Importance of Moisture for Skin

Skin needs moisture - that's the bottom line. A water quota of no less than a healthy 60 per cent gives skin its smooth, plump, translucent quality, bathes cells with nutrients and keeps them soft and functional. A moisturizer's most basic job in supplement the skin's Natural Moisture Factor (NMF) (a cocktail of moisture-attracting humectants and preservatives), help preserve fluid in the skin's upper layers and prevent losses which hasten ageing.As environmental factors such as sunlight, central heating, wind, cold and pollution all encourage moisture loss, state-of-the-art creams are designed to buffer external aggression by reinforcing the skin's own barrier mechanisms.

In young, healthy skin natural oils and friendly flora preserve the slightly acidic mantle that keeps the barrier function of the horny outer layer intact. Overlapping dead skin cells form a scaly, water-resistant seal against dehydration. As skin ages, however, natural oil production drops and the skin surface becomes drier and less moisture-retentive. Surface scales roughen and gaps appear in the barrier, through which moisture can escape. As cell turnover also slows with ageing, it takes longer for replacement cells to reach the surface and repair breaches. A mal- functioning surface barrier leaves cells in the skin's lower layers vulnerable to damage. So, creams that help to reinforce the stratum corneum seem like the obvious answer. For, if the horny layer is doing its job, the deeper skin layers - where ageing begins - are more able to look after themselves.

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