The skin is a reflection of the good health of our body. Alive, it breathes, drinks, exchanges information between our body and the environment.
The skin of an adult is made up of 70% water , evenly distributed in the different layers that compose it. This water represents 20% of all the water in the body.
Skin hydration is regulated by two major phenomena
- The phenomenon of water diffusion , composed of transepidermal flow (transit of water from the blood to the surface of the skin) and insensible water loss (PIE, constant and imperceptible evaporation of water at the level of the outer layer of the skin)
- The mechanism of water retention . In the dermis, this is ensured by the capture and storage of water by large polymers, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). At the level of the epidermis, water retention is ensured by the protective barrier composed of polar lipids which regulate PIE.
These two major physiological mechanisms are dependent on cell metabolism and their capacity for synthesis: fibroblasts in the dermis produce GAGs, keratinocytes in the epidermis produce polar lipids.
The energy motor of these mechanisms is cellular respiration, which governs the skin's natural hydration mechanism:
- By promoting the synthesis of GAGs which capture water and constitute the water reserve of the skin, natural breathing is a source of natural hydration of the skin
- By stimulating the synthesis of polar lipids which form the protective barrier of the skin, cellular respiration helps fight against dehydration
But everyday life constantly alters the activity of skin cells: the cellular respiration at the origin of the skin's natural hydration mechanism is weakened.
The skin, dehydrated, becomes dull, without radiance and is more sensitive to the marks of time.
Dehydration is not a fatality!
Don't wait for your skin's water reserve to run out... From now on, high-performance products can act at the source of the skin's natural hydration mechanism to relaunch it and thus guarantee an ideal water content of your skin. skin.
