The Skin (Part 1)

Okay, I got so excited about my review, I think I have to start with the basic – to tell something about the skin. After all, this is where we apply most of the cosmetics we use, right? As they say, the skin is the largest organ of the body (what a cliché)! Don’t mistake the skin for the face – when we say skin, it’s not just the face, but the entirety of our body’s covering. I know this is a bit elementary, but our skin protects our body, helps our body maintain the right temperature and allows us to have a sense of touch. And of course, aesthetically speaking, our skin reflects our “beauty” – how we take care of ourselves. An ugly skin means a lazy person who owns the skin. Agree or disagree? Let’s have some science here now. The skin is made up of three layers – the outer layer called the Epidermis, the next layer (under epidermis) is the Dermis, and the last layer which is the Subcutaneous Fat. Epidermis is the part of the skin that we see. When you look at your arms, you see a skin right? This is the epidermis – but what you are seeing is an old skin cell. This is where we put all the “beauty products” before it gets absorbed by the inner layer of our skin. Skin undergoes a 28-day cycle before it produces a new skin (of course, the newer the skin, the better it looks). As one age, this process slows down making it 30 to 40 days period. This means you are showing your old skin for a month or so – or you look old for a month or so – how do you like that? That is where the “anti-ageing products” come into play – they speed ups the process of skin renewal, thus, you don’t have to wait for 28 – 40 days before you get a new skin and look a lot younger – that’s more like it! Most of the cells in the epidermis work to make new skin – well at least 95%. The other 5%, they make a substance called melanin. Melanin gives skin its color. The darker your skin is, the more melanin you have. When you go out into the sun, these cells make extra melanin to protect you from getting burned by the sun's ultraviolet, or UV, rays. The more melanin you have, the more protected you are from the UV rays. That also means, the darker your skin is, the better protection. But of course, whether you have white or dark skin, it is still recommended that you don’t go under the sun without a sunblock -- it’s a must! And please, please, don’t get deceived by the whitening products that claim to give you a white skin (if your dark) – say a morena skin will turn into a mestiza… Com’on, we can never be whiter than the natural color of our skin. For instance, I have a morena skin like Beyonce, no whitening cream can make me as white at Michael Jackson ( I’m referring to his complexion now). It can only be done if I inject something in my skin that will reduce my skin’s production of melanin. Do this at your own risk. Enough about the epidermis. Let’s talk about the dermis in my next post.