The Importance Of Your Skin

Have you ever stopped to think about how complex your skin is? It is the largest organ in your body and it does some pretty important stuff. Not only does it hold your body together, but it protects you from bacteria, regulates your body temperature, and allows you to feel the sensations of touch, heat, cold, and pain.

There are three layers to your skin:

• Epidermis - outer layer of skin. It protects your body, determines the color of your skin, and makes new skin cells.
• Dermis - middle layer of skin. It makes you sweat, produces hair, produces oil (to keep your skin waterproof), and provides cushioning.
• Hypodermis - bottom layer of skin. It attaches your skin to your muscles and bones, controls your body temperature, contains blood vessels, and stores fat.

Each of these layers is then made up of multiple layers. The outer layer of the epidermis is lipophilic (oil-loving) and hydrophobic (water-hating). (Remember we talked about hydrophobic when we were discussing soap molecules?) This helps your skin manage what is able to penetrate and be absorbed into your body and what stays on the surface of your skin. That's why you can go swimming or take a bath without absorbing all the water.

Whether or not (and the speed at which) your skin absorbs what it comes in contact with depends on multiple factors.

• The material exposed to the skin. The chemical composition of the specific material (smaller particles are more easily absorbed).
• The concentration of the material. Diluted substances are not absorbed as much as highly concentrated substances.
• How long the material is in contact. For most substances, the longer it is in contact with the skin, the more can be absorbed.
• Which skin is exposed. Thin-skinned areas like your eyelids allow more absorption/penetration than thicker-skinned areas like your heels.
• The health of the skin. Dry and cracked skin does not function as well as healthy skin in hindering absorption.

For these reasons, it is very important to keep your skin healthy and avoid putting potentially harmful chemicals on your skin. Remember that your skin does do an amazing job of preventing harmful chemicals from getting into your bloodstream, but even so, some are still able to penetrate.

So what should you do?

• Minimize harmful ingredients. By decreasing dangerous products you use on your skin (such as antibacterial soaps and petroleum jelly), you can avoid many potential problems.
• Keep your skin clean and healthy. Using goat milk soap helps to wash away dirt and germs that can affect the health of your skin.
• Keep your skin moisturized. Dry skin makes it harder for your skin to do its job properly. Use a solid lotion to moisturize from the outside in.
• Stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water is a great way to keep your skin moisturized from the inside out.

"Your soap and it’s essence are the luxury I provide myself for self care. Love the creamy feeling and how soft my skin feels...I love all of their natural products and make sure I never run out!" - Joy

Taking good care of your skin will help your skin to take good care of you. Your skin is an important part of your immune system, and you can trust Goat Milk Stuff soaps and lotions to contain safe ingredients that will help you keep your skin healthy.