What Ingredients Can You Mix with Ceramides in Skincare?

What are ceramides?

Many skincare products are formulated with ceramide ingredients, but what are ceramides?  Your skin has a natural protective barrier which helps keep moisture in and pollutants and impurities out. If you think of your skin barrier as a wall, ceramides are like the mortar sealing the bricks together for optimal functionality. 

There are many different types of ceramides, all of which are natural lipids (fatty oils) found naturally as part of your skin. In fact, ceramides make up over 50 per cent of the skin’s composition.

Benefits of ceramides?

So,what are the benefits of ceramides for skin? Here are a few of the main ways ceramides help keep your skin looking and feeling healthy:

• Helping maintain moisture levels in your skin
• Protecting against free radicals
• Helping comfort dry and sensitive skin

Each type of ceramide also has its own specific skin benefits. For example, ceramide one helps bind skin cells together, while ceramide three helps strengthen cells. Ceramide six II can also help soften skin.

What happens when your skin is low in ceramides?

When skin is lacking the optimal balance of ceramides this can lead to the skin moisture barrier becoming compromised. Your complexion can lose water in the process called transepidermal water loss (TEWL) so can start to look dry and dehydrated.

Signs of a compromised moisture barrier can include dryness, redness and increased sensitivity. 

How to mix ceramides with other skincare ingredients

There are a multitude of ways to add ceramides to your skincare routine, since this ingredient can be found in everything from face cleansers to serums and moisturisers. However, you should understand how ceramides mix with other ingredients to help achieve optimal benefits from your daily and nightly skincare regime. Keep reading to learn how some popular skincare ingredients mix well with ceramides.

Ceramides and Hyaluronic Acid

Ceramides and hyaluronic acid both help the skin gain and maintain hydration, so it’s safe to say these two ingredients work well together as a pair. While ceramides help minimise water lost through the skin’s surface, hyaluronic acid draws in water molecules from the atmosphere towards the skin’s surface. 

Our CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleansercontains both ceramides and hyaluronic acid to cleanse the skin while helping maintain moisture. Follow up with our CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum to provide your skin with further moisture and visibly replump the skin.
 

Ceramides and Salicylic Acid

Salicylic acid is a type of beta hydroxy acid (BHA) which helps slough away excess dead skin cells from the skin’s surface. This process can promote multiple skin benefits including brightening the skin, smoothing the skin and helping minimise the appearance of fine lines. Salicylic acid is also widely used to help manage skin prone to mild acne, thanks to its ability to help minimise blemishes.

The downside of BHAs such as salicylic acid is that overuse can lead to sensitivity or dry skin. That’s why it’s useful to mix ceramides and salicylic acid in the same routine to help counteract any loss of hydration. For example, try using our CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser before products containing salicylic acid. This formula cleanses and hydrates without disrupting the natural skin barrier.

Ceramides and Niacinamide

Also known as vitamin B3, niacinamide is beneficial for comforting skin, brightening and helping manage skin prone to mild acne. Niacinamide shouldn’t be used at the same time as ingredients like vitamin C and hydroxy acids, but it works well in conjunction with ceramides to comfort the skin in multiple ways at once. 

Our CeraVe Facial Moisturising Lotion is a facial moisturiser with niacinamide and ceramides designed for sensitive, dry and skin prone to mild acne. To support the skin on your body, try our CeraVe Moisturising Cream featuring the same ingredients in a richer formula suitable for dry skin.

Ceramides and Vitamin C

Vitamin C is usually found in serums designed to help brighten the skin and minimise uneven pigmentation. This multi-tasking ingredient is also a powerful antioxidant which helps protect your skin from the effects of free radicals. 

Vitamin C can also help minimise the appearance of dark circles, however it’s important to follow up with comforting and hydrating formulas lest this potent ingredient unsettle your skin. That’s where ceramides come in to help maximise the benefits of vitamin C. If you use vitamin C around your eyes in the morning, use our ceramide enriched CeraVe Eye Repair Cream to bring comfort and moisture to the area at night.

Ceramides and Retinol

Stimulating collagen production, minimising breakouts and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles are a few of the main benefits of retinol. This ingredient works by speeding up skin cell turnover to help visibly renew the skin from within. 

Using a retinol serum or cream can benefit many different skin types and concerns, but can you mix ceramides with retinol? The answer is yes. Skin adjusting to retinol can be prone to dryness and sun sensitivity, so using a vdaily moisturiser with ceramides and SPF can help both these issues. Our CeraVe AM Facial Moisturising Lotion with SPF 15 is a facial moisturiser with both ceramides and sun protection, suitable for use in conjunction with retinol products. 

If you’re not sure whether your skin concerns are due to a compromised moisture barrier or a different cause, it can be useful to understand how other ingredients may help. Read our Guide to the Skincare Benefits of Niacinamide to learn more about the many skin-comforting benefits of this versatile skincare ingredient.