What does your skin do?

The skin is the largest organ of the body (honestly!!.. and that even applies for mates with nicknames like donkey and horse) and also includes sweat and oil glands, hairs and nails. It provides a very effective immunity barrier from the external environment preventing the penetration of pathogens and nasties into the body. The skin is waterproof, stretchable, washable and self repairs cuts, rips and burns and comes with a lifetime guarantee!

The Epidermis is the outer layer of the skin and nutrients reach here by diffusing through tissue fluid from blood vessels in the dermis below. So nutrition and good health on the inside totally influence the state of your skin too. Millions of dead skin cells rub off every day and we have a new epidermis every 25 to 45 days so using an exfoliator to remove these dead cells is vital so they don’t clog up the fresh skin below causing acne and ingrown hairs to name a few .It also secretes lactic acid and fatty acids creating a low pH level which is not bacteria friendly killing them off before they can do any damage.

Sweat glands release waste products and salts to the skins surface for removal from the body, thus regular washing and cleansing of the skin vital. Melanocytes are the cells in skin that synthesise melanin which is the pigment shield like the tan that you get to help protect the cells nuclei from UV radiation. This doesn’t mean a tan is good as excessive sun exposure eventually damages the skin and causes the elastin fibres to clump and the result is leathery old skin - think the ‘Something about Mary’ granny to give you an example of extreme damage!. It can also reduce the immune system and can alter the DNA of skin cells leading to skin cancer.