Colorescience Just Bottled The Vitamin Your Skin Care Routine's Missing

A solid skin care routine can often look like an alphabet soup of vitamins: A (aka retinol) for wrinkles, B (niacinamide) for barrier strength, C for brightening, and E for hydration. But what about D?

Dermatologists will often call vitamin D the forgotten vitamin of the beauty world. Despite its role in supporting barrier health and skin repair, it almost never shows up in over-the-counter products. That’s because the active forms of the ingredient are notoriously unstable in topical formulas, which makes them difficult to bottle.

But with the launch of its new Barrier Pro Serum Spray, Colorescience has found a workaround. Instead of flooding your skin with vitamin D, it uses proprietary technology to boost your body’s own production of the stuff — and delivers a whole host of complexion benefits in the process.

Fast Facts

• Price: $65
• Best for: Strengthening the skin barrier; boosting radiance and hydration
• Rating: 4/5
• What I like: The spray is super lightweight, feels *so* good on my skin, and is easy to add to my routine.

Colorescience Barrier Pro Serum Spray

Vitamin D is critical for immunity, bone health, and mood — but it also plays a key role in skin health. Historically, the only way your body could make the nutrient was through UVB exposure, which means diligent sun protection can increase the risk of deficiency.

FWIW, that tension is at the core of the (completely bogus) anti-sunscreen rhetoric flooding TikTok lately — and while many Americans do fall short on vitamin D, dermatologists agree it’s never worth sacrificing your skin to sun damage for the sake of the cause. Oral supplements remain the safest way to boost overall levels, but Colorescience has developed a clever innovation aimed specifically at skin.

The Barrier Pro Serum Spray is powered by the brand’s proprietary AdapDvate complex, a first-of-its-kind technology that mimics the way sunlight activates vitamin D receptors in your skin. Instead of delivering the nutrient itself, the formula helps nudge your system to produce more of it — much like how peptides encourage collagen synthesis.

By activating vitamin D pathways in the skin, the mist delivers a cascade of benefits: a stronger barrier, faster repair, reduced inflammation, and a radiant, healthy glow. Beyond AdapDvate, the formula layers in three molecular weights of hyaluronic acid for hydration, antioxidants for environmental defense, and pre- and probiotics to support microbiome balance.

My Review

The new Barrier Pro line also includes a 1-Step Cleanser and Moisturizer — both powered by the same AdapDvate technology — but the Serum Spray was the one I couldn’t wait to try. Serums usually pack the highest concentration of actives, and a spray format felt refreshingly new.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been spritzing it on morning and night after cleansing and before my treatments — and it’s quickly become a step I look forward to. The fine mist feels cooling and soothing, delivers an instant hit of hydration, and sinks in almost immediately without leaving behind a sticky film. The brand says it preps the skin for anything layered on top, and while I can’t scientifically confirm that, I can say it plays beautifully under both my vitamin C serum in the a.m. and my phyto-retinoid at night.

I’ve kept the rest of my regimen consistent, and my usually-reactive complexion has stayed calm and balanced despite the fickle fall weather in New York City. My skin feels stronger, looks smoother, and has a healthy glow — all from a one-second spritz, twice a day.

The Verdict

Though I can’t say with 100% certainty that the Barrier Pro Serum Spray really mimics the vitamin D-boosting effects of sunlight, I can confirm that it makes my complexion feel stronger and look better. And that’s enough to earn it a permanent spot in my routine.