Your skin's outermost layer isn't alive. It's composed of dead cells embedded in a protein matrix, forming a barrier between your living tissue and the outside world. That protein matrix is primarily keratin, and keratin depends on sulfur to achieve its remarkable properties.
Understanding this connection transforms MSM from a generic "beneficial ingredient" into something specific: a sulfur source for keratin synthesis.
What Keratin Actually Does
Keratin is the structural protein of your skin's outer layer, your hair, and your nails. It's also what makes animal horns, hooves, and claws so tough. This protein's strength comes from its structure—alpha-helical coils that interlink and cross-bond to form strong, flexible sheets.
In skin, keratin forms the majority of the stratum corneum, the dead cell layer that serves as your primary barrier. When this layer is healthy, it keeps moisture in and irritants out. When it's compromised, you experience dryness, sensitivity, and increased vulnerability to environmental damage.
The keratinocytes—cells that produce keratin—reside in the deeper layers of your epidermis. They continually produce new cells that migrate upward, filling with keratin as they go, eventually dying and becoming part of the barrier layer. This ongoing process of keratinization requires constant supplies of raw materials, including sulfur.
Sulfur and the Disulfide Bridge
Keratin's strength comes significantly from disulfide bonds. These are connections between two sulfur atoms, typically from two cysteine amino acids, that create bridges within and between protein molecules.
Think of these disulfide bridges as rivets holding the keratin structure together. Without them, the protein chains would be weaker, more easily disrupted by environmental stress or chemical exposure. The more disulfide bridges, the stronger and more stable the keratin.
This is why sulfur is essential for healthy skin. Without adequate sulfur, your body can't form enough disulfide bridges, and keratin quality suffers. The barrier layer becomes weaker, moisture escapes more easily, and irritants penetrate more readily.
MSM as Sulfur Donor
MSM provides sulfur in a form the body can use for amino acid synthesis. When MSM enters your system—whether through diet, supplements, or topical application—it contributes to the pool of available sulfur that cells draw upon for various purposes.
Research has shown that MSM's sulfur does get incorporated into tissues. Studies using isotope-labeled MSM have tracked its sulfur atoms into various body structures, confirming that the compound isn't just passing through—it's being used as raw material.
For keratin synthesis specifically, this means MSM provides sulfur that becomes part of cysteine, which becomes part of keratin, which becomes part of your skin's barrier. It's a direct chain from ingredient to structure.
The Visual Results
What does better keratinization actually look like? It looks like skin that holds moisture well, that resists irritation, that maintains its texture over time. It looks like skin that doesn't feel perpetually dry no matter how much moisturizer you apply.
The frustration many people describe—"I moisturize constantly but my skin is still dry"—often reflects compromised barrier function. The moisturizer sits on top of skin that can't retain it because the keratin layer is too weak to prevent evaporation. Supporting keratinization addresses this problem at its source.
This is one reason why MSM benefits build over time with consistent use. You're not just treating symptoms; you're supporting the ongoing process of barrier construction. As healthier keratin layers replace older, weaker layers, cumulative improvement occurs.
Beyond Surface Keratin
Keratin isn't only in your skin's outermost layer. It's produced throughout the epidermis, and different types of keratin perform different functions. Supporting keratin synthesis broadly means supporting all these roles, from barrier formation to structural integrity of the epidermis itself.
Hair and nails, being keratin structures, also benefit from adequate sulfur supply. Many people who supplement with MSM report improvements in hair strength and nail quality alongside skin improvements. This makes sense given that all these structures depend on the same sulfur-requiring protein.
The Goat Milk Synergy
On our Washington State farm, we combine MSM with fresh goat milk in every formulation. This combination makes sense from a keratin perspective.
Goat milk contains lactic acid, which gently loosens the bonds between dead keratin cells on the skin's surface. This promotes turnover of the stratum corneum without harsh mechanical or chemical exfoliation. Meanwhile, MSM supports the production of new keratin in the living layers below.
The result is skin that sheds old cells effectively while building strong new ones to replace them. It's renewal and construction working together—the lactic acid clearing the way, the MSM providing building materials for what comes next.
Supporting Your Skin's Infrastructure
Understanding skin as a structure—something that gets built and maintained and eventually replaced—changes how you think about skincare. It's not just about what you put on your skin's surface; it's about supporting the ongoing construction happening in the layers beneath.
MSM contributes to this construction by providing essential building materials. Every time your keratinocytes produce keratin, they draw on available sulfur. Ensuring that sulfur is available means ensuring that keratin synthesis can proceed optimally.
This is why we've made MSM a non-negotiable part of every Artisan formula. Whether you're using Face Cream for daily hydration or Active Cream for post-workout recovery, you're supporting your skin's fundamental infrastructure with every application.
