Written By: Zenani Sizane
Okay....now that we got to know each other a little bit more, I think it is time we get down to business and why we are really here. I thought this post would be the best official first post because, if we say that we are going to blog about skincare then I think it is important to get to know our skin, which happens to be the largest organ of our entire body.
How we treat our skin is part of living a healthy life, that means that the proper functioning of our skin is an important part of our being. Having a basic understanding of how your skin functions and what it needs is crucial for you to understand how to take care of your own skin and tackle all the different issues that may occur.
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In this blog, we will uncover what skin is and what its many different functions are. Then, there will be a follow-up blog mainly focusing on the different layers of skin and what role they each play in maintaining healthy skin. We will also slightly touch on the different skin types, but we will only go in-depth with that in a different blog post, let's dive into the secret life of our largest organ, the skin.
What is Skin?
"The human skin is the body's outer covering and the largest organ of the integumentary system. The skin is made up of up to seven layers of ectodermal tissue that protects the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments, and internal organs. There are two types of skin: hairy skin and glabrous skin (hairless)." - Joseph C. Dinardo & M. Varnia Michalun
As mentioned before, your skin is the largest organ of your body, which means it has multiple functions and tasks to complete daily to keep us safe. If we were to define what skin is, it would be that "the skin is our largest organ and our immune system's first and best line of defense." It has been called the body's armor because it keeps all the organs and muscles safe from the elements outside the body that can cause harm-like sun rays, bacteria, insects and irritating chemicals.
The skin is also in charge of regulating a number of bodily functions, such as temperature and the elimination of toxic chemicals. Its most important role by far is to keep the body's water from evaporating; as we age, it significantly decreases to 70% and may even drop as low as 50% in our later years. We would literally DIE if we did not have a healthy skin.
Given the importance of the skin to our survival, it is critical that we learn how to properly care for it, not only for it to look beautiful and flawless, but also for us to live a long and healthy life.
"The skin is the largest organ in the body, composed of water, protein, fats, and minerals."
The Skin's Functions
Now that we know what skin is, it's time to learn about its many functions. Let's look at what the skin goes through on a daily basis to keep us safe and how we can help our skin help us. The skin performs a number of critical functions as a result of chemical and physical reactions that occur within it.
As we already know, the skin serves as a barrier to protect the body from the outside elements, injury, and oxidation. It aids in the maintenance of a constant body temperature by regulating moisture loss, allowing it to adapt to different ambient temperatures and atmospheric conditions.
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It gathers sensory information and plays an active role in the immune system, protecting the body from disease. In order to perform all of these functions, namely protective, metabolic, sensory, and immunological, the skin must maintain its own auto-repairing capacities and functional integrity. This is where cosmetic products come into play in terms of the skin's protective function.
Sunscreen is an example of this, as it protects the skin from Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, thereby preventing premature skin aging and skin cancer. Specific moisturizing ingredients can help reduce moisture loss on the skin's surface, resulting in dehydration, by forming an invisible barrier on the skin's surface.
The skin also shields the internal organs from oxygen. Without the skin, the body's organs would oxidize quickly, similar to how a peeled banana or apple oxidizes when its interior is exposed to air.
The skin also contains a number of glands, which are important both for their intrinsic functions and as a route of entry into the skin for certain chemical compounds. Their primary function is to synthesize substances that can cool the body, protect the skin, increase the suppleness of the skin, and eliminate impurities like mineral elements or cholesterol.
The sebaceous glands and two sweat glands, the eccrine and apocrine glands, are among these glands. The sebaceous glands, also known as oil glands, are connected to the same duct as the hair follicle (phylosebaceous duct). They are in charge of oil secretion in the skin and are housed in small sacs. The oil gland ducts open into the upper portion of the hair follicle; normally, there is only one oil gland per follicle, but in some locations, there may be more, resulting in greater oil sebum secretion in that area.
Oil glands can be found in nearly every part of the body. The face and back have the most per square inch of skin, while the palms of the hands and soles of the feet contain none.
The purpose and function of sebum is that it is secreted by the oil glands and lubricates the skin while also preventing moisture evaporation. It has antifungal properties as well. Excessive oil secretion is linked to the development of acne, which is common in Oily skin, whereas insufficient oil secretion is linked to skin dryness, which is the cause of Dry Skin.
Sweat glands are found all over the skin. The most numerous are eccrine glands. Their secreting duct appears as a pore on the skin's surface. They secrete a clear fluid primarily composed of water, lactic acid, urea toxins, and bacteria-fighting substances and are abundant on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands.
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This secretion's primary function is to keep the body cool and in thermal equilibrium with the environment. The axillae (armpits) and pubic areas have the most apocrine sweat glands. They are dormant until puberty, when they are stimulated by emotions and stress.
Sweat gland excretion is very limited; it does not go directly onto the skin's surface, but rather into the upper part of the hair follicle and then to the skin surface. Because of a chemical reaction between excretion, oxygen, and enzymes produced by bacteria (microflora) in the hair follicle and on the skin, perspiration from the apocrine sweat glands can smell unpleasant.
Impurities and/or congestion seen in the pores occur in the hair follicle. They are the result of a follicle-produced mixture of sebum, keratin, stratum corneum cells (corneocytes), and bacteria.
The skin performs an excretory function by secreting sweat and sebum, which eliminates a variety of harmful substances produced by the intestine and liver's metabolic activities. Hormones and enzymes are also secreted by the skin. When the chemistry and chemical composition of the skin do not correspond to the specific ingredients of a cosmetic product, the result is overall product sensitivity and even allergic reactions.
Because the skin contains a large number of nerve endings, it is very sensitive to touch. As a result, the skin is a sensory organ and a point of receptivity for cold, heat, pressure, stretching, pleasure, and pain. The skin has an immunological function, primarily through Langerhans cells, which transport antigens from the skin to the lymphatic system.
Excessive UV radiation either destroys or impairs the function of Langerhans cells, raising the risk of skin cancer.
Because the skin is often discussed and treated as a separate entity, the close relationship between the skin and the body is frequently overlooked or forgotten. Despite the fact that it protects the body in a variety of ways, the skin and its condition are governed by the body.
Given the relationship between the skin and the body, maintaining overall health through proper nutrition, exercise, and rest is essential for the skin to look its best. This link also emphasizes the potential issues that ingredients penetrating deep into the dermis may cause if systemically absorbed by the capillary system. If the skin does not function properly due to degeneration, simply loss of moisture, age, sun damage, bacterial infection, hyper keratinization, cosmetic products can be used to restore its balance and beauty, but they must do so by working in conjunction with the skin's very complex structure.
In conclusion, our skin is more than layer to apply cosmetic products, you need it to survive, therefore it is important for us to know what our skin needs and to treat it well as well as apply products that are good for your skin, while taking care of it internally as well. In the following blog post we are going to unpack the layers of skin and what their primary function is and how they contribute to keeping your skin balanced and healthy.
Until Next Time,
Love the Skin you are in.
Disclaimer : not everything in this blog post is entirely my own knowledge, researched and used from the following publications:
Milady, skincare and cosmetic ingredients dictionary, M. Varinia Michalun & Joseph C. Dinardo
Netflix Skin Explained
Skincare by Caroline Hirons
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