Skin Care Through the Ages :: Beauty :: Skin Care

Skin Care Through the Ages
by author Joseph Borkovic

What is one of the very first things you notice about a person? Skin. Smooth, glowing cheeks and ageless eyes garner envious looks like nothing else. Don’t believe me? Pick up a magazine sometime. You’re not likely to find a blemished chin or spotty forehead unless it’s the “before” picture for the latest acne or wrinkle treatment.

In young or old, male or female, we see skin for what it is–an extension of inner health that can be enhanced with a proper beauty routine. Functionally, skin is protective; it’s a barrier between us and our environment. As we age, it changes along with the rest of our organs, causing our skin-care needs to change as well.

Makeup of Skin

Our largest organ is made up of two basic layers: the underlying dermis and the outer epidermis. Within these layers are four more: germinative layer, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum and stratum corneuum. New, plump and round skin cells form at the germinative layer and then travel through the other three levels to reach the surface.

In the aging process, this journey slows down. The longer cells take to make this journey, the more stress they endure, becoming older and flatter. Add years of sun damage, dryness and thinning, both increased by age, and factors that contribute to premature aging, such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies, toxic buildup, inadequate clean water, lack of sleep or exercise, and the skin starts to lose its elasticity–allowing us to succumb to gravity…sooner.

Skin is protective; it’s a barrier between us and our environment. As we age, it changes along with the rest of our organs, causing our skin-care needs to change as well.

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Recommended Resources: Beauty to Die For by Judy Vance, ProMotion Publishing, 1998. A Consumerâ€™s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients by Ruth Winter, Crown Publishers, 1984. Is This Your Childâ€™s World? by Doris J. Rapp, MD, Bantam Books, 1996. Joseph Borkovic is the founder of Organic Formulations, a company specializing in natural and organic skin-care products. E-mail him at sales@organicformulations.ca.

Source: alive #249, July 2003

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