Skinspiration...Lets Take a Closer Look
*Disclaimer; All work produced in this skinspiration blog is owned by Nicole Webb, with copyrights to La Beauté Ltd.
I am a skin geek so I am aware that I may possibly find our skin's ability and features more exciting than most but there is real proof in how amazing it truely is. Below are some incredible images of our skin on a highly magnified scale - once you have looked at these images I bet you too will be impressed with our bodies largest organ!
This is a cross section view of our Epidermis. Our outer most layers of skin. Our protection barrier. The surface that is continually been exposed to environment, weather, chemicals and bacteria.
The flaky, pale brown surface is the Stratum Corneum, your skins top protective barrier made up of flattened, keratin rich cells. Although these cells no longer have a nucleus (brain) they are still alive until the moment they completely disconnect from their neighbouring cell and shed from the skin structure.
Surrounding and between these cells is a lipid bilayer which acts as a sort of “brick and mortar” concept which created the outer skin structure and supports in the skins defence.
Where the brown cells are tightly compact close to the red area - this is what creates your skin's "waterproof" layer. This means the hydration that you consume internally will not pass this point, this is why we are so passion about soaking as it gives that top outer layer a 'drink'.
The red area is the deeper layers of your epidermis. At the base of this image, baby keratinocytes are created from the dividing cell, here they are given all the nutrients they will need for the big migration to the surface. They are then pushed upwards by the next new baby keratinocyte being created. The division and upward migration is continually happening, taking from 30(ideal) - 90(very slow) days to complete. This process is why we are continually shedding skin.
The flaky, pale brown surface is the Stratum Corneum, your skins top protective barrier made up of flattened, keratin rich cells. Although these cells no longer have a nucleus (brain) they are still alive until the moment they completely disconnect from their neighbouring cell and shed from the skin structure.
Surrounding and between these cells is a lipid bilayer which acts as a sort of “brick and mortar” concept which created the outer skin structure and supports in the skins defence.
Where the brown cells are tightly compact close to the red area - this is what creates your skin's "waterproof" layer. This means the hydration that you consume internally will not pass this point, this is why we are so passion about soaking as it gives that top outer layer a 'drink'.
The red area is the deeper layers of your epidermis. At the base of this image, baby keratinocytes are created from the dividing cell, here they are given all the nutrients they will need for the big migration to the surface. They are then pushed upwards by the next new baby keratinocyte being created. The division and upward migration is continually happening, taking from 30(ideal) - 90(very slow) days to complete. This process is why we are continually shedding skin.
Tattoos are a rather permanent choice, but why they are so permanent is thanks to a wee cell in our skin.
In the dermis layer of our skin we have immune cells called macrophages. Visualise a pac-man, their job is to race around under our epidermis/dermis, recognising, engulfing and removing any foreign substances that try to enter the body, once they have an 'invader' they 'dump' it into the blood stream to completely removed it from their area (the skin).
With this concept in mind, when a tattoo is created the artist places ink into the dermis, this of course is a foreign material in the eyes of macrophages. They are inundated with foreign substances, to the point that they engulf so much ink and become so full that they then become unable to get back into the blood stream. Instead they become permanently trapped in the dermis clustering around a blood vessel and ultimately holding the tattoo ink in place. The above image shows black ink trapped in the dermis gathering around blood vessels.
In the dermis layer of our skin we have immune cells called macrophages. Visualise a pac-man, their job is to race around under our epidermis/dermis, recognising, engulfing and removing any foreign substances that try to enter the body, once they have an 'invader' they 'dump' it into the blood stream to completely removed it from their area (the skin).
With this concept in mind, when a tattoo is created the artist places ink into the dermis, this of course is a foreign material in the eyes of macrophages. They are inundated with foreign substances, to the point that they engulf so much ink and become so full that they then become unable to get back into the blood stream. Instead they become permanently trapped in the dermis clustering around a blood vessel and ultimately holding the tattoo ink in place. The above image shows black ink trapped in the dermis gathering around blood vessels.
Mind blowing aye!! It is hard not to be impressed with our skin.