Beauty 101

In my book there are only two things that are bad for you no matter what: sun tanning and smoking. All the rest is about moderation and balance. Tobacco smoking is well known to be a factor for morbidity (basically is bad for you) and can take a huge toll on skin health.

Skin Winter Blues are the result of three factors that are closely related to each other: cold weather and winds, dried air and external heaters. Let me explain a little bit further the mechanisms behind Skin Winter Blues. Cold weather activates our body survival response which is characterized by peripheral blood vessel constriction.

Factors such as age, ethnicity, skin concerns (wrinkles, pigmentation, redness, dryness to mention some), level of skin damage (old skin vs. young skin, solar exposed skin vs. solar protected), dietary restrictions, lifestyle (outdoorsy or city living, active social life, etc.), environmental conditions (pollution, humid or dry weather) and overall health would determine if our skin can tolerate specific skincare ingredients. 

Melanocytes (melanin producing cells) become activated in response to skin injury. Persistent increases in temperature are major skin insults strongly stimulating uneven production of melanin or heat-induced melasma. Melanocyte activation also results in increase basal heat sensitivity as these cells form tight contact with cutaneous nerves. In addition, thermal stress activates epidermal TRPV1 receptors, triggering neuro-inflammation characterized by erythema, swelling, further temperature increase, tenderness, and pain.

Let's start from the beginning, hair grows out from a structure called “hair follicle” which looks like little pockets in our skin and extends from the epidermis down into the dermis. Hair follicles formed around week 10 of our gestacional development (in utero, thanks Mom!). At the moment of birth, we have about 5 million hair follicles (100-150K on our scalp). We are born with the maximum amount of hair follicles that we will ever have as no new hair follicles are formed after birth.

It has been hot and humid in Southern California! This weather is not making my daily run easier, but nevertheless I push through the heat, the hard to breath air and the excessive sweating stoically. Have you ever wondered why we sweat and what sweating does to our skin? There are a couple of misconceptions about the unglamorous act of sweating during exercising and how this affects our skin health.

FUN FACT: (1) Niacinamide can be produced (with mild efficiency) by our skin using tryptophan (an amino acid). (2) Niacinamide is found in animal-based foods such as meat and poultry while nicotinic acid is found in plant-based foods (nuts, seeds and green veggies). Nicotinic acid when apply topically causes vasodilation, redness and skin irritation.