Ceramide EOS

Ceramides are natural wax-like lipids that play an important role in the skin’s barrier function.

The top layer of the skin consists of almost dead skin cells held together by protein bridges. All the spaces in between are filled with an oily mixture consisting of 50% ceramides, 25% cholesterol, and 10-20% fatty acids. This makes the skin waterproof and prevents transdermal water loss.

Ceramide EOS is a closely related cousin of the more famous Ceramide EOP (formerly known as Ceramide 1). They are very similar in structure, differing only in one unsaturated double bond. The most important part of their structure is the oil-soluble tail of linoleic acid.

Due to the mess that used to be the ceramide naming conventions, these two sometimes got mixed up in the research, which makes it quite difficult to characterize any differences between them.

But essentially, everything that is written about Ceramide EOP in a lovely long article here also applies to Ceramide EOS, with few extra tidbits below.

Ceramide EOS makes up for around 3,5% of the skin’s ceramides. It is the one most sensitive to temperature changes – as soon as the winter season comes, the levels of Ceramide EOS in the skin decrease.

A similar thing can be observed in aging skin, and it appears to also play a role in conditions such as dandruff and chapped lips.

It is thought to be the best ceramide for acne-prone skin, as the increased sebum production in oily skin depletes the reserves of the essential linoleic acid, which can then be remedied by creams containing Ceramide EOS (since it contains a linoleic acid tail).