The modern mindset often puts skin health and skin beauty into separate categories.
The skin is the largest organ in the human body. It is our primary protection against the sun, water, and everything else we run into in our daily lives. Yet many of us take its health for granted.
We believe that healthy skin is not only important for holistic health, but it is also the best way to achieve youthful, beautiful skin.
Skin’s Role in Overall Health
As we touched upon in the introduction, skin performs a number of vital functions when it comes to overall health. Some of its important functions include:
Skin as a Waterproof Barrier
Newborn babies are comprised of nearly 80 percent water. Adults dip down nearer to 60 percent water, but that is still a sizeable portion. Yet if the water and irritants we encountered everyday were to make it into our internal systems, we would be in rough shape. Skin is a powerful and efficient waterproof barrier for our bodies.
Skin Absorbs Sunlight and Produces Vitamin D
Our skin works hard to protect our bodies from potentially harmful UV rays. It absorbs UVB and use it to make Vitamin D, an essential compound for digestion. Healthy skin also produces melanin to protect our skin from UV rays.
Self-healing Properties of Skin
Everyone has suffered some sort of bruise or cut at one point or another. Blood flows to the affected area, and the healing process begins. Skin is extremely efficient at healing itself when injured. Antibacterial properties allow our skin to fight off infection. Blood clots form scabs, working with the skin to close wounds. Finally, the skin is highly regenerative, and new healthy skin will soon replace the injured tissue.
Body Temperature Regulation
Skin plays a main role in our body’s ability to thermoregulate, or keep our body’s temperature at a stable 98.6 degrees. Through sweat, shivering, skin contraction, and the control of blood flow through capillaries, our skin efficiently cools or heats our bodies as necessary. This isn’t a high profile job like the heart or lungs, but without body temperature regulation, the human body cannot function properly.
Other Essential Skin Functions
The three layers of skin, the epidermis, dermis, and subcutis, also provide a litany of other essential services. These functions include storing essential fats, producing a wide range of health hormones, and absorbing impacts which might otherwise damage our bones, tendons, and ligaments.
Simple Ways to Keep Skin Healthy and Beautiful
Now that we have established why skin is vital to overall health, how can we protect our skin? The skin is extremely resilient and robust all on its own. The keys to healthy skin are often maintaining good overall health habits. With this in mind, here are several easy methods to keep skin healthy:
- Maintain a healthy diet. No diet is a cure-all for skin conditions, but a healthy diet full of protein, complex carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables has been shown to promote healthy skin function.
- Keep skin clean without overdoing it. Gently cleansing skin daily is a great way to eliminate irritants and allow the skin to take care of itself. However, harsh cleansers, piping hot showers/baths, and overwashing the skin can strip it of its ability to protect itself.
- Avoid tobacco products. Smokers and those who are in proximity to tobacco smoke have a higher risk of developing premature wrinkles, pale skin, and reduced collagen production.
- Use sun protection products. Alongside smoking, UV rays are one of the main culprits of undue skin aging. Always use sunscreen and cover up when possible.
Natural Skincare Routines for Skin Health
Our skin is an incredible organ. It does so much work by itself that we believe it is a shame to overdo skincare routines. Some modern beauty bloggers suggest using ten (10) or more products a day! Not only is this expensive, time consuming, and unnecessary, it may actually harm your skin in the long run with too many active ingredient doing too many things at once.
Instead, consider using only a handful of natural, potent skincare products which support your skin’s natural ability to take care of itself. A simple Facial Oil and Youth Serum Combo Pack can keep skin youthful, moisturized and healthy all year round. These two products do the job previously held by moisturizers, eye creams, toners, anti-aging creams, and more.
Whatever products and regimens you choose to try, remember that simple is often best when it comes to skin health.
Dr. Wang Herbal Skincare Products for Healthy, Glowing Skin
Steven Wang, MD and Gui Wang, LAc have been working together for over 20 years to provide potent, herbal remedies for spas and individuals around the world. The father-son duo mixes Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with cutting edge scientific advances with the aim of bringing relief, comfort and happiness to our customers. Our products are the result of decades of dedicated research.
We believe that utilizing both modern Western medicine and time honored Eastern medicine allows us to provide unique skincare solutions. To learn more, read what experts from The New York Times, Allure, Reader’s Digest, and more have to say about our revolutionary products.