What Do Ceramides Do for the Skin Barrier?
Ceramides are fats that sit between the cells in the outer layer of your skin and help hold them together. What do ceramides do in practice? They help that outer layer hold on to water and keep out irritants, which is why moisturizers include them.
The skin barrier, briefly
The outermost layer of skin is often described as a brick wall. The skin cells are the bricks, and a mix of fats, including ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids, is the mortar in between. When that mortar is intact, water stays in and irritants have a harder time getting through.
When the barrier is disrupted, skin tends to feel tight, dry, rough or easily stung by products that never bothered it before. Cold weather, low humidity, hot showers, frequent hand washing, harsh cleansers and over-exfoliating can all wear it down.
What do ceramides do in a moisturizer?
Because ceramides are already part of the skin’s own barrier, adding them in a moisturizer is a way to support that structure from the outside. The American Academy of Dermatology’s guide on how to pick a moisturizer lists ceramides among the ingredients a dermatologist suggests looking for, alongside hyaluronic acid.
They are often combined with cholesterol and fatty acids, the other parts of the barrier’s mortar. You’ll also see them next to humectants, ingredients that draw water in. Our explainer on what hyaluronic acid does covers that side of things. Ceramides help keep water in; humectants help bring it in.
Who tends to notice a difference
People with dry skin, skin that feels tight after washing, or skin that has been irritated by too many active products often find a ceramide moisturizer comfortable. It isn’t a dramatic ingredient. The effect is usually skin that feels less tight and less reactive over a few weeks, not an overnight change.
Oily skin can use ceramides too. They are available in light lotions and gels, not only thick creams, so skin type is more about the texture you pick than whether to use them at all. Our guide on choosing a moisturizer for your skin type goes through that.
What ceramides won’t do
They won’t repair a barrier you keep disrupting. If you are washing with very hot water, scrubbing daily or layering several strong actives, a ceramide cream is working uphill. Easing off the irritants usually matters more than adding anything.
They also aren’t a treatment for skin conditions. Eczema, psoriasis, persistent redness and rashes that don’t settle deserve a visit to a dermatologist or your doctor, who can tell you what is going on and whether a barrier cream fits into the plan.
How to try one
Look for the word “ceramide” in the ingredient list, often written as ceramide NP, AP or EOP. Choose a fragrance-free product if your skin is easily irritated. Patch test it on a small area for a few days first, then apply it to slightly damp skin after cleansing, morning and night.
Give it several weeks before you judge it, and change nothing else in the meantime.
