Getting Skin Deep

Your skin type is mainly determined by genetics. After birth, the condition of your skin developing & vary greatly according to the various internal and external factors it is subjected to. At any ageing stage, always listen to your skin, hear what it truly need and nourish accordingly.

Getting Skin Deep

2. Dry Skin

‘Dry’ is used to describe skin with less sebum than normal skin. As a result of the lack of sebum, dry skin lacks the lipids needed to retain moisture and build a protective shield against external influences. Significantly more women suffer from dry skin than men and all skin gets dryer as it ages.

The causes of dry skin

Your skin’s moisture depends on the supply of water in the deeper skin layers and on perspiration.

Skin is constantly loosing water via:

Perspiration: active water loss from the glands caused by heat, stress and activity.
Trans-epidermal water loss: Your skin diffuses about half a litre of water a day from the deeper skin layers.

Dry skin is caused by a lack of:

Natural moisturising factors (NMFs) – especially urea, amino acids and lactic acid – that help to bind in water.
Epidermal lipids such as ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol which are needed for a healthy skin barrier function.

As a result, your skin’s barrier function can become compromised.

4. Combination Skin

In combination skin, the skin types vary in the T-zone and the cheeks. The T-zone can differ substantially – from a very slim zone to an extended area.

Combination skin is characterised by:

an oily T-zone (forehead, chin and nose)
enlarged pores in this area, perhaps with some impurities
normal to dry cheeks

The causes of combination skin

The oilier parts of combination skin are caused by an overproduction of sebum. The drier parts of combination skin are caused by a lack of sebum and a corresponding lipid deficiency.