Skin Health

The protector from alien substances. The keratinized-shield of the body. The superhero we rely on--your skin.

Quick anatomy lesson: Skin is made up of a type of tissue called stratified squamous epithelium, which is a fancy way of saying many layers of thin, pancake-shaped cells. There is an excellent reason that the skin has this type of tissue as opposed to another type of tissue. This tissue is typically found in parts of the body that need the ability to undergo abrasions and recover rapidly. What better part of the body to have this capability than the skin? This superhero power makes your skin more durable in the sense that if you get a cut or a burn or a little scratch, and lose a few cells, you've got more layers with more cells!! Good job skin. 


Your skin is pretty smart. It heals relatively quickly. It let's you know when it needs more or less of something: sun, moisture, soap, heat, cold, a towel...pretty smart stuff. But it's soooooooo easy to neglect. Or is it really neglecting? I honestly think the answer to this question is different for every person. Some people (myself) included just have normal skin...no acne problems to speak of, no major burns, no major dryness problems, not prone to sunburns. So if people with normal skin don't do the same things that people with oily or dry skin do, is it really neglecting? 

This is how my internal monologue became intrigued with skin care:

I was given a facial as one of my birthday presents this year :) I had never had one before. First thing the esthetician does is shine this weird light on my face and say, "Wow, you have healthy skin, but it's extremely dehydrated". My brain thought, 'well of course it is, I didn't put on my Equate brand face moisturizer because I just rolled out of bed.' She asked what face wash and skin routine I used. My very blunt answer that I'm not sure she appreciated was, "the shampoo that runs down my face in the shower." True story.

I rarely wash my face and this is why. (Cue the nostalgic background melody.) In high school when everyone was getting acne, I got 1 pimple and decided I had acne too and needed to wash my face. So of course I got some Neutrogena cause that's what all the cool kids did. Well, the more I washed my face with that stuff, the more pimples I would get. Some people would say it was because the facewash was bringing out the impurities in my skin. I called a b.s. on that and stopped washing my face. To no surprise, I didn't get any more pimples. Now a pimple is my body's way of telling me I have too much on my plate--I'm stressed out! So I pop it, decrease my stress, and move on.

Speaking of popping pimples, should you? I pop them for 2 reasons:
1. to make them go away quicker
2. to make them stop hurting.

But is it really healthy to pop pimples? According to this Huffington Post article, it's not safe to pop them. The main reason is that the act of popping a pimple is forcing the skin to rip. Most often, you are forcing the skin to rip using your fingers that inevitably have dirt and germs on them. This gives a huge risk for those germs to get in the open wound you created. There's also the potential to force some of the gunky pus junk farther into the skin because of the pressure you are applying. Never thought of it that way, huh? Think about it next time you go to pop one of those suckers into the next millennium.

So my theory is, not everybody's skin needs a set routine. So why do they keep pushing it? Why waste money on products that just give me more pimples and make me need to buy more products? ohhhhh nice marketing scheme skin care industry!

To wrap this show up, I'll leave you with 5 tips that this Mayo Clinic article gives for skin care:
1. Protect yourself from the sun. Wear SPF and don't be okay with burns. Melanoma is not something you should tempt.
2. Don't smoke. You shouldn't do this anyway, but the fact that smoking decreases the amount of oxygen and nutrients that get to your skin should be reason enough to quit and not start.
3. Treat your skin gently. This is talking about washing and moisturizing amongst other things. They are saying do it, but do it gently and in moderation. My favorite moisturizer that I've used is a Cetaphil daily moisturizer with SPF in it. It's thin and not greasy at all. Another way to treat your skin gently is to wear gentle make-up. I wear Bare Minerals, an all-natural mineral-based powder make-up with SPF. It is so light that you don't even feel it when it is on. It blends with your skin for excellent coverage for those who like the "natural" look.
4. Eat a healthy diet. A balanced diet can surely promote healthy skin.
5. Manage stress. This is definitely my acne trigger as I'm sure it is other people's acne trigger as well.

So take care of your skin people, but remember, it's YOUR skin. Do what's best for it, not what's best for other people's. Healthy skin increases those superhero powers. So take care of it and then you'll have... Superhero skin to the rescue!!