What Does Your Skin Do for You?

What does your skin do for you? Quite a lot, as it turns out! This amazing, yet most often neglected part, of your body literally protects you from the outside in. So, how does it do that? In this blog we will find out that you have your own built-in thermostat, how you experience different sensations, how your skin gets the good stuff but gets rid of the bad stuff, and how to keep that oh-so-soft skin feeling!

1. Did you know you have your own thermostat?

Your skin is the ultimate multi-tasker. It takes on six main tasks 24/7 and doesn’t break into a sweat. Well, maybe sometimes, but that’s all part of its job, to keep you healthy and on track!

Your skin regulates heat to make sure that you’re not overheating, or under heating, and keeps you on an even keel with an inside temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). How does it do this? As just mentioned, you can either sweat it out (so you cool down) or your skin will insulate itself to keep you warm. Your thermostat – skin – will let the other parts of your body know whether you need to be warmer or cooler. And it will do it all of this without you having to think about adjusting anything! Cool!

2. Have you ever thought about how you actually feel things in life?

How do you know if something is hot – or cold? How do you feel pain? What is too much pressure? Your skin, via nerve fibers within it, takes on these responsibilities and allows you to feel the warmth of a fire, the coolness of an ice cube, the pain of a football slamming into you, or the weight of your little one on your lap. It alerts you to the less pleasurable things in life all the way through to experiencing the beautiful.

3. How do you get rid of some of the yucky things you don’t want in your skin?

In a word: Excretion. The skin contains sweat glands (as touched upon when we talked about your skin’s thermostat) and these glands – sudoriferous glands – allow the skin to perspire and detoxify. They literally push the yucky stuff onto the skin’s surface to get rid of it.

4. How does your skin stay so soft?

Admittedly, we can all use a little outside help to keep our skin in its best shape, but you do have a great starting point within your skin. Your skin contains sebum glands. Sebum glands secrete sebum, an oil-like substance which helps to keep your skin soft, supple, and smooth.

5. Did you know that your skin fights on your behalf every day to keep out the bad stuff?

Your skin is the ultimate bad a&* in protection! It has an extraordinary defense mechanism and is constantly working for you. Your skin helps to protect you from bacteria and other nasties (known officially as free radicals) on a daily basis. Here’s how it does this:

• The superficial (top) surface of your skin is called the epidermis. The epidermis has a layer of sebum (an oil, that we mentioned previously) to protect it from the airborne bad stuff (micro-organisms).
• A thin film called the acid mantle forms a protective layer on top of the epidermis. The acid mantle is made up of a mixture of sebum secretions, sweat, and water. It protects the skin from water loss that may be caused by evaporation – trans dermal water loss (TDWL) – from the skin’s surface. As its name implies, the acid mantle is acidic, which means it is extremely helpful in maintaining the pH balance of your skin, locking in moisture, and keeping you looking great!

 So, let’s stop and think about this for a moment. If your skin is doing daily maintenance and protection from outside bad stuff, what does extreme face cleansing, or overuse of skin-care products, do to your skin? You’ve probably guessed it: It can compromise the integrity of the natural functions of your skin, ultimately leaving your skin more at risk to the elements.

• Your skin also stores melanocytes. Melanocytes produce the pigment melanin. When the sun is intense, melanin rises to the surface of your skin to protect it from the sun. And this is how you get a suntan. Tanning is the skin’s protective mechanism against ultraviolet (UV) damage.
• Lastly, fibroblasts. These tiny cells within the skin help to form connective tissue and rebuild your skin when you suffer an injury. Your in-built wound healing support system.

Your skin needs to absorb all sorts of chemicals, moisture, and oxygen to keep it in good shape. Absorption of this good stuff usually occurs through the cells, hair follicles, and sebaceous glands. Therefore, you need to remember to take care of it with the RIGHT skincare products for it to function well. Be deliberate in your choices. Take care of your skin and it will take care of you.

Not Just a Pretty Face (or Body)

Your skin is one of the natural wonders of the world! And yet you most likely abuse it. You feed it toxic chemicals, or you starve it of what it craves.

 How much attention do you pay to your skin? Think about your diet. Most people understand what it means to eat a healthy diet: Protein, vegetables, low carbs, legumes etc., right? But instead of asking what does healthy eating look like, ask yourself what does healthy skincare look like? I believe that a higher percentage of people would struggle with the answer.

 Toxins can enter your body through your diet, your skin, and your olfactory system. A lot of the synthetic fragrances that are in your skincare products are also in your diffusing products, such as candles and other aromatic molecules. Think about this: If all the skincare products with unnecessary chemicals are being applied onto your skin and also being absorbed through your olfactory system, your body will get taxed over time. One or two items may not seem like a big deal, but we are not paying enough attention to the ingredients in our skincare products and household products as well. The accumulation of all of these toxic chemicals makes a difference. 

 Your skin is aaammmmaaazzing! Think about all the things that it does each day for you. You really have been given an incredible functioning power in your skin. It’s one of the best multi-taskers around. Your skin would love you so much more if you help to maintain it!

 So, head on over to our shop to get some of the best skincare blends around to help you take care of your all-important skin!