their ability to actually reduce the irritant index of an irritating agent on the skin has not previously been recognized particularly surprising is the observation that not only do the emulsifiers of the invention not strip the lipid barrier they also appear to actively enhance the barrier properties while not wishing to be bound by any particular theory it is believed that the efficacy of these emulsifiers in substantially preventing or significantly reducing irritation caused by an irritating agent is related to this enhancement the enhanced barrier properties may significantly delay penetration of the irritant thereby slowing down the development of irritation it has been discovered that there are a number of different types of known emulsifiers which are capable of enhancing the barrier function one group which is useful for this purpose is alkyl polyosides which are well known and widely used commercially the preferred emulsifiers of this type contain a c 12 22 alkyl portion preferably c 12 18 which may be straight chain or branched and at least one sugar moiety such as glucose mannose fructose maltose dextrose saccharose galactose lactose ribose xylose allose cellulose maltotriose and the like methodology for production of such alkyl polyosides are disclosed in w092 06778 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference a particularly preferred alkyl polyoside is cetearyl glucoside alkyl polyosides can be used in an amount of about 0 5 10 preferably from about 2 7 by weight of the composition a second type of emulsifier which has similar properties are grafted water soluble proteins on an aliphatic hydrocarbon backbone the aliphatic backbone preferably has a.