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Ceramides
Waxy lipids from the cement between hair cells; a lab study with ceramide-containing liposomes restored some lipids and break resistance, but retail products lack hair trials.
What it is
Waxy lipids that organise into bilayers in skin and in the cement between hair cells. In cosmetics they are expensive and usually supplied with cholesterol and fatty acids.
How it works
Hair lipids are mainly cholesterol esters, free fatty acids, cholesterol, ceramides and cholesterol sulfate. In hair, they form bilayers in the cement that contributes to cohesion and strength. In chemically damaged hair, wool-lipid liposomes restored lipids and break resistance. Mendez 2011
What the studies show
- Ceramide-containing wool-lipid liposomes applied to untreated and chemically treated hair gave lipid recovery, higher resistance to break and more hydrogen bonds and electrostatic forces. This was an academic lab study on tresses. Mendez 2011
- No trial of retail ceramide products on hair was found.
How it's used in studies
Applied as liposomes onto tresses.
Side effects and safety
Low risk when applied to hair.
Bottom line
Biologically sensible for chemically damaged hair, but evidence for retail ceramide products is absent. Whether added lipids reach the right places in the cement is unclear. We are very unsure of benefit.
Studies 1
Mendez S et al. Damaged hair retrieval with ceramide-rich liposomes. 2011
Tested: wool internal lipid (ceramide-containing) liposomes
Result: Lipids were recovered, resistance to break rose and hydrogen bonding and electrostatic forces increased in treated hair.
Read the study ↗Related
- 18-MEA (18-methyleicosanoic acid)The fatty acid on the outer surface of virgin hair that makes it water-repellent and smooth, lost with weathering and chemical treatment.
- Hair porosityPorosity describes how easily water moves in and out of a hair fiber; in practice it is mostly a marker of damage, and the popular float test does not measure it.