What Are Ceramides?

What Are Ceramides?
During the winter when your skin is dry and dehydrated, incorporating moisturizing ceramides into your daily skincare routine can be a game changer. Ceramides can help restore and protect your skin’s barrier to prevent moisture loss, and they serve a purpose for every skin type, from dry to oily, sensitive and acne-prone. To find out more about the benefits of ceramides, plus how to use them and where to find them.

What Are Ceramides?
Ceramides are naturally found in your skin and are a crucial component of the outer protective layer of the skin. To use an analogy, she explains that your skin cells are like bricks and ceramides are like the mortar between each brick.

When the outermost layer of your skin — i.e. the brick and mortar — is intact, it keeps hydration in and helps protect the skin’s surface. But when it’s not working properly, it causes water loss. When this “wall” breaks, the skin can become more dry, inflamed and potentially more at risk for inflammatory skin conditions. There are natural ceramides that come from animals or plants, and there are synthetic ceramides, which are man-made. Synthetic ceramides are what are generally found in skincare products. They are key for maintaining a healthy skin barrier.

Benefits of Ceramides for Different Skin Types
The real beauty of ceramides is that they can benefit every skin type, because everyone’s skin naturally contains ceramides. No matter your skin type, ceramides will help promote healthy skin barrier function.

For dry skin, that may be most helpful because it helps to lock in moisture, while for sensitive skin, it may be because it helps to lock out irritants. For oily and acne-prone skin, it’s still important to support the skin barrier and lock out potential pathogens like bacteria that contribute to acne, and to help keep the skin from becoming dried out or irritated from acne medications like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide and retinoids.

Once you’ve incorporated ceramides into your routine, you should be able to tell that they’re working almost immediately. Your skin should feel moisturized and hydrated due to a restored skin barrier.