age & your skin

We all age, it is part of the natural cycle of life, our skin condition is a direct result of our lifestyle. If we have a healthy lifestyle, our skin will not pre-maturely age. This is all directly related to what we eat, drink, and do to our body through out our life.. We are all individual and have different thresholds on what our bodies can take.

There are a number of ageing process that with time happen naturally, how we look after our skin and bodies has an impact as to the rate of these effects.

Dryness	By the age of 30 oil gland production begins to reduce and will continue to do so over the years
Sun damage	In our 30’s – 40’s melanocytes begin to burn out reducing the skins ability to fight off UV rays and may cause uneven pigmentation.
Thinning	From the age of 40 the dermis and the subcutaneous layer begin to thin, the skin begins to sag, loose it’s plumpness and firmness, also making the skin more fragile.
Loss of firmness	Cells called fibroblasts within the dermis, continually replenish the collagen and elastin, these loose their ability to function.
Reduced immune response	Langerhan cells reduce, these are receptors for the immune system.
Reduced damage repair	Over time the body looses it’s ability to naturally repair free radical damage, accelerating the ageing process.
Temperature control	Sweat glands lose their ability to function making body temperature harder to regulate,

As we age the natural cycle of cell renewal in the epidermis slows down, from 28 days to 45 – 50 by the time we are in our sixties, contributing to our skin looking less radiant as we mature.

There are two types of ageing, intrinsic, these are internal factors such DNA, hereditary health, the natural passing of time and extrinsic such as sunlight, pollution, diet, disease, harsh cosmetics

What are Free radicals?

Free radicals are oxygen molecules that have lost an electron, these unpaired electrons are usually highly reactive and unstable. They heal them selves by stealing electrons from other healthy molecules, creating more free radicals, creating a chain reaction damaging more cell’s makeup. This is a natural body process but intrinsic and extrinsic factors can speed this process.

Collagen and elastin is one of the substances which gives our skin it’s youthfulness and is especially susceptible to free radical damage. With this damage to collagen molecules are no longer able to slide over one another giving our skin it’s softness but becomes stiff and inflexible.

What are Antioxidants

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules, therefore capable of stopping and even reversing the damage of free radicals. A diet rich in antioxidants will help in the constant battle against premature ageing.