Understanding your skins renewal processes
Skin ages constantly, but we tend not to take action until it starts to show and major part of understanding what your skincare needs are, is having a basic understanding how your skin works and what happens in skin aging and the contributory factors.
Understanding your skin and its natural cycles is key ! Having spent nearly a decade in the industry I've learnt so much about our skin, products and treatments to help with aging skin and concerns that if I could rewrite my life from my 20's I would ......... If i knew then what I know now (all in hindsight). Skincare products are everywhere and knowing the basic information is a great starting point to choosing the right path. 85% of people that visit the salon, either don't know what their true skin type is or get it wrong. Then wonder why they are not getting the results they want from their skincare. ( I will do another blog on this subject to help you with that) It is worth getting a professional evaluation of your skin if you don't know, For years I thought I had sensitive skin..... and yes in parts I do but actually I am mainly normal to dry.
Todays subject however is about skin Aging so lets get into it. I have stripped out some complicated information that unless you are a dermatologist or skin expert will just over complicate it and blow your mind so, understanding the basics if all that is needed here.
Skin Renewal processes
Skin regeneration is a natural bodily cycle that occurs as our skin cells turn over. In other words the dead skin cells on the top layer of our skin, falls away, revealing fresh newly created skin underneath.
This process takes about 28 days from start to finish, from when the new skin cell is produced in the lower epidermis to when it reaches the surface and falls away.
The skin cell turn over and our rate of collagen (keeps our skin firm) production starts to also slow down as we age. This process as we age can take up nearly double this time at 42 days. This is known as skin aging. In turn it effects our Skins Firmness, tautness and brightness, we start to lose our glow ….
The slowing down is inevitable and aging skin cannot be reversed, but there are things we can do to help it along the way to keep it as much on par as we can to maintain healthy looking skin.
Yes, you’ll hear me bang on about it in the salon and during treatments. Trust me! If I knew then what I know now my whole skincare routine over the past 4 decades would have been a whole lot different. Only have learnt what I have through my training. I was never introduced to it properly as a child and I know 90% of you reading this won’t have either. The basis for a good skincare routine comes with understanding how our skin works and how it ages thus writing this blog to help educate you in your knowledge without 5 years of college work …… let me do that bit.
Throughout our 20's
Visible signs of aging, such as spots, pigmentation, diminishing skin radiance may become visible and are all results of our skins natural defense mechanism to probable external factors such as sun damage, lack of skincare alternatively incorrect skincare, poor health and wellbeing and environmental damage.
In our 30's
Fine lines and wrinkles start to appear. Duller complexion and uneven skin tone due to the loss of cell renewal, cell turnover, Collagen (keeps skin firm), elastin (keeps skin bouncy) as well as muscle decline.
In our 40's
By our 40’s our skin appears thinner and our natural lipids (Fatty acids: These help maintain lipid balance, contributing to skin repair. They also help create the skin’s acid mantle, which protects from oxidative damage. All of these lipids work together to keep the skin healthy and young-looking.) are not so pronounced as well as hormonal changes we may even develop adult acne ……. Just putting that out there just because we’re not teenagers anymore doesn’t mean acne has gone forever … so if you do suffer from adult acne, it is more common than you think and this maybe the reasons why.
In our 50's
The lipids reduce even more leading to less efficient moisture retention (more potential to sensitivity and dehydration) by now our skin can show prominent wrinkles and fine lines and discolouration.
There are no ‘quick fixes’ to skin rejuvenation, because of our natural cell renewal process and the other goodies our bodies need to produce to keep everything in tip top condition.
Have you ever wondered why, after a week of new products you haven’t noticed any difference or been for 1 treatment and not had the results you imagined? this is why …. You need to allow a minimum of 28 days or maybe longer (if you remember the skin renewal times of 28 – 42 days) for your skin to work its magic to see if anything has changed as your treating the under layer of the skin, so once it’s at the top you’ll see the results, and this takes time. Skincare and rejuvenation is a progressive and not aggressive routine to better results. These results will also depend on how your current skin actually is and the care that has been taken of it so far, as well as individual circumstances.
Skin renewal happens as a result of the skin cells travelling from the lowest part of the epidermis layer to the top layer. The longer is takes for this to happen (skin aging) the larger the build up of dead skin on the surface, so exfoliation is an essential part of your skincare routine … do you exfoliate?
How can a skincare routine help slow down the aging?
In our 20’s and even into our 30’s most of us don’t even consider skincare other than maybe some micellar water or some soap and water …. However, getting into a good daily skin routine can help slow down the effect of aging as we supplement the skin as we age with the goodies it may need that it no longer produces so efficiently. Our skin is with us for Life, so lets make our actions count.
You should be cleansing, moisturising twice a day morning and night and applying SPF EVERYDAY regardless of time of year UVA & UVB are present everyday not only in the summer months ….. and please REMOVE YOUR MAKEUP every night !
Alongside daily maintenance you will need to exfoliate to help shed those dead skin cells which will help give our skin some strength and elasticity back.