This study describes the influence of cholesterol on a model membrane consisting of four stratum corneum lipids in three different states at 32 and 85 °C; using small-angle X-ray diffraction on multilamellar vesicles, the lamellar repeat distance was determined; small-angle neutron scattering on unilamellar vesicles was used to calculate the membrane thickness, average area of the membrane surface per molecule, average volume per molecule in the membrane, and membrane density