Tag: ceramide cream

Hello, this is Dr. J.

The fourth ingredient guide is about ceramides.

Every year, as soon as the air turns dry, the same question arrives: which moisturiser should I be using?

Here is the part that makes the answer interesting. In a 1996 experiment, skin treated with ceramides on their own repaired its barrier at a different speed from skin treated with ceramides alongside two other lipids. Same ingredient, opposite direction.

Today I will follow that thread and end up at the back of the jar.

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📄 Read the sources first, if you prefer

· Man MQ et al., J Invest Dermatol 1996 – barrier repair timed as the lipid ratio was varied

· Tanno O et al., Br J Dermatol 2000 – niacinamide and ceramide synthesis

· 🏠 COSMILE Europe INCI database – type an ingredient name from your label and read what it is

The abstracts carry the exact ratios and time points I have left out here. Open them above if you want them.

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Fifteen-second summary · no sound

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The four lines, if you are in a hurry

✔ Ceramides are the lipids that fill the space between skin cells. When they run low, water leaves

✔ Barrier repair was faster with cholesterol and fatty acid present than with ceramides alone

✔ In studies of 24 children and 100 adults, water loss through the skin came down

✔ Niacinamide raised the skin’s own ceramide production 4.1 to 5.5 fold

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Why ceramides alone were slower – the 1996 ratio experiment

Picture the outer layer of skin as a brick wall. The cells are the bricks, and the mortar filling the gaps is made of three things: ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids. Mortar only sets when all three are mixed. Pour in as much sand as you like – without cement and water it never hardens.

Man MQ and colleagues published the experiment in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology in 1996 (volume 106, pages 1096–1101). They disrupted the barrier deliberately, applied lipids, and timed how quickly it recovered.

✔ One or two of the three lipids made recovery slower, not faster

✔ All three in equal parts restored normal speed, and a 3-fold excess of any one made it quicker still

✔ Confirmed in an animal model, and pointing the same way in disrupted human skin

So a formula built around a single lipid is not the stronger formula. Which is why the useful question at the shelf is not whether a cream contains ceramides, but what the ceramides were formulated with.

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Did it hold up in people – 24 children, 100 adults

Chamlin SL and colleagues, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2002, volume 47, pages 198–208.

Twenty-four children with atopic dermatitis added a ceramide-dominant product to their routine for 20 to 21 weeks. By week three, 22 of the 24 had lower severity scores, and water loss through the skin kept falling even after the scores had levelled off. The visible part settled first; the barrier itself carried on mending underneath.

Spada F and colleagues, Dermatologic Therapy 2021, volume 34, e14970.

One hundred adults were randomised for 28 days, one group using a ceramide-dominant cream and cleanser. Water loss and skin hydration both did better than in the control group, and ratings for itch and dryness were higher as well.

The two products share one thing. Ceramides sat at the centre of the formula, with cholesterol and fatty acids beside them. You do not need the product names. The shape of the combination is the part worth carrying to the shop.

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Finding the names on the label – five lines that decide it

Ceramides appear under several names. These are the five lines to look for.

What you will see on the label	Which of the three it belongs to
Ceramide NP · AP · EOP · NG · AS	The ceramides themselves. The letters describe structure, not grade
Hydroxypalmitoyl sphinganine · Phytosphingosine	Same family, listed under a different name
Cholesterol	The second ingredient in the 1996 experiment
Stearic acid · Palmitic acid · Linoleic acid	The fatty acid side. The third one
Niacinamide	Not a refill. It helps skin make its own

The letters after a ceramide – NP, AP, EOP and the rest – describe molecular structure. They are not a quality ranking, and I have not found human studies comparing them head to head. Rather than picking between them, check whether cholesterol and a fatty acid are listed nearby.

If a name is unfamiliar, type it into the COSMILE Europe INCI database and you will get its definition and function.

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Helping skin make its own – niacinamide

Tanno O and colleagues, British Journal of Dermatology 2000, volume 143, pages 524–531.

Cultured human skin cells given niacinamide for six days produced 4.1 to 5.5 times more ceramides. Fatty acids rose 2.3 fold and cholesterol 1.5 fold at the same time – all three mortar ingredients together.

Applied to skin, it also raised ceramide and fatty acid levels in the outer layer and reduced water loss. That is the reason so many jars now carry both the refill and the prompt in one formula.

How to read a niacinamide percentage is covered in Ingredient Guide 1, on retinol, where the same approach to concentration numbers applies.

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When to apply it – order and combinations

✔ Straight after cleansing, while skin is still slightly damp, is the easiest moment

✔ On retinol or AHA nights, put it on last. That is the night it earns its place

✔ There is no need to separate it from a vitamin C serum. Serum first, cream after

✔ With anything new, try it on the inner forearm and give it two days

👉 If layering order gets confusing, the ingredient compatibility chart covers twelve ingredients and what to keep apart.

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Five things to check before you buy

✔ Are they together? Cholesterol and a fatty acid listed alongside the ceramides

✔ Where on the list? Ceramides near the front or middle rather than the very end

✔ Is niacinamide there? The refill and the prompt in one jar

✔ Does the texture suit your week? In dry months a cream or balm holds up better than a lotion

✔ Where does fragrance sit? High on the list is worth noticing when the barrier is already stressed

Save these five lines and open them at the shelf. Reading the back of a jar takes about five minutes.

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In one line

🧪 Ceramides look most like the research when cholesterol and a fatty acid are in the formula and niacinamide is nearby.

The next ingredient guide is collagen – what changes between putting it on your skin and taking it by mouth.

📌 Earlier posts

· Skincare Ingredient Compatibility Chart – 12 ingredients, what to layer and what to split

· Retinol: Start at 0.1% – how to read the concentration numbers

· Not All Vitamin C Serums Work – 3 conditions the research says you need

📄 References

· Man MQ et al., J Invest Dermatol 1996;106(5):1096-1101

· Chamlin SL et al., J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;47(2):198-208

· Spada F et al., Dermatol Ther 2021;34(4):e14970

· Tanno O et al., Br J Dermatol 2000;143(3):524-531

· 🏠 COSMILE Europe INCI database

Note: this article reads the research and sets out criteria for choosing an ingredient. It does not recommend a particular product. What suits you depends on your skin and on what you already use, so try anything new on the inner forearm first.


Dr. J Ingredient Notes | Ingredient Guide 4 · Ceramides