Our skin, like other body parts, is not invincible when it comes to being susceptible to damage. As it is necessary to get monthly haircuts and weekly manicures as part of your grooming regime it should also be a necessity and not a luxury to take care of the most important organ of your body, the skin.
The signs of ageing start to show as early as the end of the second or the beginning of the third decade of a person's life. At first, fine lines start to form between the nose and the mouth, around the eyes and on the forehead. As a result of facial movements that are often repeated, the first expressive wrinkles come into being: laughter creases, brow furrows and crow's feet.
All sounds a bit depressing really doesn't it! And it gets worse as over the years, the skin loses its elasticity, because the dermis (middle part of the skin) produces fewer and fewer collagen and elastin fibres. This results in the weakening of connective tissue causing the skin to lose its tone. The skin becomes flabby, and wrinkles are formed. Due to gravity, wrinkles develop downwards, a phenomenon seen in sagging cheeks and drooping eyelids. In addition, sundamage causes the skin's surface to become less smooth and complexion become uneven with dark patches of pigmentation (age spots!).
The skin's ability to continuously renew itself is affected by ageing. Old skin needs on average twice as long – as much as eight weeks – before it has renewed itself. Because the sebaceous (oil) and sweat glands no longer exercise their function so efficiently, the natural acidic protective coating (called the acid mantle) changes. The skin becomes drier and thinner and as a consequence, it can no longer retain enough moisture and grease.
As the years go by, the skin becomes ever more demanding. Mature skin is characterised by an excessive loss of moisture, reduced tone and enhanced sensitivity.
But there is hope! Over the last decade or so a whole range of new professional "in clinic" treatments have become available that can significantly improve some of the signs of skin ageing.
In addition, there are now a select range of proven homecare products that, over time, can significantly improve the health of you skin, evening skin tone and texture and maintaining a more radiant complexion.
