Are you wearing protection?
Monday, April 19th, 2010
Ever see someone your age and wonder if he/she was REALLY in class with you? I mean like seriously? You either look like their youngest child, or their grandparents. What’s even more ‘wtf?’ is when you see an 18 year old who looks more like… 30tylate at best. What’s happening here?
‘Exposed’ aging y’alls. The result is far from fab as this right here is a first class ticket to looking twice your age.
So what is ‘exposed’ aging and how does it differ from ‘unexposed’ aging?
Unexposed Aging.
This is often referred to as ‘aging gracefully’. The grandparent for example, who doesn’t look like a 20 year old spring chicken obviously, but clearly looks ‘better than’ most in his/ her ‘age’ bracket.
It this is largely the skin that has been protected from UV rays. Unexposed aging comprises of:
- Thin, smooth skin
- Fine lines and wrinkles, usually associated with superficial dehydration and light diagonal lines
- Inelastic, saggy skin
- Skin is usually ‘dryer’ (less oily) than skin was 20 years ago
- Growths on the skin are usually benign rather than malignant, and are associated with aging rather than photo-aging.
And this is unexposed aging. Ready for the exposed aging?
Exposed aging
Exposed aging refers to skin that as been indiscriminately exposed to the sun’s damaging UV rays. It has been determined that 80% of extrinsic aging (aging that we can control) is attributed to the sun’s rays.
This skin appears:
- Rough in texture, may be even classified as ‘leathery’, skin may also feel very ‘thick’
- Coarse, deep, wrinkling
- Significant loss of skin’s elasticity, and there may be the presence of broken capilaries (redness)
- Dry and scaly
- Darkened spots/ patches/ areas on skin aka hyperpigmentation
- Both benign and malignant growths
Overexposure to damaging UV rays can create long term damage to various layers of the skin. The protective outer layer (barrier function or acid mantle) of the skin is damaged which can lead to dehydration of the skin, as well as inflammation which, especially in darker skin types, can lead to all kinds of pigmentation issues, and darker skin already doesn’t need much help in the scarring/ darkening department.
Cell renewal, i.e. the ability of the skin to exfoliate and regenerate itself in order to reveal reveeal younger, brighter, more supple skin, slows dramatically and skin can have a sallow devitalized appearance. Collagen and elastin in the skin also breaks down. This sucks major donkey balls as for starters, only 3% of the ‘true skin’ (the layer of the skin where all the action happens) is elastin – that substance that gives the skin it’s elasticity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. *poof*
So what’s the remedy?
That’s where all this ‘anti-aging’ marketing talk started and so here it began.
Remedies
Basically, any remedy, regardless of the cost, will seek to:
1. Help exfoliate the dead skin cells lingering on the surface, that the skin is unable to do because of it’s decreased cell renewal, which happens naturally after the age of about 25.
2. Stimulate cell renewal i.e. decrease the length of time it takes for new cells to make it to the outermost layer of the skin
3. Control darkening (hyperpigmentation) 0f the skin
4. Hydrate skin i.e. add moisture which will help reduce the appearence of the superficial fine lines that is normally associated with skin that is dehydration.
5. Calm skin. Sensitive skin is the skin type that ages the fastest, after this is dry skin. Reducing any sensitivity or inflammation on the skin
6. Restore the skin’s protective barrier to a healthy state
Any product/ action that enables any combination of the above can be considered to help in preventing accelerated degeneration of the skin/ and as a result can range from having a skin care regimen that target your main concerns (dehydration, sensitivity, breakouts) to of course the hard core approach of paralysing nerves in an effort to prevent wrinkle formation or flat out plastic surgery.
Ingredients, Ingredients, Ingredients.
Regardless of the brand, it’s what’s IN a product that will get you the most results. What are the top 5 ingredients in the product? Are they ‘active’ ingredients, or are they fillers? For example, in that ‘Hydrating’ moisturizer, is the first ingredient Water, or better yet Hyaluronic acid or Sodium PCA or is it Mineral Oil? You do the math.
You reap what you sow.
The earlier you start paying attention to your skin’s needs, the better off you will be. You can switch up your hair and get a new wardrobe, but the passport that is your face stays with you forever.
be FiercelyFabulous.
.
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