The Epidermis Explained
We all have one, for the most part most of us know a little something about it. But overall, the average person doesn’t really pay much attention to the protective layer our bodies created to save us from hazards, our skin. Hopefully after reading this article, you will not only understand why our skin is so awesome, but also what the epidermis is, why you should take care of it, and most importantly how to take care of it. Let’s start with some basics of the epidermis and it’s functions and layers.
“Skincare is not superficial because it is healthcare. When you have beautiful skin it is a sign you have a healthy mind and body.”
I won’t go into every scientific detail about the layers of the skin, but rather just focus on what is important to know and mainly what you can do to support your skin and keep it healthy.
The skin is made up of many, many layers. For simplicities sake, let’s think of the skin as a three-layer sandwich made up of the Stratum Corneum, the Epidermis and the Dermis. The outer layer, also called the Stratum Corneum, is composed of flat, dry, scaly skin cells and help make up your armor-platting protecting you from the environment and all those hazardous debris we pick up in the world. The Stratum Corneum helps to supply the scales for your skin’s barrier known as the Acid Mantle. The next layer is your Epidermis which supplies fresh, healthy skin cells, while also attracting and preserving moisture to keep skin healthy. The bottom of your sandwich is the Dermis and that is where Dermatologists work, not Estheticians. Think epi-dermis = estheticians and d-ermis = dermatologists!
The epidermis is a workhorse, it provides new, plump baby cells from the Basal Layer, which mature and flatten out, loosing water as they move up to the surface of your skin and become the scales that create your Acid Mantle. In your 20’s and early 30’s, and if you’re healthy, this process of cell migration happens in 28 days. Every decade after your 30’s, you want to add 10 days to the growth cycle, a sign of aging and our cell production slowing down. In functioning healthy skin, there is a process called desquamation, where the new skin cells help to push off, “desquamate”, the older skin cells at the top. It’s your bodies natural exfoliation process, but it doesn’t always work perfectly. If this process has a breakdown and isn’t working right, you might see flakiness on the skin, redness and irritation and a sensitivity even to the most mildest products.
So what about the Dermis? What does that do for us? Glad you asked! This is the skin’s lowest layer and where our best friends collagen and elastin are made, amongst other awesome things the Dermis does. These proteins help give our skin firmness, structure and elasticity. Down here you will also find Sebaceous Glands (oil glands), a network of blood vessels and capillaries which supply nutrients and give skin that rosy glow. Fun fact about oil glands, they are usually attached to a hair follicle and that hair inside that follicle acts as a wick allowing the oil to move up and out supplying the Acid Mantle with lubrication and food for the flora and fauna up there. When that hair is removed or other factors don’t bring the oil all the way to the surface, you can get a breakout, blackheads or red bumps. That is why after face waxing you will sometimes have a small breakout, the oil is trapped creating food for the bacteria in the bottom of your follicle. Luckily, there are products you can use to help draw the oil out, and spot treatments to help heal or prevent breakout post-wax.
When explaining the epidermis to clients, what I want them to know is that each part has a specific function, and a breakdown in any one of those parts can lead to a failure in the whole system. Using improper product, harsh exfoliants, lack of sun protection, smoking, insufficient water intake and even certain medications can affect how your skin functions, or doesn’t. What you put on and in your body affects the whole thing, it is important that you value yourself enough to care about what’s going in/on it. Remember, you are the groundskeeper to your temple, so be good to it so it doesn’t turn into ruins!
In taking care of the outside, not all skincare products are the same, and it might be a trial and error in finding what works for you, this is where an Esthetician can come in and help you navigate the sea of skincare. In the meantime, there are some key players who support skin health, keep reading to find out what they are!
“Taking care of your skin is more important than covering it up”
The Acid Mantle. The Skin’s Barrier. The Protective Lipid Layer. Whatever you call it, this topmost layer plays one of the largest roles in how your skincare is selected and how it works. So let’s talk superficial…
The Acid Mantle is comprised of dead skin cells (stratum corneum cells), lipids (oil) and bacteria that help give your skin antibacterial protection. Your skin’s surface should be slightly acidic (4.5 to 5.5 pH) and a little dewey from the protective oil which feeds the bacteria present. Important note: if there is not enough oil production on the surface of the skin, the bacteria present will migrate down into the follicle to eat. They eat triglycerides which are a byproduct of oil, leaving behind fatty acids which help keep your Acid Mantle acidic adding to the barrier protection. If those bacteria are forced down into your follicle to find food, you might notice redness, dry patches, more breakout and even deeper breakouts.
