Articles

What originates dry skin and what components in skin moisturizers are effective?

Dry skin is originated by 2 factors: (I) One is the damage done to the skin's protective barrier resulting in an exaggerated water loss through the skin, and (II) A reduction in the proportion of the skin's water-retaining sugar and protein molecules. These molecules are the complex proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) or carbohydrate molecular sequences.

The major biological (i.e. carbon-containing) components of human cells are proteins, lipids, various carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing molecules, and the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). The carbohydrate-containing molecules can be quite complex; those in which carbohydrates are attached to proteins or lipids are called glycoconjugates. There are three major classes of glycoconjugates: glycoproteins, proteoglycans, and glycolipids.

The word glyco- means "sweet" and refers to monosaccharides or sugars. The role carbohydrates (sugars) play in the production of energy has been known for years. However, their, important role in orchestrating the healthy conformation and function of the body is a relatively new discovery that is the subject of a new blossoming field of science knows as the 'sweet science of glycobiology'.

Several skin moisturizers and emollient solutions offered by cosmetic and skin care companies delay the repair of irritated and injured skin and make the situation worse by inhibiting natural skin repair and increasing skin damage, much as do skin irritants. Simply using occluding creams that include petrolatum and lanolin, which impede water loss, doesn't help. You need a product or ingredient that penetrates the skin and grants true hydration.

Hydrating Dry Skin Naturally

What helps is to protect the skin surface and to stimulate the skin healing process from within. This is done by supplying ingredients that help the skin repair itself thoroughly.

Despite many years of sound evidence proving that detergents degrade the skin's natural protective function and damage the skin, most if not all moisturizers and emollients offered by major skin care companies contain high quantities of detergents and detergent-like chemicals. Furthermore, many of the colorants and optical diffusers used to give the feel of healthy skin are also harmful to the skin.

Lipids and fats in the skin supply the epidermal barrier to help prevent water loss. These lipids in the external skin area called the stratum corneum are arranged in layers called lamellae. The deeper skin layers contain more common fats such as triglycerides and phospholipids while the superficial layers have more ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids.

Waxes and oils located on the skin secure the skin's surface and prevent exaggerated water loss. Cosmetic moisturizers loosen the skin's protective barrier and hydrate (wet) the dermal proteins, however, in the long-run they cause injuring long-term effects.