The Skin- For those who'd like to know (updated 12/6/13)

THE SKIN

Before we look at anything else There are several things that we need to take a look at here. As promised, I am not going to bore you to death with all the technical terms. I will do my best to not confuse you. The easiest way for you to understand this is that there are three major levels to the skin. Epidermis, Dermis and your Hypodermis. Epidermis is your outter skin. Your Dermis, the middle layer is where you are going to find blood and lymph vessels, hair follicles and sweat glands and sebaceous glands. (the glands that produce oil) Your nerves and sensitivity to hot and cold occur at this level too. It is also where the production of the protein of collagen and elastin happens. It is the stuff that keeps us youthful, our skin plump. At the hypodermis you find fat tissues.

The focus of this post is going to be mainly on the Epidermis but it will be brief. 
 There are sublevels, particularly to the Epidermis. That is all I want or need you to focus on.

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

The epidermis is responsible for the look and feeling of our skin and is also where Melanin is produced. (Melanin gives us the color of our skin). The skin is the largest organ on your body. Cells in the epidermis are known as keratinocytes because they make a type of protein called keratin which serves to strengthen the skin.The Epidermis consists of Five Layers:

1) The Stratum Corneum aka. The horny layer, consists of dead skin cells of mostly Kertain. ( The strongest protein in your skin that is responsible for giving your hair and nails it's strength). This layer is very important as it protects us from the environment, chemicals, UV radiation and bacteria and is very thin.

2) Stratum Lucidum aka the clear layer. It is present where the skin is the thickest such as the soles of your feet and palms of your hands. It is designed to help your body handle friction. However, we do not really need to pay much attention to this layer at this time.

3) The stratum granulosum creates a waterproof barrier between the active cells of the lower epidermis and the outer dead cells.

4) Stratum Spinosum layer has older cells moving up from the basal layer (the bottom most layer) up to form the stratum spinosum, or prickle layer. In the prickle layer cells are flatter and full of keratin. Older cells in the prickle layer are replaced and move up to form the granular layer, where they begin to lose their nuclei. By the time they have moved up through the next two layers to reach the top of the epidermis, they have become flattened dead scales.

5)  The Basale layer is your very last layer. It is where new cells are born (divide). It takes 28 days for the cells to go from the Basale layer to the Corneum layer. Remember this, especially when trying a product out for the first time. It is why you should give a new product 1-2 months before deciding is effectiveness. (Unless of course you have an allergic reaction to it)

SO WHY THE LESSON?

This is a very quick run down of the basics of how the skin functions and where things can be found. It is useful for some of the things I wish to speak about. It is also good for general knowledge. For example when I speak about skin absorption and skin penetration in my next blog and mention certain layers, it's easier to understand if you know what I am referring to.

I know that was a lot! But it was all very important. Don't forget to subscribe and follow my blog so that you can get the updates as we talk further!

Enjoy, Life, Love, Liberty and always yourself.

Skin care -Foreword- IMPORTANT

Welcome to the Skin Care Education section of this blog, the place where you can learn to better your skin, make positive change, and be happier. As a Skin Care specialist I aim to bring forward some of the knowledge that I have learned over the years. I am a student for life and I am always learning new things myself!

Some of you might be asking: So why would you give away such information? That is because skin care doesn't stop after seeing a skin care specialist. It is and should be, a part of your every day lives. There are things that you could be doing right now to help improve your skin! For those of you who love make up, well there's no better canvas than a clear one right?

IMPORTANT - Before I share with you some knowledge, I want to make it perfectly clear:
Take what you want of the information given to you that feels right for YOU and leave the rest. What this means is that you might not agree with everything I say. Maybe you have your own belief of truth of how things are and that is okay. You are all free to always believe what you want. I am simply sharing with you my knowledge. For free. So please, be courteous of that fact. I encourage each and every one of you to head on out, do research for yourself! Never take just ONE person's word for it. Make sure all websites are credible. ( wikipedia doesn't count ) ALWAYS follow what rings true in your heart. Do what you think is right for YOU.

So that being said where do we go from here? Well before you wander on over to the other sections of this blog, the basics need to be sorted out first. We need to begin with your skin. Another thing, I am going to refrain from using technical terms as much as possible for you. In the medical profession they use all those huge fancy terms that chalks its self up to something simple. I had to endure that in school but I am going to save you from it. So lend me those gorgeous eye's of yours and let's get started!