This is why you’re more likely to see breakout on an oiler skin, the bacteria are active and proliferating! Drying agents, like clay and salicylic, help to slow down the proliferation of bacteria by restricting their food, but not cutting it off. If you cut off the bacteria’s food supply, they will just find another source, which happens to be at the base of your follicle. Down there is where the oil is coming from, however that is not where we want our bacteria. We need them at the surface protecting our skin, if they are in the follicle they are likely to result in deep, painful acne. When they are not on the surface, we leave our skin unprotected by the bacteria meant to fight off disease and illness, it’s important to maintain balance in our skin’s ecosystem.
Another benefit to the Acid Mantle is that if it is functioning well, your blackheads (which if you are living you will always have so think management not prevention) will come out easier as the follicle is hydrated and the skin can purge. If your Acid Mantle is damaged, there might be cracks in it ranging in causes from improper product, stress, lack of use of product or environmental reasons, you will feel the tingle of product when you shouldn’t. This means product is getting too deep into the skin and going where it isn’t suppose to. Skincare nourishes and treats the Acid Mantle and stimulates new skin cell production, but it should not go all the way into the Epidermis to the Basal Layer, we leave that to the Dermatologists. But when it comes to taking care of your Acid Mantle and your Epidermis, the estheticians are your experts!
I get this question a lot: what’s the purpose of a facial? The easy answer is to address skin concerns, give a good exfoliation to help your Acid Mantle function better and hydrate skin. But what does that mean?
Over the years, understanding the skin and broadening the scope of what estheticians can do to treat the skin has allowed us to better affect the skin. If you would have asked me ten years ago (or whenever you’re reading this, before I went to beauty school) I would have told you, “It’s where they use fancy product and pop your pimples”. So inaccurate. Skin Therapists first need to understand why your skin is the way it is and what you are doing at home. So many of our clients use stuff everyday on their skin but have no idea what it is or why they are using it. This is where we come in and are able to explain your skincare and why you need, or don’t need, what you’re using. I like charts so let’s visually see the benefits of a facial:
Benefits of a Facial:
Removal of blackheads which can expand follicles
hydration and deep exfoliation aiding in increased cell turnover
increase circulation with facial massage helps blood flow through facial capillaries and can stimulate lymphatic drainage which will de-puff a face
Benefits of using proper skincare at home:
Overall improvement on skin tone and texture
Hydrated & exfoliated skin functions better and can relieve stressors contributing to premature aging
Self-care is so important, and taking time out of your day to treat your skin well will help keep your mind in balance
“Invest in your skin. It is going to represent you for a long time.”
It is easier to take preventative measures than to have to go in and rebuild the whole thing. When it comes to repairing your skin, these ingredients will help make the process smooth.
Looking at ingredient lists is a little overwhelming at first. Everything looks like an alcohol and a skin irritant, but actually most of those are fillers and help give product its spreadability, that might be the inspiration for my next “Explained” Blog!
I will list some ingredients that are key in keeping balance in the Acid Mantle, but when looking at an ingredient list you want to look at the first five ingredients. Those are the ones with the highest concentration and typically those are what are doing the work in your product. After that, they vary in amount and there is no requirement by the FDA to list them in order of concentration. So what are you looking for?
Bisabolol
Commonly known as chamomile, this is technically the main component of chamomile essential oil. Known for it’s anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, this little ingredient is a big relief to an irritated Acid Mantle. Here’s a great list of Bisabolol’s benefits I found while researching:
“Bisabolol soothes inflammation:
Having proven anti-inflammatory properties, bisabolol declares war on acne, rashes, rosacea, psoriasis, and similar conditions associated with frequent skin irritations. It has also been shown that bisabolol calms the skin after exposure to UV rays, and tones down sunburns and redness. People with sensitive skin should not think twice about using bisabolol-enhanced products.
Bisabolol stimulates skin’s healing:
Chamomile is a well-known skin healer. Bisabolol, as its more concentrated counterpart, can speed up the healing process even more, which makes it great for use if you have to deal with minor scars, spots from already healed blemishes, etc.
Bisabolol disinfects the skin:
The anti-microbial properties of this ingredient are effective against many germs, like staph, epidermis, corynebacteria, and Candida albicans.
Bisabolol moisturizes in depth:
Bisabolol is rich in panthenol and panthenol is an excellent natural humectant. What does this mean? This means that panthenol draws moisture from the air to your skin, and holds onto it, not letting your skin dry out. Since bisabolol penetrates deep into the skin, it rejuvenates the skin from within and helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Bisabolol provides a natural scent:
Since it has a subtle floral scent, similar to chamomile, it is often used in perfumes and other skin care products as a fragrance agent. What’s more important is that bisabolol is much safer than any artificial fragrances that manufacturers use to give nice scent to products.
