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The Importance of a Strong and Healthy Skin Structure

Skin plays an important role not only in improving a person’s appearance but also in protecting and enhancing one’s health.  Healthy skin goes hand in hand with a healthy lifestyle

Your skin is an organ, much like your heart and kidneys, is the protective covering of the body and is the largest organ of the body.  Its acts as a protective barrier between our environment, as well as protect the wellbeing in the deeper layer of our skin.  

Skin is made up of the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The first is the outer layer, which we want to lock in hydration and protect against harmful toxins. As we age, the renewal of lipids (fatty acids that trap in water and prevent irritants entering the skin) in the epidermis slows down, and UV rays, pollution and lifestyle choices cause damage.

The skin barrier plays the role of keeping the skin healthy and preventing compounds inside the body from mixing with those outside the body. Therefore, the role of the skin barrier is highly important.  For example, if cement plays the important role of connecting bricks to build a firm wall, Corneocytes(dead skin cells) and lipid compounds strengthen the skin barrier by filling in the spaces in between the corneocytes(dead skin cells) at the outermost layer of the skin.

The epidermis (your outermost skin layer), act as the outer barrier is thin, tough and waterproof. This protective shield works to help your body repel damaging bacteria and viruses. It contains several different types of cells, including a specialized kind called Langerhans’ cells, which provide support for your immune system by fighting against these potentially harmful foreign substances.

Its also protects you from the harmful rays of the sun. It contains another important type of cell called melanocytes, which produce the pigment melanin. When you get a tan, it’s this pigment that turns your skin darker or causes freckles. Melanin’s main function, however, is to block out the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, which can lead to cancer or other skin problem.

Skin continuously regenerates throughout a lifetime and maintains a certain level of thickness and its functions. Cells generated inside the skin eventually become corneocytes(dead skin cells), and these fall off every four weeks. On the stratum corneum, not only corneocytes(dead skin cells) exist, but also skin lipid, which binds cells.

Lipid, like oil, does not mix with water, and is tightly and meticulously aligned on stratum corneuvm to prevent moisture loss as well as the infiltration of harmful elements to the body.  Such lipid structure is called a lamellar structure. Because several layers of lipid, which does not mix with water, are aligned in parallel, water and other harmful elements from the external environment do not easily penetrate the skin.

The skin type that is representative of a damaged skin barrier is dry skin and sensitive skin. Both dry skin and sensitive skin water is easily lost, leaving the skin drier and vulnerable to the infiltration of harmful elements from the external environment causing irritation or allergies. Of the several hundred lipid compounds inside dry skin, ceramide is particularly lacking. Skin that lacks ceramide does not show a normal lipid lamellar structure.

Both dry skin and sensitive skin lack ceramide or have an abnormal lipid structure. Lack of ceramide causes various skin problems. As such, several attempts have been made to develop products that supply enough ceramide to the skin in order to improve the function of the skin barrier.

The Dermis (second layer of your skin), is the thick, elastic but firm middle layer of the skin.  The main structural components of the dermis are collagen and elastin, connective tissues, which give strength and flexibility and these fibres are embedded in hyaluronic acid which has high capacity for water binding and helps to maintain the volume of our skin and are the vital components of healthy, young looking skin.  

The dermis plays an important role in protecting the skin from external influences and irritants as well as feeding the outermost layers of skin from within.  Its thick and firm texture helps to support external blow and when damage occurs, fibroblast and mast cell that heal wounds.  It is rich in blood vessels that nourish the epidermis while removing waste.  

Lifestyle and external factors such as the sun and changes in temperature have an impact of collagen and elastin levels and on the structure of the surrounding substance.  As we age, our natural production of collagen and elastin slows down and the skin’s ability to bind in water substance.  Skin looks less toned and wrinkle appear

Essentially, maintaining your skin’s natural barrier which result in protecting the deeper layer of skin is one of the best things you can do to stay looking young.

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The Effects of Free Radical

What are Free Radical?

Free radicals are defined as atoms that are unstable.  If the outer shell of an atom is missing an electron it will try to steal one by bonding with another atom.

Oxidative stress is a process where oxygen molecules split into atoms with missing electrons that become free radicals. They then try to bond with other molecules or atoms in the body.   The body is under constant attack from oxidative stress.  This causes damage to cells, proteins and DNA and leading to a host of diseases and symptoms of aging.

Free radicals are the natural byproducts of chemical processes, such as metabolism.  Free radicals as waste products from various chemical reactions in the cell that when built up, harm the cells of the body and yet free radicals are essential to life. The body’s ability to turn air and food into chemical energy depends on a chain reaction of free radicals. Free radicals are also a crucial part of the immune system, floating through the veins and attacking foreign invaders.

Substances that generate free radicals can be found in the food we eat, the medicines we take, the air we breathe and the water we drink.  These substances include fried foods, alcohol, tobacco smoke, pesticides and air pollutants.

