There is no doubt you’ve read it, heard it and seen it with your own eyes, that the skin is the human bodies largest organ. It protects you, holds you together and dictates how you look and feel on a daily basis.
The amount of times I have stood in the supermarket and tried to justify getting a chemically enhanced product for a few dollars less, or decided I’d treat myself to an expensive product because it must be ‘good’ if it costs that much, is slightly ridiculous.
Until, I came to the realization that the skin has the capability to protect your entire body, produce its own collagen, replenish its outer layer to look fresh and revived and it even houses the blood cells that circulate throughout your body. So instead of worrying about purchasing expensive products that could influence production of all these things, why not focus on reducing the external factors and products that impair the skins own ability to protect and regulate them itself?
As it turns out the skin isn’t just one layer on the outside of the body that keeps our bones from popping out. It actually has three important layers; the Epidermis, the dermis and the Subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis works like a protective big brother or sister (only they are not so easy to shed at times) this layer largely effects the appearance of your skin and is what we shed so often – fun fact: apparently, that dust around your household is in fact made up of almost 50% of shed skin cells (UGH!)
The dermis is the thickest of the three layers and holds all of the collagen and elastin making cells (all those great things that help keep the fine lines & wrinkles away), it also houses touch receptors, hair follicles and blood vessels.
The deepest layer is the subcutaneous layer which is made up of collagen and fats which help absorb shock and protect your internal organs.
So in theory, as the top layer works to fend off the free radicals of everyday life, the middle layer uses blood cells to regulate your temperature and it houses our hair follicles and oils which are there to keep your skin glowing and healthy, while being the interceptor of senses like touch and pain. Meanwhile the third layer protects the important stuff like the organs we need to keep going on the daily.
I found a cool fact on the internet one day when I was self diagnosing an allergic reaction (still not officially an allergic reaction but near enough) that your body renews its top layer of skin completely over an average 35 day period, so by the time your 20 you have lived in around 200 cycles of skin.
As it starts to make sense how the free radicals around us externally impact our overall wellbeing, it can get slightly daunting in prioritizing what exposure is more important to avoid than others so here is a couple of pointers:
Get rid of the junk . Our pores provide a direct exit for unwanted chemicals and toxin build up in the body, if these are congested and blocked it prevents the skin from performing this function leaving all these nasties present in our flowing blood stream. Make sure you are constantly keeping your skin free of product, dirt and sweat build up to prevent the exits from becoming a dead end.
Use natural and nourishing products where your body has a high exposure to that product. For example; bathing products, body lotions/powders, moisturisers, pretty much anything you apply and leave on you for a long extended time.
If you’re ever unsure of why a product is causing your skin to act a certain way, make sure you get in touch with us so we can help you tailor your everyday skin habits to what works for your skins needs.
