What Ingredients are Ceramides?

When it comes to skincare, ceramides are hailed as essential ingredients for maintaining healthy and hydrated skin but the question is, what ingredients are considered to be a ceramide?

As we have discussed in a previous blog, ceramides are a type of lipid or fat that play a crucial role in maintaining the health and integrity of our skin. These naturally occurring molecules make up about 50% of the lipids in the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of our skin. Ceramides are an important part of the overall skin health puzzle as they are crucial for maintaining the skin barrier function, which helps to keep the skin hydrated, protected, and all around balanced.

When applied topically, ceramides work to replenish the skin's lipid barrier, helping to lock in moisture and prevent water loss. This not only helps to hydrate the skin but also strengthens its natural defenses against external stressors, such as pollution and UV radiation.

As we age or when we expose our skin to harsh environmental factors, the levels of ceramides in our skin can decrease leading to dryness, irritation along with a compromised skin barrier. When included in skincare formulations, ceramides help to form a protective barrier on the skin's surface. This barrier is what helps to prevent moisture loss and protect the skin from environmental aggressors and irritants by limiting transepidermal water loss (TEWL). This type of skin protection is essential for maintaining hydration levels and preventing dryness and irritation both topically and deeper into the dermis.

Ceramides can be found in a variety of skincare products, including moisturizers, serums, and cleansers, but unless you know what you are looking for it can be difficult to determine if your products contain these protective and hydrating ingredients.

Below we have listed the most commonly used ceramides in plant-based products along with the percentage of ceramides available for skin. When it comes to our brand we developed each formulation with the consideration of ceramides, humectants and lipids as a vital component in each product. This process during R&D was essential to ensure our formulations are both hydrating and occlusive against environmental stressors along with being pH balanced for optimal skin health.