Caring for Your Skin
In the hustle and buslte of the frantic woman’s life, she doesn’t always have the time take care of herself. This month, we're giving you just a little reminder and hopefully the push, you need to care of you. With summer just around the bend, these facts and tips will come in handy.
Who Ages Faster & Why
Skin Color
If you are dark, you are luckier than your fair-skinned friends. Your skin is thicker and tougher and provides greater protection from the sun's rays. It wrinkles less and at a later age. Fair skin is thin and delicate. A European is likely to wrinkle earlier than an African.
Age
The younger you are the more delicate is your skin whereas an adult’s skin is tough and seasoned. Babies with diaper rash and children have less protection. Teenage skin is affected by oil-producing glands, which lead to oily skin, oily hair and acne. It is rightly said that skin goes through a life of its own.
Exposure to the Sun
Damaging sunrays do cause wrinkles and skin cancer. It is worse for people with fair skin. The best protection is to avoid the sun completely, but that is not very possible! So instead apply a liberal dose of good sunscreen, or foundation, with a sun protection factor suiting your skin type.
Your Gender
Yes, it’s unfair... Male hormone and dermis is thicker than a woman’s. This extra thickness protects him from the weather, hot or cold, and he is less like to be adversely affected by the sun. A woman’s skin, on the other hand, ages faster as it is less protected. (But we are smarter, so we can use this information!)
Skin Type
The old argument that dry skin ages faster is just not true! In fact, dry skin does look more wrinkled and--here’s the crux of the confusion--wrinkled skin looks better with a good moisturizer on it. That’s how we get sucked into this myth about wrinkles and dry skin. A woman with oily skin has her own built-in moisturizer (that’s basically what moisturizers are: oils or oil-like ingredients and water), which helps her skin look smoother without the aid of a moisturizer. However, this is where oily skins must be careful -- skipping moisturizers can:
- actually make you skin more oily & prone to break outs since the lack of moisture on the surface can make your skin produce even more oils
- also mean skipping sun protections, & cause you to age more due to the sun’s damaging rays.
General Health
A good physical and emotional health reflects on a healthy skin. Many diseases, infectious or otherwise, leave their mark on the skin. Diabetes can cause dry skin, itching, pigmentation and nail changes. Hepatitis and other liver disorders lead to severe itching. Hormonal imbalance changes skin color.
Medications
Vitamins, diet pills and many other medications can change the appearance of skin, hair and nails. Thyroid medicines and high doses of vitamin A can make skin very dry. Aspirin, penicillin and sulfa can lead to hives. Acne and oily skin are frequent side effects of low dose birth control pills, anti-epilepsy medication and cortisones.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that sun exposure is responsible for 95% of skin’s aging! And don’t let that scare you, even if you have done nothing so far to protect yourself: It is never too late to protect your skin from sun and UV light exposure. Light damage is a cumulative effect, which never stops -- as long as exposure takes place. So stop exposure now & you can halt some of the damage. There is clinical evidence that after starting protection, the skin will start to repair itself up to a certain level! This doesn’t take place overnight, and may take a couple of years of continuous care and protection, but it works.
Facing Facts About Skin
Skin is the largest organ of your body, accounting for about 15% of body weight (approximately 6 pounds). You have approximately 19,000,000 skin cells on every square inch of your body! It is the most visible organ of your body -- and the most vulnerable.
Your skin is consistently threatened by exposure to the environment, the ravages of time, and the unpredictable effects of your life & experiences. And, at the same time, the appearance of your skin is a fundamental part of your sense of self.
Your skin is a living, breathing organ that never stops changing & growing. Knowing how your skin functions, you can better take care of it.
The 7 Most Vital Skin Functions
Protection: Skin’s biggest job is protection. It protects body parts & organs from such things as germs, heat, cold, and sunlight. In order to do this best, it must be elastic, flexible, and waterproof. (Many of the other functions listed below, are to keep skin in the best condition to do its protective work!)
Elimination: Every day (and all day!) skin removes toxins and debris as it sheds dead cells.
Secretion: Through sebaceous and sweat glands, skin helps the body eliminate oil and perspiration.
Reproduction: New cells are constantly being generated through cell division in the basal skin layer. In young skin, the process takes 28 days (on average), but as we age, cell reproduction slows down. By 70 or 80, new cells can take up to 37 days to develop.
Respiration: The skin gets part of its oxygen supply by drawing it in from the air. Oxygen is crucial to cell life and renewal. (Skin also gets oxygen from blood circulating through the cells.)
Moisture Control: Firmness, suppleness and smoothness are determined by your skin’s moisture content.
Connected: Your skin is intimately connected to the nervous system and emotions. It feels with you emotionally (blushing, truning pale) and for you (temperature, pain). Internal health is revealed in skin colour, texture and general condition. (This is one of the reasons why scholars think “beauty” has been important through the ages & cultures, as it represents health!)
7 Functions You Can Perform for Skin Health
Cleansing: By cleansing, you help remove the debris, toxins and dead cells that your skin has eliminated.
Mositurizing: Moisturizers assist by adding even more moisture to the skin and locking it onto the surface.
Diet: Eating a balanced diet of healthy foods benefits you skin too. As boring as it may sound, the foods best for overall health are optimal for skin health as well.
Exercise: Exercise brings more oxygen and nutrients to the skin, allowing for optimum cell reproduction & skin function.
Rest: Lack of sleep contributes to minor and major accidents & injuries. Studies have shown that if you do not get enough restful sleep, your immune cells do not work as well for the next twenty-four hours. (Once you have a full night of sound sleep, they regain their disease-fighting abilities.)
Protection: Protect your skin from environmental factors. Use a sunscreen against both UVA & UVB rays everyday. Studies have also shown that the addition of antioxidants (such as vitamins E or C) can help prevent skin cancer and keep skin firm and young looking.
Deanna Ferber is President of GlamKitty, a cosmetics and skin care company dedicated to helping Busy Women with 9 Lives find their own Tabby Chic™. Take a ‘paws’ in your day at http://glamkitty-beauty.com
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