Your skin and its functions.
To understand your skin you have to know that it is a living coat, and multi-talented It is Responsible for many functions like protection, sensation, shields your body from the environment and is in direct contact and constant interaction with the environment.
The skin should be smooth and supple. This is achieved with a thin film of hydro-lipids in the stratum corneum.
This film consists mainly of sebum which is secreted by the sebaceous glands. It comes to the surface and fills the spaces between the cells. The hydrolipid film also contains moisture components which are excreted with sweat
The tightly packed skin cells with the intracellular mortar provide a near-impenetrable barrier that helps to prevent the intrusion of harmful external substances.
The hydrolipid film produced by our skin is actually an emulsion of the type “water in oil” where sebum forms the outside phase, with perspiration forming the inside phase.
Therefore the Skin and Its Tasks are to:
- Keep the skin smooth and supple (without this emulsion our skin would dry out to the point of cracking)
- Prevents excessive water loss from the stratum corneum. ( water constantly evaporates from our skin’s surface into the atmosphere and not counting perspiration this can be 500 ml per day. The chief goal of your skincare cream is to minimize this water loss.
- The skin surface has a natural acidic coating Ph 5.5 which prevents the penetration of harmful bacteria or fungi that cause inflammations, infections, & allergic reactions.
Any disorder of this hydro-lipid film of the skin causes problems from skin irritations to skin diseases. Even cleansing disturbs the balance of the hydro-lipid film.
This is why it is very important to choose your cleansers and treatments appropriate for your skin condition.