The Danger in Free Radical

When free radicals are formed, a chain reaction can occur. The first free radical pulls an electron from a molecule, which destabilizes the molecule and turns it into a free radical. That molecule then takes an electron from another molecule, destabilizing it and tuning it into a free radical. This domino effect can eventually disrupt and damage the whole cell.

The free radical chain reaction may lead to broken cell membranes, which can alter what enters and exits the cell.  The chain reaction may change the structure of a lipid, making it more likely to become trapped in an artery. The damaged molecules may mutate and grow tumors.  As well as DNA code may change.

Oxidative stress occurs when there are too many free radicals and too much cellular damage and is associated with damage of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.  Oxidative stress plays a role in the development of many conditions, including macular degeneration, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, emphysema, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ulcers and all inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis and lupus. 

Free radicals are also associated with aging. Free radicals can damage DNA’s instructional code, causing our new cells to grow incorrectly, leading to aging, causing a cross-linking and hardening of the fibers, resulting in a lack of firm cushion for the layers above. Due to both internal and external factors, circulation slows and depletes the level of nourishment via blood flow, to the lower layers of the epidermis.

Antioxidant and Free Radical

Antioxidants keep free radicals in check. Antioxidants are molecules in cells that prevent free radicals from taking electrons and causing damage.  It able to give an electron to a free radical without becoming destabilized themselves and stopped the free radical chain reaction.

Our body produces some antioxidants on its own, but an insufficient amount. Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants (too many free radicals and too few antioxidants).

Antioxidants are natural substances whose job is to clean up free radicals. Just like fiber cleans up waste products in the intestines, antioxidants clean up the free radical waste in the cells.

Antioxidants can be acquired through diet.  They are plentiful in fruits and vegetables, especially colorful fruits and vegetables; some examples include berries, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, nuts and green tea.  Well-known antioxidants include beta-carotene and other carotenoids, lutein, vitamin C, vitamin E, lycopene and other phytonutrients.

Protecting your skin from the sun and pollution is a great preventative method in the production of free radicals.

Although your body naturally produces antioxidants, nutrition and skincare ingredients high in antioxidants are vital in supporting cells and preventing cell damage, premature aging and restoring health and balance.

Antioxidants can improve cell function, increase collagen production, improve elasticity, create healthier, younger skin cells and reduce sun damage, but the improvement takes time. The more potent antioxidants you use, the healthier and younger you will be.

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Peptides in Skincare

What are Peptides?

Peptides have become a byword for anti-aging skincare products.  So what are peptides, how do they work and why are we paying so much for them in our skincare.

Amino acids are organic compounds that help form proteins.  Amino acids are made up of the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen.  They have many functions. For example: amino acids are responsible for giving proteins their structure, transporting nutrients, and sending signals to other cells.

Peptides are a form of proteins and are made up of amino acids.  When amino acids are combined in certain formations they form specific peptides and there are hundreds of peptides.  And when peptides form longer chains of amino acids, they become the building blocks of proteins.

Proteins make up much of the body’s tissue, organs, and skin. One of the body’s most important skin proteins is collagen. Essentially, collagen is the foundation of your skin.  Collagen gives skin structure, strength, firmness and smoothness.

As you age, collagen production slows down. The collagen you do have is prone to breaking down.  This decrease in collagen production leads to the visible signs of aging – like wrinkles, and skin that looks saggy and crepey. So, you can understand why collagen is so important – it helps increase the appearance of smooth, firm skin.

How do peptides work?

Peptides have the same chemical structure as proteins, which serve as the building blocks of cells and tissues in your body.  Peptides, or mini proteins are active molecules that send signals to your cells.  When collagen breaks down, it forms specific peptides that signal to your skin that it was damaged and needs to make new collagen. Therefore, peptide has the ability to stimulate the cell rejuvenation process and even stimulate collagen production.

Amino acids form peptides. And peptides, in turn, form proteins like collagen. Collagen is an integral component of firm, youthful skin. And without peptides, it can’t be produced and skin does not remain intact and the results is loss of firmness, elasticity, appearance of wrinkles and texture changes.

Peptides in Skincare

Peptide for skincare products use chemicals that are close relatives of protein which are the building blocks of our bodies on the cellular level that can work all the way into the epidermis to speak to the cells.

Incorporating peptides into your skincare routine, these short-chain amino acid peptides are able to easily penetrate the top layers of skin. They can then send signals to your skin cells, directing them to perform certain functions, like collagen synthesis.

This increase in collagen production is what makes peptides such a potent anti-aging skincare ingredient. Peptides can work to encourage skin elasticity, increase hydration and diminish the appearance of aging on the skin.

Peptides not only help stimulate collagen production, but they also help the skin heal faster. Since microscopic ingredients in peptide for skin care strategies can penetrate deep into the skin layers, these amino acid chains help heal the skin faster than many other types of product.

Peptides are becoming a more outstanding part of many skincare.  Because they play such an important role in collagen production, peptides have the potential to boost your own skin’s firmness, smoothness, and strength.

Abundant research has clearly shown they can help revitalize those building blocks and their ability to help revitalize skin.  The results on your skin may be superb.