Bisabolol prevents collagen breakdown:
Bisabolol inhibits the enzymes in skin that are responsible for collagen breakdown. At the same time, it stimulates collagen production. The main role of collagen is to keep the skin elastic and firm, which means that bisabolol helps your skin stay firm and younger. And who doesn’t want younger looking skin?”
Hyaluronic Acid
This one I am pretty sure I have mentioned before, you definitely have heard of this if you are one of my clients and reading this. Hyaluronic (pronounced “Hi-ya-lure-onic”) Acid is not an acid in the sense of exfoliating, but more for feeding your Acid Mantle. The chances that your skin’s surface is really dry and your Acid Mantle is impaired are high, and this ingredient is just what the doctor calls for. Like a big, giant drink of water, this ingredient delivers hydration to your skin’s surface. Did you know that your body naturally makes hyaluronic acid to keep joints and your eyes lubricated? It also increases in amount when your body needs to repair itself. So this guy is doing a whole lot more for your skin than just hydrating it:
Benefits of Hyaluronic Acid
Encourages healthy, supple skin resulting in less visible fine lines
Evens out skin texture
Aides in healing of skin
Reduces redness and irritation in the skin
Can help repair damaged Acid Mantle
“Hyaluronic acid is a glycosaminoglycan, a fancy name for a vital naturally-occurring substance that’s part of skin’s youth-supporting matrix. As the chief glycosaminoglycan in skin, hyaluronic acid works to keep every aspect of skin stable, safeguarded, and constantly renewed.
Hyaluronic acid is also a humectant, which is a category of skin care ingredients that are hygroscopic, meaning they draw moisture from their surroundings. Humectants are often found in water-based moisturizers, serums, and other leave-on skin care products because of their ability to help boost hydration for all skin types, which is especially beneficial for dry, dehydrated skin.”
Using a product that is going to help rebuild and repair your skin’s surface will result in your whole ecosystem of the skin working correctly. This is crucial as we age, all our body systems begin to slow down and the most noticeable for most of us is in our reflection. Now we can’t turn off Father Time, but we can age gracefully and in a way where our skin and bodies can function at their best. So this last ingredient is not only helpful for the flora and fauna of your face, but also a major supporter in the battle against aggressive aging, CoEnzyme Q 10 aka CoQ 10. What is CoQ 10 you ask, even though I know you have seen it in countless Lancome and Oil of Olay commercials?
Co-Q 10
“Coenzyme Q10 has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is a good anti aging ingredient to look for especially from the age of 30 onwards because during this period, the CoQ10 of our body starts minimizing, leading to the reduction of collagen and elastin and to the skin becoming more vulnerable to oxidative stress and therefore aging.”
Yes, another thing that our body just makes naturally to keep us healthy and functioning. The more I research for this blog, the more in awe and in love with the human body I become, it is truly amazing how it all works! Also known as “ubiquinol”, this ingredient packs quite a punch. Alas though, as we age, production of this also slows down, and sometimes sooner than we want. As a major antioxidant, this ingredient works day and night to fight the effects of UV damage and repair our body cells. UV radiation does more than just damage our face, our whole body needs antioxidants to keep us working like the well oiled machine we are. You can get a lot of this from a well rounded diet, but if you are using Co-Q 10 topically these are a few of the benefits:
Benefits of Co-Q 10
Reduces fine lines and wrinkles
Helps collagen and elastin production
Boost skin radiance and hydration
Balances and supports mitochondrial membrane which
Reverses sun damage and scavenges free radicals, neutralizing them which in turn slows down aging brought on by sun damage
You can see why this is something you would want to add to your skincare arsenal, anything that repairs and heals is par for the course when repairing the Acid Mantle and keeping it that way. Striking a balance between your skin’s oil and water production is the optimal goal for your home skincare routine. This balance is achieved by having a functioning Acid Mantle, hydrated skin cells that are able to proliferate and also as they age desquamate so they don’t linger or get trapped in your follicle.
If you are still unsure about what products you need, please take the time to read the Back To Basics blogs which go over every portion of the skincare routine, one blog at a time starting with Cleansing and Exfoliating
By now though, you hopefully have an idea of what the difference is between the Dermis and Epidermis and how important the Acid Mantle is. You have your list of ingredients to keep an eye out for and if all else fails, go see your esthetician and get a handle on your skin’s imbalances. Thanks for reading and I look forward to our next journey in Skin Science!!
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri