Understanding your skin to take better care of it

Between you and your skin, even if it changes, it's for life! To take good care of it, you must first understand how it works - which, under the flood of information, is not always obvious. But it is also about realizing to what extent beautiful skin also depends on a good overall lifestyle... Explanations.

The skin, an essential organ of the human body

The skin is an extraordinary organ. Completely waterproof, its purpose is to prevent anything from penetrating the body thanks to the hydrolipidic film that covers it, coming from sebum and sweat secretions. But this protective barrier is more complex than it seems: it also intervenes, for example, in breathing . As proof, severe burn victims often die of asphyxiation.

Have you noticed that the condition of your skin depends on your psyche? Sometimes a period of stress is enough to cause breakouts. This is due to its tenuous link with the nervous system : this is why laughing, massaging yourself, sleeping well and relaxing are the basic actions for glowing skin. Finally, it also plays a role in the elimination of waste through sweating , which in turn helps maintain body temperature and the skin's acidic pH.

Anatomy and functioning of the skin

Very concretely, what we call "skin" is divided into three layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis . Blood circulation takes place in the hypodermis (made up of adipocytes, fat cells) and mainly in the dermis: these are therefore the two layers mainly responsible for the nutrition of the skin. The dermis, an aqueous connective tissue, diffuses hydration to the epidermis . As you will have understood: to have beautiful skin, it is absolutely necessary to provide it with all the necessary hydration from the inside by drinking enough mineral water and having a balanced diet .

The epidermis is the superficial layer of the skin , protective, which receives the cosmetics that we apply. It is itself divided into several layers: while at the level of the basal layer, the cells multiply, they pile up and lose a large quantity of water when they reach the stratum corneum . At this level, the various cells (now called corneocytes) are linked by a lipid cement composed in particular of cholesterol, ceramides and saturated fatty acids. To limit the loss of water from the cells on the stratum corneum, it is important to apply cosmetics with a composition rich in lipids ( vegetable oils , for example). This helps maintain a good quality intercellular cement. The hydrolipidic film, which we mentioned earlier, covers and protects the whole.

“Skin types” and the factors of change

"Normal" skin would not need any care: everything would be in place for a perfect balance. Unfortunately, normal skin does not really exist: most people actually have so-called combination skin , and thus recognize themselves in the characteristics of both dry and oily skin.

	“Dry” type	"Fat" type
Skin texture	END	Visible pores
To touch	Rough	Oily (high sebum production)
Reaction to cleaning?	Discomfort	Rapid reappearance of shine
Pinching sensation?	Folding	Very thick skin

Besides this, other factors intervene and can modify the nature of your skin such as age (skin is said to be "mature"), but also the seasons and hormones which sometimes make it "sensitive" or "dehydrated". As for the spots of oily and combination skin, they are due to an overproduction of sebum combined with the presence of bacteria and an excessive production of keratin, which clogs the pores.

Skin needs

No matter what your skin type and characteristics are, it has the same daily needs as all others: cleansing, moisturizing and (sometimes) protection .

In order to be free of impurities, makeup, dust and pollution that it receives, your skin must be carefully cleansed every evening. Be careful with aggressive soaps, which do not respect the acidic pH of your skin and risk disrupting its balance… The ideal is a cold-process, superfatted soap . A light scrub can also be carried out at regular intervals (except in cases of inflammation or acne) to eliminate dead skin and bring new, younger, water-rich cells to the surface.

The water content of your skin is a crucial element for its health (and therefore its beauty). Since it is continually evaporating towards the epidermis, this loss must be regulated. This requires drinking enough water and having a healthy diet, but not only that: the external environment greatly disrupts this fragile balance. It is therefore a question of compensating with so-called "moisturizing" products , which help retain water in the skin tissues.

Most conventional moisturizers (paraffin or mineral oil based) are enough to soften the skin and slightly limit water loss, but they do nothing to improve the quality of the skin. The best moisturizers are those, as we have seen, that strengthen the intercellular cement thanks to the presence of lipophilic fatty ingredients .

Cosmetics also act as a barrier protecting the skin from friction, pollution, microbes and temperature variations. However, in case of strong exposure to the sun, do not forget to apply a sunscreen to avoid cellular alteration and burns.

In short...

Skin types	Other factors	Common needs
· Dry · Mixed · Grasse	· Age · The seasons · Hormones · Dehydration	· Cleaning · Hydration · Protection