Be warned, my articles are ACTION PACKED!  Esthetic humor.  Having a lesson in skin functionality sounds pretty elementary but it is a vital step in understanding what our skin needs most in order to maintain its health, its beauty, and ahh, its youthfulness.  This is part 1 of numerous articles to properly understand our skin and its many, many functions to correctly treat and prevent ALL the common signs of aging.

Containing half of our body’s immune cells and one quarter of our body’s blood, our skin is responsible for 5 main roles: protection, healing, immune response, sensory system, and regulating body temperature.   It also prevents water loss.  Each square inch contains approximately 100 oil glands, 650 sweat glands, 12 feet of nerves and 15 feet of blood vessels.  It sounds so matter of fact but I contemplate the skin and its many abilities and roles similar to the way I contemplate the vastness of the universe.  Our skin is its own universe filled with: living, breathing cells and tissues which are each also filled with their own little universes of… life. 

There are 2 main layers of the skin.  The epidermis, the outer most layer, is what we can see, touch, and feel.  Also known as the top layer, this is where our dead skin cells reside and those protective and immune response functions are offered.  Additionally, where all of the external (environment and lifestyle choices) and internal AGING (yeah, genetics) of our skin, surfaces!  (Think:  fine lines, deep wrinkles, mild to severe acne, age spots, scarring, uneven texture, large pores, sagging skin, brown spots, post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, dull skin, or flaky skin. Research studies are teaching us that the epidermis communicates chemically with the dermis signaling it to perform several much needed functions.  The dermis is known as the live layer.  This contains everything for the skin to function beneath the surface.  I think of it as a colossal factory with departments galore that must be in sync to keep the skin performing at its best.  If one department is lacking, much like a free radical (discussed later), a domino effect occurs and other departments perform poorly.  Additionally, this deeper layer contains our lymph vessels, blood vessels, nerves, oil glands, sweat glands.       

Two sub-layers also exist within the two main layers (the dermis – the lower, live layer and the epidermis-the upper, non-living layer).  First, the Reticular Dermis houses larger blood vessels that provide food to the capillaries.  This sub-layer, my dear friend, is where our much needed collagen and elastin fibers, made of proteins, are formed.  This dynamic duo is responsible for our skin’s strength, elasticity and flexibility.  The word “collagen” is thrown around everywhere nowadays but who truly understands its primary function and why we need it and why we need to stimulate the formation of it? 

Collagen is responsible for the skin’s ‘youthful appearance’.  It makes up approximately 70% of our skin’s weight –the other 30% comes from moisture and water.  It is collagen that is formed to repair an injury in the skin.  Collagen is the fiber that scar tissue is made of.  The other, not-as-popular-as-collagen protein is Elastin.  These elastic fibers give our skin its shape and allow it to be like a ‘rubber band’ of sorts.  Collagen’s presence in the reticular dermis completely outweighs (literally) Elastin’s by 14 to 1. Allow me to Segway into one, yes additional, layer protein known as reticulin.  This is a third type of collagen-related fiber that is found in the papillary layer.

Do you remember the Primary sub-layer?  (The reticular dermis is responsible for international advertising campaigns promoting ‘Collagen and Elastin enhancing!’ products (these well-known skincare companies choose their words wisely, don’t they?)  The secondary sub layer found at the top of the dermis is known as (this is a big one!) the ‘epidermal-dermal junction’.  This layer connects (you guessed it) the dermis to the epidermis, and vice versa.  This is an extremely vital sub layer.  It is here where the lowest level of the epidermis, or the basal layer, is nourished by surface capillaries in the bloodstream.  Consider this its food for survival.  This becomes the ultimate paradox because skin cells form so they can live their little lives travelling up to the epidermis (outer most layer of the skin) where they ultimately come to their death!  Sadly, this is the predetermined life of a live skin cell turned dead skin cell.  And, (there is always an ‘and’ because there are SO many functions within each layer and sub layer) this also is where cell division occurs.  More will follow on function of epidermal cell division.  As the life of a skin cell must come to an end, sadly my first article must come to an end.

Wishing you youthful skin.

Sources:

Pugliese, Peter.  2001.  Physiology of the Skin II.  Carol Stream, IL: Allured.                                                                                                  Lees, Mark; Hinds, Catherine. 2003.  Standard Comprehensive Training for Estheticians                                                                  Pugliese, Peter.  1991.  Physiology of the Skin:  The Desquamation Process, Carol Stream, IL:  Allured                                                  Gerson, Joel. 1999.  Standard Textbook for Professional Estheticians.  Albany, N.Y.: Milady, an imprint of Delmar Learning, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

With so many skin (let us call them) concerns, where do we turn to find answers?  We want to lighten our brown spot that ‘just showed up’, or minimize, or erase that one wrinkle in the middle of our forehead.  Or, better yet, know if that new ‘breakthrough serum’ is really going to break through the aging process on the face.  The list is endless (just look in the mirror!) and the possibilities of at home treatments with products are endless (just turn on the tv or flip through any magazine).  This is the breaking of a new era – the educated consumer!  Not from magazines and commercials and falsified, exaggerated box labels, but from a spa owner and clinical esthetician; who is passionate about:  skincare research and ingredients, and the health of your skin.  Information is power.  When we are informed, only then can we make an educated decision.  If you’re ready to know the ins and outs and everything in between about your skin so you can make educated decisions, my skincare articles will be waiting for you.