Patting or Rubbing which is better for absorption?

The outer dead cell layer of the skin (called the stratum corneum) is THE single, main protective barrier for our skin. Once something gets through the stratum corneum it has a free ride into the rest of the skin, but getting through the stratum corneum is no easy job– and the act of rubbing or patting is inconsequential.

To put it in perspective, if it wasn’t for the strength of this huge (like biggest organ in the body sort of huge) barrier all our important body stuff would be leaching out from our skin all day long, and every substance we came into contact would enter. The integrity of this barrier is a big deal for our health, and it takes more than patting or rubbing to impact it. To breach the stratum corneum you need to assault it with tactics like a facial acid peel that dissolves it entirely, laser vaporization where it goes up in smoke, repetitive stripping with tape until you’ve pulled it all off (anyone who has had hair removal waxing knows what I mean), or severe irritation that disrupts the components of the stratum corneum rendering it defective (think dish pan hands).

When we apply skin care products, by either rubbing or patting, our skin care products sloooowly penetrate our stratum corneum by gradually seeping in (a process called diffusion). Again, whether we pat or rub, they aren’t going to get through any faster than the stratum corneum will let them.