Skin Facts – Skin Renewal
Our skin has an outer layer known as the epidermis that’s made up of at least 4 layers as facial skin, with the thinnest in the eye area, but there are at least 5 layers on the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands.
The cells go through a life cycle from the point of development (in the base layer of the epidermis), they then travel up to the outer layers at the surface where they arrive as dead cells. This journey can take around 28 days, but this process takes a little longer as you mature.
For the skin to remain healthy this process is continuous, and the top layer of dead cells will eventually fall off or shed allowing fresh, younger cells to replace them. This is the process known as desquamation – the natural shedding of dead skin cells – this is natural skin renewal.
In everyday life, when we move, we aid desquamation, this is called mechanical desquamation – our clothes, for example, rub against our skin every time we move and dead cells are shed.
In fact, 90% of household dust is made up of dead skin cells, and they float in the air prior to landing on a surface, so we breath them in too! This is rather an unnerving thought!
Plus, massaging the skin during cleansing, etc., by using your fingers, a brush or a sonic spatula also aids the dead cells removal, then the cotton muslin cloths and pads, etc., also add their mechanical effect too. All of this helps to keep the skin looking fresh and help the cells to replenish more quickly, a must to have a more beautiful skin.
Microdemabrasion is another form of mechanical cell removal, and is a very popular salon treatment, plus there are now home treatments using a smaller handheld applicator, some with water and skin vacuuming too!
Most of us have heard of exfoliation - this can be carried out through using active ingredients contained in the base product. It can be in a cleanser, a serum or a mask.
Some of them not only dissolve the matrix, that's the sticky stuff that holds the cells together, but also the cells as well. Skin care products such as enzyme peels or fruit and plant acids (AHA/BHA/PHA) are very effective at this process although some are very strong and are best applied by an experienced, qualified beauty therapist or aesthetician. Some serums that are available contain some of these active ingredients, that means that you can perform milder treatments at home, or continue them as homecare, if you follow the instructions correctly.
All of these products and processes help to stimulate that new cell production at the base, that is what is often called skin or 'cell renewal' when discussing skin care treatments or products, and some companies actually give that name to their products too, or use it in the description.
Some people have allergic or sensitised reactions to some of these active ingredients so it is often advisable to have a skin test, or predisposition test, prior to use, to avoid serious skin reactions. Check this protocol with your therapist or manufacturer if you are unsure how to proceed.
Let’s talk about the basic face mask – sheet masks are popular, and unless they have the ‘peeling’ ingredients in them they tend to be hydrating, nourishing, or calming in their actions, but a clay-based mask that tend to be allowed dry more on the skin is an excellent product at removing surface dead cells. The mask ‘sticks’ to the dead cells, and when the mask is remove so too are the dead cells. Whereas, a cream mask will only have a good effect if it contains those important active ingredients, for example Vitamin A or a fruit enzyme, such as papain from the papaya fruit.
So, why not go ahead and exfoliate or pee today! Find out what is best product to treat your skin with, then let me know what you used once you have the results you were looking for! DM me, as I’d love to know!
Love,
Shirley-Louise xx
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