Skin care plays a crucial role in our health and well-being. Not only does it help you look younger, good skin care works as a barrier against environmental elements that filter into our system. It's a protective barrier that separates you from the harsh world outside. It helps keep water and nutrients inside your body, where they belong, and it keeps undesirable elements, like toxins and ravishing, bacteria outside. Skin is made up of two distinct layers: the epidermis (which is on the very outside) and the dermis (which is just underneath the epidermis). The epidermis is your bodys first line of defense. It transforms dead skin cells into a tough, protective layer. It shields the dermis from exposure, plundering bacteria, viruses, infection and injury, therefore we need to take care of it in order to stay healthy.

Every day, we lose millions of dead skin cells, leaving a trail of shed skin everywhere we go. 30,000 -40,000 scales fall off every hour. Over a 24-hour period, you lose almost a million skin cells [source: Boston Globe]. In the course of the year you'll shed more than 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) of dead skin. Right now, they’re collecting on your clothes, on whatever you're sitting on, the floor and so on.

The dust that collects on your tables, TV, windowsills and on those picture frames that are so hard to get clean is made mostly from dead human skin cells. Your house is also filled with trillions of dust mites that eat your old dead skin.

The quest to keep our skin silky soft, supple, and young looking is ancient old, but maintaining healthy skin is also crucial for good health. Macro-nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, lipid, vitamins and nutritionally essential minerals) work together to maintain the barrier functions of skin in the face and body of everyday challenges. As we age, we lose these macro-nutrients via the shedding of the skin. We no longer have a protective barrier, thus the skin gets dry and wrinkled, and we contact many diseases.

It always helps when we understand how things work and why.

The epidermis is composed of 5 sub-layers of skin that work together to continually rebuild the surface of the skin and they are:

Stratum Corneum

The Stratum Corneum (nucleus) is the top layer of the epidermis and consists of 10 to 30 thin layers of continually shedding, dead keratinocytes packed tightly together. It serves as an important barrier that protects the under layers from molecules passing in and out of the skin, and keeps vital nutrients in. It's critically important because it retains the needed moisture that keeps skin elastic and soft. The nucleus controls all cell activity. As we age the Statum Corneum breaks down and cuts off the inner layers from nutrient supply. The Stratum Corneum thins, the skin loses moisture, cell shedding slows, collagen breaks down and amino acids, proteins and peptides, the building blocks of life are restricted, thus skin loses elasticity, and toxins and other environmental elements enter into our body.

Stratum Lucidum is a layer of dead skin cells often found on the soles of the feet and palms of the hand. It involves the breakdown of the nucleus and the thickening of the plasma membrane by dissolving lipids and proteins, disturbing the bonds that hold the cell membrane.

Langerhans' cells

Langerhans' cells is the front line defense that protects the skin's immune system. And new studies have found that Langerhans cells function to prevent excessive responses in the skin. "Failure of this mechanism could result in chronic inflammatory skin conditions like lupus and psoriasis", according to professor of laboratory medicine and immunobiology at Yale".

Melanocyte cell

The Melanocyte cell produces pigment melanin. When the sun shines on the pigment, skin tans and causes dark spots. Melanin block the sun's harmful rays, which can also lead to cancer or other skin disorders [source: Merck Manuals].

Merkel cell function, referred to as Tastzellen or "touch cells", a cell at or near the epithelial-dermal junction and believed to be involved in light touch sensation; they function as touch receptors, the nerve ending that responds to stimulus.

How To Prevent Skin Cell Shedding

Exfoliation

Exfoliation has three benefits - First, it removes the top dead layers of skin cell that prevent Macro-nutrients from absorbing into the epidermis. Exfoliation is vital for nutrients in creams, serums and moisturizers to penetrate into the skin.

Second - Exfoliation stimulates skin cell regeneration. Encouraging your body to increase the speed of development of 'new fresh and shiny' skin cells - which means - your skin looks even smoother, clearer and glowing.

Lastly, it detoxifies while gently sloughing off accumulated wasted skin that can harbor or promote bacteria, inflammation, redness or blemishes. Exfoliation gives you lovely soft baby-like touchable skin.

Using Creams & Serums Containing Active Macro-nutrients

Age Defying Secrets offers a Luxury line of Skin Care Products with Active Macro-nutrients; they are guaranteed to repair the broken down epidermis layers.

It is critical that you replenish your skin daily with vitamins, amino acids, minerals, peptides, collagen, essential oils, etc. so you can restore what the environment has stolen. Peptides encourage the skin to make new collagen and are the building blocks of proteins. And High quality Pearl Powder contains all the Macro-nutrients needed to restore the skins barrier. It is also the worlds best exfoliator.

How we look to the world may not be the most important function of the epidermis, but when our skin becomes dry and damaged and sheds by the millions, we look older than we actually are, and it effects our overall health and well-being. When we take care of our skin and nourish and replenish our epidermis properly, our body will remain strong, protected and healthy for years to come.

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