Understanding and Repairing Skin Barrier Function
You can hydrate and repair your skin’s barrier health using ceramide-rich moisturizers, lotions, and serums. These products supplement the skin’s natural ceramide production, locking in moisture, and ensuring a soft, supple, and healthy complexion.
Why is skin barrier critical to health?
"While the skin has many important barrier functions, the two that are absolutely essential for survival are the barrier to the movement of water and electrolytes (permeability barrier) and the barrier against invasive and toxic microorganisms (antimicrobial barrier). Lipids (ceramides) play an essential role in the formation and maintenance of both the permeability and antimicrobial barriers." Kenneth Feingold, "The Outer Frontier: the importance of lipid metabolism in the skin," Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 50, 2009, April. Read full article.
But what are ceramides? How can we help our body?
Ceramides are simply an oil or lipid found in skin cells. Lipids make up approximately 30-40% of the stratum corneum - the outer most layer of the epidermis. A healthy skin barrier protects your skin from harmful bacteria and holds in moisture.
But what if this vital skin protection also benefits your overall health?! Scientists are discovering how reducing our skin’s inflammation helps guard against age-related illnesses and chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
When skin is damaged it produces an inflammatory response which affects not only the skin, but the rest of the body. For example, a connection between heart disease and psoriasis was observed over forty years ago, and a recent UCSF study of 33 healthy adults who applied a skin-barrier cream twice-daily for 30 days showed reduced age-related cytokine (protein) production in their blood.
As we age, we all see an inherent loss in ceramide production in our skin. When you moisturize your face twice a day with our simple 2-Step System, you not only guard against dryness, itching, and cracking, but you reduce low-grade inflammation and improve your skin barrier function.
Give your face a healthy dose of ceramides
The 2-Step System is formulated with 3 ceramides: ceramide EOS, ceramide AP and ceramide NP - which is the most abundant and important ceramide found in our skin. Ceramides work to offer your skin an optimal permeability barrier. A healthy skin barrier protects to keep out free radicals and keep in water and electrolytes. For more on this fascinating science, click here to read an article by Shirley S. Wang, "Skin Protection May Offer Surprising Benefits for Overall Health" in the Wall Street Journal (2019, September 15).
