Skin barrier repair, why can ceramide become the savior of sensitive skin?
In the era of functional skin care, consumers' demand for sensitive skin care is gradually increasing. For most sensitive skin users, repair is an important demand point. This has also given rise to the popularity of topics such as formula skin care, oil skin care, and barrier repair.
According to the "2023 Skin Barrier Repair Market and Product Insight Analysis Report" released by Magic Mirror Insight, the online sales of the sensitive skin/barrier repair market in the first three quarters of 2023 were 40.11 billion yuan, and the sales volume was 240 million pieces, up 7.4% and 7.2% year-on-year respectively, far exceeding the overall market growth rate. As people pay more attention to skin health, the barrier repair market that meets the refined needs of different skin types and different age groups has steadily expanded.
For this reason, many brands such as Winona, Ximuyuan, and Proya have seized the "damaged skin barrier function" that leads to skin sensitivity as a breakthrough point for marketing.
And to improve the barrier defense, it is mainly dominated by ceramide.
Part 01
Repair the barrier first and then care. Ceramide can provide root repair
There are four steps in sensitive skin care, namely prevention first, repairing the barrier, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic, and combining external care and internal adjustment. Improving the barrier's defense is the root repair method for sensitive skin, which mainly relies on ceramide and other factors. The traditional view is that the skin barrier only has the effect of protecting and moisturizing, and basically only emphasizes the effect of the physical barrier. In fact, the physical barrier, chemical barrier, pigment barrier, immune barrier and microbial barrier are all protecting us.
Ceramide is known as the "King of Barriers". This is not only because of its identity as an endogenous barrier component of the human body, but also because current research results have found that ceramide is a rare effective ingredient that can act on five layers of skin barriers at the same time. For example:
① Ceramide can activate the immune barrier and reduce the aggregation of neutrophils by binding to CD300f (immune receptor), thereby inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors;
② Ceramide can selectively remove abnormal melanocytes and reduce pigment aggregation caused by inflammation;
③ Ceramide can maintain the balance and health of the microbial barrier, reduce the occurrence of acne, etc.
Currently, more than 300 types of ceramides have been found in the human body. Ceramide can be said to be the "chosen" ingredient to protect the health of the skin barrier.
Part 02
Why is ceramide the most effective repairing ingredient for “all types of sensitive skin”?
Before talking about ceramide, we need to understand the skin barrier.
The skin barrier is composed of sebum membrane, stratum corneum keratin, lipids, "sandwich" structure, brick wall structure, dermal mucopolysaccharides, mucopolysaccharides, etc.
In the stratum corneum of healthy skin, keratinocytes and intercellular lipids are arranged in a stable brick wall structure.
“Brick wall” represents keratinocytes;
“Mortar” refers to lipids (including ceramide, fatty acids, and cholesterol) in the interstitial space of keratinocytes;
“Brick wall” and “mortar” form a solid structure for the epidermis, restricting the flow of water inside and outside cells and between cells, ensuring that water is not lost, and maintaining the important barrier function of the skin.
40%~50% of sebum in the stratum corneum is composed of ceramide, which is the main part of the intercellular matrix and an important product for the stratum corneum to maintain water balance.
Ceramide, as an important component of "mortar", is extremely important for hydrating and moisturizing the skin. Moreover, since ceramide is an ingredient contained in the skin itself, it can be used with confidence, and the possibility of allergies, dependence, irritation, etc. is very low.
The role of ceramide
1. Moisturizing
Ceramide can pull various lipids together and arrange them firmly to form a "bi-molecular membrane" that locks in moisture, which can effectively lock in skin moisture.
Studies have shown that ceramide has a moisturizing effect 16 times that of hyaluronic acid. It is a highly effective moisturizer that is easily absorbed by the skin and can promote the penetration of other nutrients. It has a moisturizing effect of up to 80% on elderly dry skin.
Skin care products rich in ceramide can have a long-lasting moisturizing effect, keeping the skin soft and shiny.
2. Repair the barrier
Ceramide reacts with proteins on the surface of keratinocytes to form covalent bonds, "hand in hand" tightly pulling keratinocytes together, making the stratum corneum stronger and fully resisting external stimuli. It can play a natural role in protecting the skin and keep the skin barrier intact.
A decrease in ceramide content will lead to moisture loss in the skin, which will not only make the skin drier, but also cause various skin diseases in severe cases, such as atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, etc.
For those with sensitive skin and problematic skin, remember to choose skin care products rich in ceramide ingredients to stabilize the skin.
3. Anti-allergic
Ceramide can help thicken the stratum corneum, improve the tolerance of the entire skin, protect the skin from invasion of external harmful substances, and effectively prevent the occurrence of sensitivity, while repairing red blood streaks.
In terms of brand application, Shumei New Materials has developed four application systems, including transparent oil-soluble, transparent water-soluble, composite water-soluble, and ceramide nanoemulsion, according to different application scenarios and formula requirements. It can achieve "formula without dead angle" application and create unique ceramide products for every valuable brand-
① Transparent oil-soluble ceramide repair oil
Can be mixed with common oils to form a transparent appearance and can be used in transparent essence oil and other oil-based skin care products
② Transparent water-soluble ceramide
Can be directly added to water-based formulas to make it transparent and stable and can be used for transparent toner, transparent essence, etc.
③ Ceramide nanoemulsion
Because its nanoparticle size is less than 100nm, it is easy to absorb, penetrate, and has auxiliary effects. It can be used in essences, creams, lotions, etc.
④ Composite ceramide repair lotion
Encapsulates a variety of ceramides and is used in various skin care products to achieve a more comprehensive effect,
Compared with other raw materials, the improved ceramide performs very well in moisturizing, soothing and fading redness. As a savior for sensitive skin, ceramide has the effects of barrier repair, anti-inflammatory, tissue healing, moisturizing, and improving skin elasticity. It can fully meet the basic daily needs of sensitive skin for soothing, repairing and moisturizing.
