What Is Ceramide and How Do They Work for Skin?

introduction

Ceramide is a type of fatty acids naturally occur in the uppermost layers of our skin. Ceramide is the main component for a healthy skin barrier, they are the ‘mortar’ holding in between the skin cells (‘bricks’).

What do ceramide do for your skin?

Ceramides help create a strong skin barrier to prevent permeability. A healthy and intact skin barrier helps holding skin cells together to prevent moisture loss and protect against pollution and allergens.

Fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentations are often more noticeable when skin is dry. Preventing water loss by a healthy skin barrier can minimize these appearances as well.

Since we all have Ceramide, then why do we still need Ceramide from skincare?

Age, sun damage and some skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis may reduce the content of your skin’s natural ceramides. When this happens, our skin barrier weakens and damaged, resulting in a dry, rough, red, and sensitive skin.

Topical ceramides from skincare will help to replenish and reinforce skin’s barrier by locking in moisture and preventing germs to enter the skin causing sensitive skin.

Who is suitable for Ceramide?

Ceramide is great for all skin types as they occur naturally in the skin. Sensitive and dry skin types especially have reduced number of ceramides, so if your skin is dry and sensitive, this is the ingredient you should look out for in your skincare.

Where do Ceramides come from?

You might be wondering, since we can only get naturally occurring ceramides from our skin, then where do the ceramides in skin care products come from? Ceramides are also naturally occurring in plants, so most skincare products have ceramides derived from plants or synthetic ceramide is used.

How to prevent loss of Ceramide?

Using the right skincare product is utmost important. Products with ceramides can help replenish ceramide levels, restoring skin barrier and improving dry and sensitive skin. You can look for moisturizers with ceramides as the main ingredient in the formulation. Another ingredient which can be used together is niacinamide, this ingredient is helpful in generating new ceramides.

On the other hand, over cleansing or too frequently exfoliating your skin can reduce ceramide level as well. It is recommended to cleanse the face not more than twice per day and for dry and sensitive skin type, exfoliation products should be used not more than once per week.

Another factor that can affect ceramide levels is of course your diet! Go for more vegetables, especially green leafy vege, lean proteins and take up good oils like olive and avocado.