What are ceramides and what do ceramides do? 

Ceramides are essential for your skin’s existence! They make up over 50% of our skin's composition in the form of lipids (fats). They are concentrated in the uppermost layers of skin--epidermis layer--and their roles are crucial for your skin’s appearance and health by creating barriers from environmental assaults. Think of ceramides as the glue of your skin. This glue acts as protective layers that hold our skin cells together, limiting moisture loss and protecting against pollutants in our environment.

What are the supporting evidence?

There are many evidential clinical trials that support significant benefits from applying ceramide moisturizer. Promising results are reported by JAMA Dermatology where ceramides have shown to effectively treat  childhood atopic dermatitis issues. Ceramides are naturally occurring and can be found in many food sources, the main source being plants called Phytoceramides. There are many ceramide vitamins and supplements extracted from beets, wheat, etc... Many leading scientific articles also show that orally ingesting ceramide supplements can improve skin hydration levels and help skin cells to produce more ceramides.    

Why do I need Ceramides for skin care?

Because ceramides are in the uppermost layer of your skin, they are also the most susceptible to our surrounding environments. Sun damages, environmental pollutants, and aging constantly reduce the effectiveness of the ceramides in your skin and eventually deplete them to critically low levels. The lack of ceramides results in visible signs of dehydration, roughness, wrinkles, irritations, redness, and dryness. It’s like if the glue between paper melted away and now your left with dry, flaky pieces of paper, except in the context of your skin, the dry and flaky pieces of paper represent your skin cells.

Robert