The Skin: Our Protector

The Skin: Our Protector

The Skin: Our Protector

Our skin is amazing, it is our protective barrier, our first line of defence to the outside world, protecting the body by keeping things that may be harmful such as bacteria, viruses and other infectious agents along with toxins and pollution out, while keeping the things our body needs to function properly, such as water and nutrients in.

 

Our skin has 3 layers

  • The Epidermis - the outermost layer, provides a protective shield to the outside world.
  • The Dermis - the middle layer where the blood capillaries, lymph vessels, hair follicles, nerve endings, sebaceous and sweat glands reside along with the matrix of collagen and elastin fibres that form the connective tissue.
  • The Subcutaneous Layer - contains fat to keep us warm, larger blood vessels and dense connective tissue.

 

The Epidermis
Let’s take a closer look at the Epidermis where our inner body meets the outer world. 

The Epidermis is itself composed of several layers. The innermost layer known as the basal layer is where the plump round fluid filled basal keratinocytes (type of skin cell) are produced. These basal keratinocyte divide and slowly migrate upward towards the surface. On their way towards the surface they begin to loose the cellular fluid within and are transformed in to flat protein producing keratinocytes. 

Once they reach the surface the keratinocytes die forming the stratum corneum. Yet these cells remain flexible, overlapping like armour and are coated with a thin layer of sebum containing fatty acids, fatty alcohols, waxes, lactic acid and salts that form the acid mantle. Together these two factors form the protective shield, creating a barrier against microbial, viral, fungal and parasitic invasion; to protect against UV radiation; and to minimize heat, salt, water and nutrient loss from the deeper layers of the skin.

Before forming the stratum corneum, the young keratinocytes act with surrounding Langerhans cells to produce chemical messengers that regulate the immune system. If you get a scratch, cut or develop a spot, these cells trigger an immune response that attacks the pathogens, bacteria or viruses that may be present. Part of this natural immune response is inflammation, as more immune defence cells are called to respond and mount and an attack on the foreign invader.

But it isn’t only pathogens that can trigger an immune response, toxins and synthetic chemicals (in skin care) have the potential to trigger an immune response too, causing irritation and or allergic response. Not only that but these synthetic substances can increase the permeability of the skin, in essence poke holes in the epidermis, allowing more undesirable agents to penetrate the skin.

When our skin feels constantly under threat our immune system is in constant alert mode, ie a constant state of low inflammation. This long term inflammation of the skin tissues unfortunately results in more rapid ageing. 

The epidermis also contains cells called melanocytes that provide pigment which gives our skin it’s colour. When our skin is subjected to harsh abrasives, chemical peels, acids and retinol, these specialist cells become deformed resulting in irregularities in skin colour (hyperpigmentation) and a reduced ability to respond in a healthy way to UV rays.

 

The Microbiome
The epidermis is also home to our skins microbiome. A whole eco system resides on the surface and in the multilayers of the skin. When the skin is injured our ‘native’ microbes invade the area to defend against non-native pathogens.

We need bacterial diversity on the skin, yet when microbial diversity mutates or plummets, pathogenic bacteria breeds and contributes to skin issues. To avoid a state of skin dysbiosis we need to nurture and ‘feed’ the friendly bacteria.

Surfactants, chemicals from petroleum and other toxic ingredient in most modern skin care strips not only the epidermal protective layers but also the microbial diversity.

Studies show surfactants dissolve our hydro-lipid barrier and our ceramides. They insert themselves into the stratum corneum and initiate chronic degradation to this delicate layer. This results in inflammation, and friendly microbial elimination. They cause oxidative stress which in turn can clog pores.

 

Caring for the Epidermis
A skin care routine that supports the epidermis will therefore support the health and beauty of our skin, slowing the ageing process for vibrant youthful skin, and diversifying our unique and beneficial microbiome. Conversely substances that injure or remove the outer layers of the epidermis, are affecting not only its ability to provide protection, but are accelerating the ageing process and affecting our inherent beauty.

Acids such as AHA’s (alpha hydroxy acid) and BHA’s (beta hydroxy acid) and retinol containing products strip the top layers of the epidermis and expose the young immature, plump, fluid filled cells beneath. Initially it may appear to enhance the skins appearance for a short while but in fact they accelerate the ageing of the skin in the long term.

Our skin has an inherent intelligence, an ability to know how to function exactly to give us beauty and vitality. We can work with this intelligence, assisting the skin to do what it was always meant to do for long term skin health and vibrant, slow ageing, or we can confuse the skin with mixed messages in our skin care, injure the skin and its protective barrier, replacing its normal functioning ability for short-term benefits that ultimately age the skin quicker and wither our unique beauty.

Choosing to nourish the skin with plant ingredient rich in vitamins particularly A, C and E, in essential fatty acids, antioxidants and nutrients such as flavonoids and polyphenols to nourish the skins microbiome offers effective support for long term skin health and results that last a lifetime.