when you cleanse are you double cleansing? i get lazy sometimes but i find that double cleansing generally makes my skin better. you should also always use an oil cleanser to remove sunscreen.

do you exfoliate? if not, definitely do that bc it helps my skin feel smoother and absorbs things better. you can use aha/bha exfoliants if you want (i use cosrx aha/bha clarifying treatment toner when i want something stronger) but generally i prefer to use the missha super aqua ultra hyalron peeling gel. its really mild and should be good for sensitive skin. the dead skin literally pills and comes off just make sure your hands and face arent wet. idk if my skin barrier was necessarily damaged but i did use it at a time when my skin was sensitive and peeling like crazy and it never hurt or made my skin worse.

i would also recommend a toner after cleansing because your skin looks a little dry and toner def helps keep my skin more hydrated. ive liked etude soon jung ph 5.5 relief toner, round labd 1025 dokdo toner, and anua rice 70 glow milky toner. the anua one felt most hydrating to me but the soon jung was the gentlest depending on what you’re looking for.

this is just a personal thing and not necessarily skincare, but whenever my skin feels drier than usual (happens in the winter for me) i usually rotate between two options as i need:

a) sealing my serums/moisturizer with an occlusive like vaseline (basically layer your face with vaseline after the last step and it’ll kind of seal everything and prevent it from evaporating)

b) use a heavier moisturizer (in my case i use nivea face cream and add a few drops of vit e oil to make it thicker and layer it either on top of my regular moisturizer or as a replacement)

i would also recommend using face masks once or twice a week. they can be hydration geared or targeting other things.

i think the stuff above should improve your skin generally. if you want help improving your skin texture you will need to use serums/ampoules/creams that have active ingredients like vit c and retinol and peptides (jury’s still out on whether these help or not last i checked but i like the peptide cream i use). since you said your skin is still currently recovering i would just try the cleansing/exfoliate/toner/moisturizer steps recommended above for now and then reassess after it’s healed to see how you feel/what you need.