SK-Influx MB

INCI:  Ceramide NP (and) Ceramide AP (and) Ceramide EOP (and) Phytosphingosine (and) Cholesterol (and) Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate (and) Carbomer (and) Xanthan Gum

Supplier:  Evonik   

Evidence:  ●●○  Supplier-substantiated

In our formulas:  The Catalyst — 5%

What it is

Skin’s barrier is not a film. It is a precise lamellar structure — alternating sheets of lipid organised in a specific ratio of three components: ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids. Get the ratio wrong and the structure does not assemble properly. SK-Influx supplies all three classes, pre-organised into a multi-lamellar system that mirrors the architecture of the stratum corneum. It includes three distinct ceramide types (NP, AP and EOP), phytosphingosine, and non-animal, vegetable-derived cholesterol.

Why it matters for changing skin

Barrier failure is arguably the central skin event of menopause. Ceramide content falls. Cholesterol synthesis slows. The lamellar sheets become disordered, water escapes faster, irritants get in more easily, and skin that had been resilient for fifty years becomes dry, tight and reactive in a matter of a couple of years.

Supplying a single ceramide does not rebuild that structure — the ratio is what matters. This is the ingredient in The Catalyst doing the structural repair work, at a substantial 5%, while the AHA handles the surface. It is a deliberate pairing: exfoliate and repair in the same product, so the exfoliation never outruns the barrier’s ability to recover.

What it does

On the label you may also see it as

Ceramide NP (formerly Ceramide 3) · Ceramide AP (formerly Ceramide 6-II) · Ceramide EOP (formerly Ceramide 1) · Phytosphingosine · Ceramide Complex