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Once upon a time you had plump little cheeks and super-soft skin that
lifted effortlessly into your baby smiles. When you woke up from a nap, your
skin would be glowing and moist and irresistibly kissable. Come on, it wasn’t
that long ago! Being skin is hard work, so over the years your skin has lost
some of the suppleness it used to have. As the largest organ in the body, your
skin has been busy regulating your body temperature and maintaining a barrier
between you and the environment. It has been assaulted by soaps and sunlight
and buffeted by dry winds. It has protected your organs from ultraviolet
radiation, toxic chemicals, and germs. It has enabled you to sweat yet has
prevented the vital water in your body from evaporating. It has given your face
beautiful expressions, made you blush, and allowed you to feel soft caresses.
Your skin has endowed you with your distinctive hair and given you
fingernails and toenails to polish. Over the years your skin accumulates
damage—not just on the surface but also underneath. Free radicals break down
cell membranes and cause irritation on the cellular level. Your skin gets
thinner, and the fat pads underneath diminish and shift, making your skin look
looser while accentuating wrinkles. Collagen and elastin—proteins that provide
structure and support for your skin—start to break down and are renewed at a
slower rate, making your skin saggy and less elastic. With age the skin
produces less oil, so it becomes more difficult for it to retain moisture and
it becomes drier.
The skin around the eyes usually shows the first signs of aging due to
the presence of smaller and fewer oil glands there. As you get older, blood
vessels in your skin become more fragile, taking away some of the radiance of
youth. Some facial expressions, like scowling or squinting, start to etch lines
in your face. If you smoke, drink alcohol regularly, or eat poorly, these
habits will stress your skin even more. The rate at which your skin loses its
firmness and elasticity depends on both factors beyond your control, such as
your genetic makeup, and lifestyle factors you can control, such as your
exposure to the sun, your skin-care regimen, and of course, your diet!
Your skin is a very strong indicator of your overall health. If you have
not been eating a nutrient-rich diet, your skin may get oily and clogged, dry
and rough, or flare up with acne. Eczema, psoriasis, and breakouts are not a normal and necessary
part of life. Think of these symptoms as your skin trying to get your
attention. They may be a sign that you are not meeting your body’s nutritional
needs. Once you get your diet back in order, your skin will reward you by once
again becoming glowing, moist, and irresistibly kissable. It takes three to
four weeks for the skin to renew itself. Sometimes you’ll want a quick fix to
zap a zit and get you through the short term, but to regain your youthful glow,
try my Beauty Diet and follow the super skin recommendations in this site for
four weeks. Then reward yourself with a special event, because you’ll be ready
for your own close-up!
Feel the Skin You’re In
I’m sure you already know what your skin looks like. Most of us look in
the mirror every morning, and for some of us it’s a bit of a shock. What I
would like you to do now is feel your
skin. Check the texture of your neck and face. Does it feel firm and supple or
crepelike and saggy? Does it feel plump or thin? Is it smooth or bumpy? Are
there places that are dry or oily? Do you feel any areas that are stiff or
inflexible?
You probably think of your skin as a very thin layer, but it consists of
three layers. Once you understand the processes that occur there, you’ll have a
better idea why it is so important to supply your skin with the nutrients it
needs to renew itself.
Your Face to Face the World: The Epidermis
The epidermis is the outermost layer that protects the body from various
environmental stressors. It also has cells that contain melanin, the pigment
that gives skin its color. Whether you are aware of it or not, the first thing
you notice about other people is probably their epidermis—and it’s the first
thing other people notice about you.
The outer layer of skin consists of dead cells that are packed into a
matrix of lipids (fats). These dead cells are continuously sloughing off, while
cells in the lower layer of the epidermis are continuously proliferating, at a
rate of millions per day. Cells from the lower layer work their way up to the
surface through a differentiation process called keratinization. So the dry, flat cells on the surface of your
skin today were actually once upon a time thick, healthy cells from below the
surface.
The most important substances in the top layer of the skin are the
keratin proteins and skin lipids. The stratum corneum (topmost layer) uses
fatty acids, which is why consuming quality fats will give you quality skin. It
also includes a family of lipids called ceramides,
which have names like alpha-hydroxy
and omega-hydroxy acids.
Sound familiar?
Some beauty products contain synthetic ceramides to replace those lost
during the aging process. These natural lipids are a major component of skin
structure, and they allow the skin to retain moisture.
BEYOND THE BEAUTY DIET
Smoking and Your Skin: Everybody knows smoking is bad for your lungs, but it
also takes a toll on your natural beauty! When
you light up—or when you are near someone else
who lights up—the cigarette smoke goes into your lungs, and
from there into your bloodstream, and then throughout
your body.
Each lungful of smoke sends free radicals
everywhere, causing oxidative stress in every part of your body. In
addition, free-radical damage accumulates below the surface of your skin and
ultimately leads to wrinkles.
Cigarette smoke makes your blood vessels
constrict, which impairs the blood flow to your skin. This not only makes you look
gray but also prevents your body from being able to carry toxins and debris
away from your tissues. In addition, it prevents nutrients from reaching the
cells in your skin, so they cannot refresh and renew themselves. Smoking breaks
down collagen and elastin in skin, which contributes to wrinkles and sagging.
Cigarette smoke depletes your body’s
supply of vitamin C, which is a key ingredient for keeping skin plump and
moist. Smokers need far more of the antiaging antioxidants because their bodies
suffer from far more oxidative stress. The damage smoking does to your
appearance can take 10 years to appear, but it is irreversible. Smoking simply
is not compatible with youthful, soft, attractive skin. You can keep smoking,
or you can have beautiful skin. Your choice.
The Award for Best Supporting Role Goes to . . . the
Dermis!
The dermis is
right under the epidermis. It is a thick, resilient layer of connective tissue
that makes up about 90 percent of the skin’s depth. Beneath every attractive
epidermis is a robust dermis.
The dermis contains collagen and elastin, two interconnected structural
proteins that create a dense mesh. Collagen gives skin its resilience and
strength, while elastin gives skin its ability to stretch and snap back.
Together they support the nerve endings, muscle cells, sweat glands, sebaceous (oil)
glands, hair follicles, and tiny blood vessels in this layer of skin. The
dermis also contains special cells called fibroblasts that synthesize collagen and elastin. The sebaceous glands
produce sebum, which lubricates the skin and makes your hair waterproof. These
natural oils keep your skin soft and supple and prevent your scalp from getting
dry and flaky.
When the sebaceous glands become overactive, they produce too much oil,
which can lead to clogged pores, blackheads, and pimples. Later in this site,
I’ll explain how to turn troubled skin into terrific skin.
Plump It Up: The Hypodermis
The hypodermis is a subcutaneous layer that consists mostly of fat and
provides both insulation and cushioning. This layer is responsible for smooth,
plump-looking skin.
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