SKIN

Breast and Décolletage Skin Care and Rejuvenation

No matter how perky your breasts, how wrinkle-free your face and neck or fit your body, a sun damaged or wrinkled décolletage can betray your age faster than you can say cleavage! There are anti-aging skin care measures, including at-home treatments that you can take to lessen or eradicate the dreaded signs of aging.

But first, let's learn more about skin in general.

Learning About The Skin

Skin (or the cutaneous membrane), is the largest organ of the human body by surface area. Along with its accessory structures (hair, nails and exocrine glands), skin makes up what is known as the integumentary system (the external covering of the body).

Comprising three main layers (epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue) and several sublayers, the skin's most important role is to guard underlying muscles and organs from pathogens, or infectious organisms. Its other main functions include insulation, temperature regulation, sensation and the synthesis of vitamin D.

Skin pigmentation, or color, varies among different populations, and skin type ranges from dry to oily. Severely damaged skin will try to heal itself by forming scar tissue, often giving rise to discoloration and depigmentation of the skin.

Our skin is constantly replenishing itself. In our younger days, the turnover rate was about every 15 to 18 days. As we approach our mid-thirties, the process slows down to about every 28 days. Our skin also becomes thinner and more easily damaged as we age. Elasticity usually declines, and the skin receives less blood flow and lower gland activity.

The uppermost living layer of skin, the epidermis, is where we shed our skin cells, which rise and become the stratum corneum (or "horny layer"), and reveal the newer cells that are produced in the lowest sublayer, the stratum germinativum (or basal layer).

Any product available in stores affects only the epidermal layer. The next level down is the dermis, which contains oil glands, nerves, capillaries, melanin (the cells responsible for your coloring) and sweat glands that moderate your body's temperature. The dermis also contains natural collagen and elastin in addition to fat and water storage.

Collagen and elastin give our skin that springiness that we equate with youthful vitality. The normal drop in collagen and elastin, combined with lessened sebum (oil) production and slower cell turnover rate as we age, explains why our skin appears wrinkled and drier than when in our youth.

Then there is the basal layer, where skin cells are produced. This is where it all starts and where the magical renewal process can enable our bodies to produce newer, healthier and unblemished skin.