Skin Care Tips and Information

The skin is amazingly versatile and complex. Not only is it the largest organ of the body, but it serves countless essential functions and performs a huge variety of roles. This resilient covering makes you waterproof and leakproof, and helps to protect your internal organs from the environment.

What is Skin?

• The skin is a living tissue, whose outer layer is constantly shedding cells and renewing itself.

• The skin of an average-sized adult covers an area of more than 7 square feet(2 m²) and weighs about 11 lb(5 kg).

• The skin is thickest on the soles of the feet, and thinnest around the eyelids, lips, and genitals.

• Skin contains hair follicles, sweat glands, sebaceous (oil-producing) glands, nerve receptors, and blood vessels.

Within The Skin

The skin consists of two main layers: the epidermis and the dermis.

• The epidermis is the thin outer layer that undergoes a continuous process of self-destruction and replacement. Its surface consists of flattened, dead cells filled with a hornlike substance called keratin. These cells, known as keratinocytes, help provide the skin's protective coating. The epidermis also contains melanocytes: the cells that produce melanin, a pigment that protects the body from ultraviolet rays and gives the skin its color.

• The dermis is the thicker and deeper layer of the skin. It contains some water, but is mostly composed of collagen, a fibrous sturdy protein. The dermis also contains many elastic fibers, containing the protein elastin, which makes the skin supple, stretchable, and resilient. Both collagen and elastin are damaged and broken down over time, which is why the skin sags and wrinkles as we age.

Within the dermis are the hair follicles- the sacs that hold the hair roots- and each hair grows up through holes in the epidermis. Muscles attached to the hair follicles enable each hair to stand on end. The dermis also contains the sebaceous glands that produce sebum(oil) to lubricate and waterproof the skin. Here, too, are the sweat glands that help to regulate our temperature and eliminate some waste products from the body.

Skin Through Your Life - Changes that come to your Skin with your Age

Your skin is constantly changing. Every day new skin cells are being created, and old cells are dying and being shed. In addition, your skin alters as you get older. This means that it looks and behaves differently at various stages of your life. Because of the changing nature of skin, certain conditions Occur more frequently at some times than at others. Understanding the phases through which your skin passes during your lifetime helps you to greet changes calmly and to be prepared when a problem arises. And because your skin is constantly growing older, along with the rest of you, its needs will vary at different times. This means that you must alter your skin care routine according to your age.

• A baby's Skin - Baby Skin Care.
• Growing Children - Skin care for a growing children.
• The Teenage years - Teen skin care tips and and information.
• Pregnancy - Skin Care while you are pregnant.
• The middle years - Skin care during middle years of your life.
• Later Life - Old age skin care, this is the time you need to take more care for your skin.
• Care of aging skin - Anti-Aging Skin care, this will help you look younger.