Simply Understanding Your Skin

Hello friends! I am sorry for the delay in getting out new posts. I have been extremely overwhelmed with work and with trying to organize my thoughts and blog posts each time I sit down to type. However, these are no excuse for my brief absence, and I'm sorry. I know a few of you have sent me messages asking about certain products and skin issues you are having. I am going to get some blogs out this week for you ladies and gents! Hopefully all of your problems will diminish from there! 

First things first. I want you to understand your skin. I know that sounds ridiculous. "Understanding my skin? Really, Hilzey?" 

Well, really. 

If you want great skin, you must understand how your skin works and how it is put together.

Note that I will try not to get carried away. But keep in mind, I am very passionate about your skin as well as my own and I want so badly for you to have beautiful, healthy skin so you can be your best you. That being said, information is key. I realize this is a lengthy post, but I promise you will learn so much if you take the time to read it. 

As most of you already know, and as I mentioned in my first blog post; your skin is the largest organ of your body. Skin is made up of three parts. The epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue. Note: I am not going to touch base on information from your dermis or subcutaneous tissue tonight.

The Epidermis: Think of your epidermis as the first layer between you and the outside world. Crazy, huh? It does so much for us! We often don't realize that it is responsible for protecting us from environmental factors! Yet another reason to keep it healthy and care for it. Your epidermis is comprised of three different types of cells. Keratinocytes, Melanocytes and Langerhans cells. In short, without getting into my entire education, here's some simple information for you to note: Keratinocytes are the cells that produce keratin (our skins protein). Keratinocytes make up most of our epidermis. Melanocytes are the cells that produce melanin, the pigment responsible for your skin tone and color. And Langerhans cells are essentially the "immune system" of the epidermis. They prevent unwanted foreign substances from penetrating into the skin.

You have 5 different layers of your epidermis. Starting from bottom (by dermis) up (to what you can physically see on your body) you have your Stratum Germanitivum, Stratum Spinosum, Stratum Granulosum, Stratum Lucidium (only on the soles of your feet and palms of your hands) and your Stratum Corneum.

As fantastic as all of these layers are, It is only really important that I focus on two of them. 

All these terms... I know, I know... Stay with me, here. I promise it's going to get real in about two minutes. You will have your "Oh!" moment. (photographs are welcome)

Your Stratum Corneum consists mainly of dead Keratinocytes, lipids and hardened protein that form a protective type of film on the outermost part of your skin. Non-living cells from your Stratum Corneum continuously slough off and are replaced by new ones that from below. Your Stratum Germanitivum is responsible for making new, fresh plump baby cells that take about 2-3 weeks on average to flatten and move up toward your Stratum Corneum. 

I'm sure you've heard the term, "cell turn-over" before. This is what that is. The rate at which your cells from your Stratum Germanitivum can advance to your Stratum Corneum (and then shed off).

So what does all this mean? Now that we have the information and the facts, let me break this down for you.

In short, exfoliation is so important. If you're not already doing something mechanically exfoliating and/or chemically exfoliating for your skin, I suggest you start. Exfoliate every day if you want! I sure do. I want to increase my CTR (cell turn-over rate) so my skin looks and feels like a baby's bottom every day! Ha! ha! Who doesn't want that? It also keeps your skin looking young, plump, fresh and dewy. 

If you are currently battling breakouts, perhaps your CTR is low. I have found that a lot of people that have acne, aren't exfoliating properly. If you do struggle with breakouts, you need a mechanical and chemical exfoliant. Something that is somewhat gentle, yet abrasive, contains some type of acid and anti-oxidant to protect your skin from future free radicals. You need to protect your skin! Serums are a must! (A blog is coming for them, soon!)

Healthy skin should be: Slightly acidic, somewhat moist and smooth. 

There is actually a skin disorder I am going to talk about in a future blog that is a huge player in acne a lot of people have but don't realize they have. The best thing you can do to help this disorder is to exfoliate daily, and then repair your skin's natural Ph and complex with anti-oxidants and omega-3's.

If you are concerned with aging, start increasing your CTR (the earlier the better).

I tell almost everyone I meet to exfoliate. Just the other day, I said to the man at Starbucks who made my decaf, soy, vanilla latte, "Thank you, Sir! Be sure to exfoliate tonight!" 

I obviously didn't. But I wanted to, and probably should have.

A laugh, and a clean exfoliated face,

-Jessica