If you’re skincare savvy, you’ve probably heard of ceramide as a popular ingredient in many skincare products. What you might not know is that ceramides play an integral part in helping to maintain a healthy skin barrier.
What’s a skin barrier?
Your skin’s barrier function is vital for preserving healthy skin. Ceramides are one of the building blocks of your skin that keeps moisture in, and environmental stressors like pollutants out. A healthy-functioning skin barrier helps protect skin from environmental stressors and irritants, the signs of aging, and conditions including dehydration, inflammation, and moisture loss. Additionally, a damaged skin barrier can result from over exfoliation, overwashing, sensitization due to improper use of skincare products.
At Common Heir, we’ve pulled ceramide out of the chorus and into the spotlight, but what is it really, and why does it deserve its own solo?
So what is ceramide?
Ceramide is a naturally occurring lipid molecule that is crucial to maintaining your body's natural moisture barrier and protecting against environmental damage. Though your skin does produce ceramide, ceramide levels in the skin decline with age. But don’t cue the dramatic music yet… topical ceramides have proven to be highly effective, especially when used alone rather than as just a secondary ingredient.
That’s exactly why we decided to make ceramide the star of the show, at a 2% concentration in our barrier-soothing serum. We have a reputation for allowing essential, power-packed ingredients to shine a little brighter by shining alone and we believe the same level of treatment should be given to ceramide!
Who should use ceramide?
Ceramide is for anyone with concerns about dry skin, signs of aging, and eczema. It is also known to be very effective in counteracting the harsh, drying effects of many acne treatments. Remember that ceramide is the key to a healthy and active moisture barrier, your moisture barrier maintains your skin's natural balance and protects against external pollutants. So yeah, we think that ceramide is kind of a big deal.
When to use ceramide?
We know that when adding another step the question is always the same, when and how do you stack it? Since ceramide has no side-effects it can be used as much as twice a day. It helps to think of ceramide as your first line of defense, step one to maintaining the skin that you’re born with. Here’s our ceramide stacking suggestion:
AM - Apply on a clean dry face prior to applying moisturizer. Pro tip: If you use a water-based Vitamin C or other antioxidant serum, we recommend layering our 2% Ceramide Barrier Boost over your thinner serum. Follow up with your favorite moisturizer after. (If you’re using our 10% Vitamin C Serum, we recommend layering if you have dry-prone skin.)
PM - Apply on a clean dry face after any retinol or exfoliating treatment. It’s also the perfect skin-cycling compliment in the evenings on your non-acid or retinol days.
What makes Common Heir’s 2% Ceramide Barrier Boost Different?
We’re proud to continue our tradition of ensuring that we clinically test our skincare on folks that truly represent all skin types and tones. Our feedback has been amazing:
- 100% agreed that it was gentle and soothing
- 91% said skin felt moisturized and smoother immediately
- 88% experienced improved moisture retention
Common Heir’s 2% Ceramide Barrier Boost Serum are perfectly portioned and specially formulated to maximize their effectiveness to restore your moisture barrier and fight the signs of aging just by giving back what is naturally yours.