Skin Care Basics

What keeps your skin healthy is basically the same thing as what keeps the rest of your body healthy: sleep, good hygiene, and good nutrition, including drinking lots of water. Add the protection of sunscreen and you have the basics of good skin care. Your skin is your shield from the elements. From the moment you are born, genetic and environmental factors cause wear and tear to your skin. And you're never too young or too old to start taking care of your skin.

The Essentials of Skin Care

We all know the mantra: cleanse, tone and moisturize. But actually, toning is not essential, as newer products leave no residue (though using a toner won't hurt your skin and many people are used to it and like the feeling). If your skin is oily, you may not need a moisturizer, either. But you do need the following:

Sun Protection

The most important way to care for your skin, and the one step that most people skip, is sun protection. Ultraviolet radiation damages the skin and can lead to wrinkles, premature aging, age spots, and even skin cancer. Use sunscreen, or a moisturizer that contains sunscreen, every day. The older recommendation was that the sunscreen (or sunblock) contain at least SPF 15, whereas newer guidelines suggest SPF 30. There is little evidence that SPFs over 30 are more protective. Sunblocks and sunscreens differ in the way they work. Sunscreens are chemical protectants: their ingredients combine with the proteins in your skin to form a protective layer. That's why their instructions say to apply them 15 to 30 minutes before exposure to the sun. Sunscreens include oxybenzones, which protect against UVB rays and Avobenzone which protects against UVA rays. Sunblocks (the most common are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) are physical barriers, which is why they give instant protection. They protect against both UVA and UVB rays.

Anatomy of the Skin

The skin is the body's largest organ, covering the entire outside of the body and weighing approximately six pounds. In addition to serving as a protective shield against heat, light, injury, and infection, the skin also regulates body temperature, stores water, fat, and vitamin D, and has pain and pleasure receptors. The skin is made up of the following layers, with each layer performing specific functions: the epidermis, the dermis and the fat layer.

The epidermis is the thin outer layer of the skin. It contains melanocytes, which are cells that produce melanin (skin pigment).

The dermis is the middle layer of the skin. It contains blood and lymph vessels, hair follicles and sweat glands. It is held together by a protein called collagen which gives the skin its strength and resilience. As we age, we lose collagen. However, you can't replace collagen with topical creams, as a molecule of collagen is much too big to enter your skin cells. The subcutis, or subcutaneous layer, is the deepest layer of skin. It consists of a network of collagen and fat cells, and helps conserve body heat and protects the rest of the body from injury by acting as a shock absorber.

Take care of your skin and it will take care of you.
- Courtesy www.skin-care-support.org

Copyright: The Signal