However, a slight dryness and shiny T-zone are perfectly normal, no matter how hard the industry tries to convince us that we need to address these issues. We are so obsessed with all the new lotions and potions that promise to make our skin appear healthy that we don’t try to make it truly healthy. We are so eager to make these magic concoctions work that we do not ask ourselves whether this chemical cocktail is actually making our skin younger or any healthier.
“Healthy skin isn’t a quick fix, ” says Susan West Kurz, a holistic skin care expert and the president of Dr. Hauschka Skin Care. “If you apply a cortisone cream, the blemish will go away, but the problem still exists within the system.” To support the normal functioning of your skin and naturally maintain its youthful looks, you need to first know how skin works. Our skin is an incredibly large and complex organ. The average square inch of skin holds 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 melanocytes (pigment skin cells), and more than a thousand nerve endings.
Being only 2 millimeters thick, skin does a great job protecting us from the outside world, keeping a constant body temperature, absorbing the sun’s energy and converting it into vitamins while shielding us from UV radiation, storing fats and water, getting rid of waste, and sending sensations.
