lot of people have noticed that in the newer reformulation I'm seeing in reviews online, at least. Let me know, have you been a longtime loyal user of this product? Did you find the reformulation has made a difference? Do you hate the new reformulation? Let me know in the comments because honestly, in using the product myself, as you'll come to hear me say in this video, I actually really like it and so I was kind of surprised to learn when I researched further about the reformulation and how upset people were about that. But anyways, let's move on to the rest of the video so you can hear what I have to say. Ceramides, which are also in this product. So ceramides are lipids that are also part of your skin barrier and ceramides play a major important role in barrier function. Compromised ceramide levels also underscore barrier dysfunction and flare ups of eczemas, atopic dermatitis. And applying ceramides to the skin can help in replenishing that and help to clue your skin into making some of its own ceramides, which are lipids. Super important for barrier function, maintaining moisturized skin, limiting penetration of allergens, irritants, colonization by microbes. This also has fatty acids and it has cholesterol. These are things that can be beneficial to the skin of people who have atopic dermatitis for the purposes of moisturizing. Now this particular moisturizer, I've actually really enjoyed using quite a bit and I can see why it is so popular. What's interesting about this product in comparison to some competitors is that it's got these little what look like microbeads. They're basically little vesicles that contain the ceramides, the fatty acids, and cholesterol. And you can actually see them, you can feel them on your skin as you rub the product on the surface of the skin, it sort of melt into your skin. Now is this just kind of a gimmick wow factor? I don't think so because this is a way to essentially deliver these lipids. I'm not a cosmetic chemist, I'm not a formulator, but I have seen this type of rhetoric around delivery of ceramides and cholesterol before. Where have we seen it? CeraVe. CeraVe is an American brand owned by L'Oreal. CeraVe stands for ceramide vehicle because CeraVe uses multi-lamellar vesicular emulsion, MVE technology. Basically these little lipid balls of ceramide, cholesterol, fatty acids, and something known as phytosphingosine, which is a fatty alcohol part of your skin barrier as well. So I don't honestly know from a formulation perspective how these two delivery systems differ if they really make that much of a difference in the long run. I'll have to say it is kind of cool to use this, it is a bit fun, interesting. I don't think it's all gimmick in the way in which this is formulated, but I wanted to point that out because I didn't realize that about this when I first used this and I was like, has my product kind of gone off? It feels a little grainy and I was like, wait, there are these little tiny beads in this and then I was like, oh, I see, I see what's going on here. This moisturizer is fragrance free, it doesn't have any essential oils in it. Now that's great. Those are common allergens. People who have an impaired skin barrier are a lot more likely to become sensitized to ingredients they put on their skin. And those are some common ingredients to be sensitized to, allergic to. But that doesn't mean that because this formulation is free of those ingredients, it doesn't mean that you can't become allergic to something else in it. So it's not foolproof, it's a nice moisturizer. You can apply this as a final step in your nighttime skincare routine. It's very emollient. It feels a little greasy, a little oily, not too bad, but you may not care for that. It's not lightweight at all. It's pretty thick. It's pretty rich. You could apply this during the day, but a word of warning, you might have issue with sunscreen going on over it. You might get some pilling. I've tried this under some sunscreens. I didn't have that issue, but keep in mind, it is pretty emollient, pretty oily in feel. And so things may not lie down, form a film on over this. As a night cream though, this is great. You don't wake up the following morning, or at least I didn't with a greasy face. And it does feel very nice. The following morning, my skin felt moisturized, hydrated. I also really think this is one of those products that is an underrated eye cream. I've said this before. For the purposes of moisturizing the skin around your eyes, you don't need a dedicated eye cream, a little tiny tube that you just use around your eyes for the purposes of moisturizing. Now there are eye creams out there with ingredients in them that make sense to have a dedicated cream to use around your eyes, but simply for moisturizing, you don't need a dedicated eye cream. The moisturizer you use on your face should be more than fine. And this formulation kind of reminds me of a really rich eye cream, works really well around the eyes. That being said, whether it be this or a dedicated eye cream that you're using, make sure when you apply eye creams around your eyes that you avoid getting them within a millimeter of the lash line to reduce the risk that they go in your eye and cause eye irritation. But this is a great eye cream as well. Also really good on the neck. Neck skin is delicate. If you do have atopic dermatitis, neck flare-ups of eczema are not uncommon. So this is a great way to moisturize the neck as well. I think you can tell at this point that I have really enjoyed this moisturizer and I think it is very good. I really like it a lot and I see no reason to say, oh, avoid this by all means. It's close to $40 depending on where you buy it from for three ounces. I think that's pretty expensive. Now I've spent a lot of time in this video talking about atopic dermatitis. If you have atopic dermatitis and you have flare-ups on your face, I really think this is a great option. What about if you don't have atopic dermatitis though? Is this going to be good for you? It's a good facial moisturizer. I honestly think it'd be a great option for anyone because it is so rich, so thick, so heavy. I think it's especially good for dry winter skincare needs. If you live in a cold climate, the air gets really dry. Your skin is a lot more vulnerable to dryness and irritation. You've been traveling, air travel, long plane trips, that dry, canned air can aggravate your skin. I think this would be a great moisturizer for air travel purposes, for having in your travel routine as a nighttime moisturizer like in the hotel, for example. Now, if you have acne prone skin, you may be wondering, is this going to break me out? There's nothing about this or any product for that matter that really predicts if it's going to aggravate any one person's acne. There's nothing specific about this though that is off the table for people who do deal with acne breakouts. Likewise, rosacea, another condition where you're really sensitive to things that come in contact with the skin. This doesn't contain common rosacea triggers like fragrances, menthol, but it is on the heavier side. For some people with rosacea, really heavy moisturizers make them feel a bit overheated and seem to precipitate flushing and facial redness. But rosacea, acne, atopic dermatitis, there is an underlying issue with the skin barrier. The filaggrin thing, the ceramide thing, that's more specific to atopic dermatitis, but when it comes to the other conditions, there is still a barrier issue there, a tendency to lose water more readily, and we know that moisturizing the skin regularly can help with these conditions. This would be a reasonable option to consider. All in all, I love this moisturizer. I just wish it were not as expensive as it is. All right, guys, let me know in the comments if you have used this Estura moisturizer or have you used anything else? Because I went looking, and it seems as though they have several other moisturizing products. Like I saw they have a lotion. Maybe that would be more lightweight. I really hope to try that out in the future. Let me know in the comments, though, if you use this moisturizer or anything else from this brand. What have you liked, disliked, et cetera? Comment below. But I really hope this video was helpful and informative to you guys. And on the end slate, I'm actually going to put my recent video on my Korean skincare recs for dry winter skin. So if that's something you're dealing with and you're wondering about more product recommendations like cleansers, sunscreens, watch that one next. But if you guys like this video, give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and as always, don't forget, sunscreen and subscribe. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Bye.