Understanding how skin works .

The skin is a complex organ and can take ages to explain in detail all about is and may sound like a boring topic, but understanding how the skin works can help you make good decisions when it comes to looking younger and healthier. So here’s the basics of what you need to know in order to help you make smart choices to improve health and appearance of your skin. There are 3 fundamental layers of the skin: the epidermis, the dermis, and the Subcutaneous (fatty) layer.

The outer layer of our skin, epidermis, consist of 4 sub-layers, these are most composed of many layers of dead cells with only the last two layers made of live, regenerating cells. The first three layers are the Stratum Coroneum, Stratum Granulosum, and sometimes the Stratum Lucidium. When the cells reach the last upper layer of epidermis, stratum corneum, they are cut of nourishment and eventually (in about 14 days) die and flake off. And replace themselves completely with new dead cells over a 28 day cycle. It takes 4-6 weeks from the moment the new cell is formed to the moment is sloughs off the surface of your skin. These process slows down with age, that’s why our face don’t look as fresh and glowing as it used to when we were 15! The next two layers are the Stratum Spinosum and the Stratum Basale. These layers are actually made of living and regenerating cells

The dermis: is a layer of skin between the epidermis and subcutaneous tissues, that consists of connective tissue ,collagen, fibers, hair, sweat glands, sebaceous glands, apocrine glands, lymphatic vessels,nerves and blood vessels. The Glands have different functions theses being : Sebaceous glands produce sebum, a kind of oil, which helps keep your skin soft and waterproof. Sweat glands send sweat through pores to the surface of the skin. When your body gets hot, the sweat glands make a lot of sweat which they send to the surface of your skin to cool you down. Nerves Tiny networks of nerves act as sensors to let us feel the world around us. They tell us the temperature around us, make us feel pain if something hurts our skin and let us feel how smooth or rough things are and how hard our skin is being pressed. Blood vessels Blood vessels carry oxygen and nutrients (food) to the cells and carry away the waste.

The Subcutaneous (sub-cute-ay-nee-us) layer is under the skin. It is mostly made up of fat. Fat acts as a cushion to protect your body if you bang into something. It also keeps you warm.

This is how our mini universe-skin operates is very simplified version

Fun & Intresting skin facts:

• Skin is largest organ in body • No other organ is exposed to such harsh conditions • Your skin reflex’s internal conditions and emotions - eg: blushing or sweating • Skin reflects what’s happening on the inside – eg : yellowish tone indicate that you might have live problem Your skin can be mapped to show you where you’re having a problem. The diagram below is a face map that breifly shows what organs are affected when there Are blemishes and marks on skin.

• Your skin loses about 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells from the surface almost every minute, even though you do not see it happening. • Your skin sheds a layer of these dead cells every 24 hours and renews itself about every 28 days • The skin emits up to 3 gallons of sweat per day