Effects of external factors on the skin

Exogenous meaning what kind? How many external factors affecting the skin can you name? Remember to protect yourself from everyone? How do they affect the skin? Find out right away!

We divide the causes of our skin changes into two basic groups – endogenous (intrinsic) and exogenous, or extrinsic. We would like to devote today’s article to the latter group. The behavior of our skin is affected by many more elements from the environment than we realize. Unfortunately, the sun, although one of the most potent external factors affecting our skin, is not the only one.

UV radiation

The most important source of UV radiation is the sun – that much is clear. Further mention must be made of the equally harmful lamps in tanning beds, varnish curing lamps, etc. The radiation emitted by the sun consists of three wavelengths: UVA, UVB and UVC. The good news is that UVC waves – the most destructive of all – are completely absorbed by the ozone layer. UVB radiation reaches about 10% of us. However, ozone hardly stops UVA waves at all. How much UV reaches the Earth depends on the sun’s position above the horizon, latitude, altitude, and time of day and year.

Visible light (400 – 800nm) activates many processes essential for life, but UVA and UVB (280 – 400nm) can cause adverse changes in biological structures. UVC (100 – 280nm) destroys proteins and nucleic acids.

The difference between UV-A and UV-B

• UV-B is absorbed by the epidermis, which destroys its structure. It accelerates aging by damaging the basal layer, causing erythema and inflammation.
• UV-A penetrates the epidermis, and is only absorbed by the dermis. It alters collagen cross-linking and elastosis. It accelerates aging by damaging capillaries as well.

Blue Light Radiation

A little-known fact is that the effects of blue light (emitted by the screens of electrical appliances) on our skin are even more devastating than UV-A and UV-B, since it penetrates all layers of the skin. When choosing a sunscreen, it is worth noting that it also protects against blue light.

Environmental pollution

Also popular for some time now in cosmetics is the “trend” – if you can call it that – antipollution. Does it make sense to use products with this slogan, or is it just another marketing ploy?

Unfortunately, this is not a gimmick, but a real problem. In addition, impossible to avoid. The smog we mean by airborne pollutants settles not only on the lungs. On the skin, too.

Effects of smog on the skin:

• degrades collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid,
• induces oxidative stress, compromising the hydrolipid barrier,
• the skin loses its ability to regenerate,
• skin problems such as acne and erythema are aggravated.

Working with many beauty salons allows us to say with confidence that loss of elasticity and hyper-reactive skin are problems that more people are facing than years ago. People who are not genetically prone to skin problems, for example, feel the impact of external factors. The skin turns gray and earthy, discoloration and inflammation appear, and in extreme cases even skin allergies can appear.

Frost and wind

Do you remember as a child how, before going outdoors, your mother used to grease your cheeks so you wouldn’t get frostbite? In adult life, we should also keep this in mind – winter poses a challenge to our skin, no less than summer. Although the sun’s radiation is much less, challenges include rapid temperature changes, frost and wind.

The cold slows down the reconstruction of the hydrolipid barrier and the work of the sebaceous glands, so the skin is prone to dryness even more than in summer, although seemingly it is in summer that we lose more water. The barrier’s protective functions work less effectively due to the lower amount of intercellular lipids in the stratum corneum. As you may remember from articles about dry skin and oily skin, the “oiliness” of our skin depends on the amount of lipids. When there are too many, we talk about oily skin, and when there are too few, we talk about dry skin. Their amount also changes with temperature. During the year, just as we adjust our closet, we should change our makeup bag. Light cosmetics that work well in summer, in winter it is worth changing to slightly greasier ones to support the hydrolipid barrier of our skin.

Myth

We disprove the oft-repeated theory that moisturizers should not be used in winter because the water they contain can freeze in sub-zero temperatures. Most of the water evaporates after a short while after applying the cream.

Klimatyzacja i ogrzewanie

Regardless of the season, we give our skin its own challenges. When it’s too cold, we turn on the heating. When it’s too hot, we activate the air conditioning. The result is a rapidly changing temperature around us. After all, you also need to get out of the warm house in winter, and you can’t hide in an air-conditioned office all summer. Through these changes, our blood begins to circulate faster. We risk that the blood vessels can’t withstand the pressure and start to burst. Ask people with vascular skin, what the problems associated with it are. Hypersensitivity to external factors, as well as to many of the active ingredients in the creams, manifested by extensive erythema, which disappears very slowly.

#dottoreadvises

As always, we meet the demand. None of our products were created because of “fashion”. The years of experience of both our mentor, Dr. Waldemar Jankowiak as well as a team of cosmetologists in the industry allow us to learn about current problems and find solutions to them.

To deal with the problems outlined above, we recommend:

City line – a comprehensive care, which includes a day cream, night cream, eye cream and mist, which is increasingly popular. The series protects against the harmful effects of pollution, moisturizes and nourishes the skin, leaving it healthy and glowing.

City SUN – also worth mentioning is a sunscreen cream from the City line – City SUN. It is the ideal radiation protection for people living in the city – effective, protects against all types of radiation, moisturizes, absorbs quickly and does not turn white.

Sacha butter – a line of face and body butters in four different scents that wins the heart of everyone who has the opportunity to test them. The composition full of the most valuable oils in cosmetics strongly regenerates, nourishes and protects the skin from drying out. Our customers praise it as a lip balm.

S.O.S. – a cream that accelerates the regeneration of the epidermis, which is worth carrying with you regardless of the season.. In summer it will help with sunburn, in winter it will regenerate frost-dried skin. It was created for use after aesthetic medicine procedures, so it is also recommended for use in professional offices.

Did you find something that surprised you or did you know all about exogenous factors and their effects on our skin?