What is SphingoCare?
Discover how this range of biotech-derived ceramides is tapping into emerging skin and hair trends and changing the boundaries of skin barrier repair.
What is SphingoCare?
Discover how this range of biotech-derived ceramides is tapping into emerging skin and hair trends and changing the boundaries of skin barrier repair.
What is SphingoCare?
SphingoCare is a portfolio of biotech and plant-derived ceramides and sphingolipids from Croda, designed for use in cosmetic formulations with specific skin benefits.the market for ceramides in personal care
- Consumer demand for skin health solutions
A greater scientific understanding of how the skin barrier functions and how ceramides can impact skin conditions has led to demand for ceramide-powered formulations for dry skin conditions such as eczema, premium moisturisers and products addressing anti-ageing and post-surgical skin repair. In Brazil, 57% of consumers frequently search for skincare products featuring ceramides. In China, ceramides are included in 20% of new launches for sensitive skin. - Meeting eco and clean beauty needs
Ceramides defend the skin against environmental aggressors by creating a protective barrier that keeps moisture in and harmful pollutants, allergens, and bacteria out. These factors and demand for bio-based and sustainable skin care has seen the market for clean beauty products, including ceramides, forecast to reach $1.8 billion by 2026. Microbial, fermentation-derived ceramides such as SphingoCare, make up 80% of the market, due to their high-purity and bio-identical structure to human skin.
What is the science powering SphingoCare?
The skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum, is made up of a precise arrangement of cells called corneocytes, which are surrounded by a matrix of lipids including fatty acids, cholesterol, and ceramides. Approximately 50% of these lipids are ceramides.
These ceramides act like mortar between bricks, helping hold skin cells together. They integrate directly into the stratum corneum, help restore the skin's lipid barrier immediately, provide targeted reinforcement of the skin's protective layer and support moisture retention at surface level.
SphingoCare’s ceramides are biotech-derived using processes such as yeast fermentation that deliver purity and efficacy. They are also biomimetic, which means their structure closely resembles the natural lipid components of human skin.
The range also gives formulators access to ceramides in a range of formats from pre-dispersed formats to simplify formulations, complex lipid blends to replicate balanced skin lipid profiles and speciality molecules to provide additional cosmetic benefits.
Are SphingoCare’s range of bio-active ceramides an industry gamechanger?
SphingoCare’s portfolio moves ceramides from being simple moisturisers to ingredients that provide formulators with the potential to transform the ways we treat sensitive, ageing and stressed skin.
By combining biotechnology with advanced delivery systems that improve stability, dispersion and performance, these ceramides allow brands to develop sophisticated barrier-repair products that are sustainable, have strong scientific claims and are RSPO-certified and IECIC-compliant to ensure new innovations can be brought to market safely and at speed.
Read full details on the new data insights for these four ingredients here: New data insights
Explore how Croda is leveraging science and trends to create new innovative ingredients that meet emerging hair and skincare needs below.
Meet the Experts: Frederic de-Baene, Research and Development Director
Meet the experts: Farahdia Edouard, Senior Research & Technology Manager
Biotech unlocks ingredient innovation and expands what beauty can do
Biotechnology is enabling our R&D teams to expand our innovation pipeline by designing new molecules inspired by nature, with specific functions in mind.
Using synthetic biology, a next-generation branch of biotechnology, Croda’s R&D teams can produce molecules of interest and target their activity and purity.
Our new hair care innovation, KeraBio™ K31 was created from a specific human hair keratin sequence, with Croda’s R&D scientists targeting the performance and the exact molecule they want to synthesise.
The result is a highly potent, biomimetic peptide and hair-bond builder that recharges compromised keratin, strengthening and replenishing the hair fibre at a molecular level.
It outperforms the current market leader in bond building and provides a technology platform to deliver more KeraBio™ ingredients to meet emerging consumer needs.
Find out more about KeraBio™ K31 here.