How Our Skin Ages: Part 1

Friday, June 8th, 2012 at 10:07 PM

There are a few factors that age our skin. Knowing this information will help you to understand why certain ingredients in your skin care products are necessary for creating healthier, young-looking skin.

Chronological Aging and Wrinkles
As a person ages our top skin cells (the first layer of skin) become thinner and less sticky, which contributes to the decrease of our skin being able to retain its moisture. Loss of moisture causes dryness, which leads to unhealthy-looking skin. The number of skin cells decreases by 10% per decade as we get older making the skin less able to repair itself quickly.

The effects of aging on our second layer of skin, not only gets thinner, but also produces less collagen, and the elastin fibers that provide elasticity wear out. When elasticity wears out it causes the skin to wrinkle and sag. This change also leads to skin dryness. Also with aging the skin becomes more fragile which decreases the amount of nutrients available contributing to the decrease of the skin’s normal repair process.

Aging Effects of the Sun and Wrinkles
Ultraviolet exposure, UVA or UVB, from the sun can account for 90% of the symptoms of premature skin aging, which is basically radiation exposure! This ages the skin and causes detrimental changes to a person’s pigment if overexposed over a long period of time. Most of the photoaging effects occur by the age of 20, which means that even if you’re in your 20s, taking good care of your skin, especially by protecting yourself from ultraviolet light is very important.

Sunlight damages the skin by making it thin as well as creating cancerous cells, i.e. carcinomas. It also causes collagen to breakdown at a faster rate than chronological aging. The breakdown of collagen can lead to formation of wrinkles.

UVA or UVB exposure not only occurs if you’re spending time out in the open, i.e. sun-bathing on the beach or taking a walk in nature, you can also be exposed to these harmful rays when driving your car, especially if you do a lot of commuting.

Conditioning agents like dimethicone and glycerine help to retain moisture in your skin, as well as create soft, smooth, and supple skin. Remember that dryness = wrinkles. Also skin care products with antioxidants help to restore the skin’s natural repairing and renewal process. Don’t forget that you need a skin care product that provides protection from the sun. It should have an SPF of at least 30.

Be sure to read my posts on “Daily Skin Care Regimen” in order to learn more about the products (and their ingredients) you need to use daily to repair and renew your skin to its natural state – healthy and young-looking!

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