About the skin

In terms of its functioning, the skin is the largest and most diverse organ of the human body. It serves to separate the outside and inside and to provide protection from environmental influences. It also protects us from heat and moisture loss and serves as a receiver of sensory stimuli. The skin additionally carries out important functions in the area of metabolism and immunology. Moreover, it offers a diverse range of adjustment mechanisms.

The main functions of the skin:

1. The skin as a protective barrier

The skin protects the organism from the penetration of pathogens and foreign substances in the broadest sense caused by mechanical injuries and radiation damage as well as from the loss of fluids, electrolytes and protein.

2. Exchange of substances

Substances are absorbed from and emitted to the environment in different proportions via the body's surface. What is referred to as "skin breathing", or the absorption and emission of salts or water is an example of this physiological process. This may also refer to the absorption of poisonous and allergy triggering substances from the environment.

3. Protection against UV radiation

To counteract the damaging effects of UV radiation on the skin and the underlying tissue, the skin features the following protective measures:

• The corneous layer (stratum corneum) of the human skin absorbs and reflects normally about 10% of the UVB and half of the UVA radiation. The skin reacts to sustained increased UV damage by firstly thickening the corneal layer.
• The protection of the skin by pigmentation affects the physical absorption of UV beams by pigments. The changing pigmentation of human skin is a unique means of adjustment and protection against UV radiation.
• The sweat of the human body contains UVA radiation-absorbing substances (urocanic acids).

4. The skin as a representative of personal attributes

Since the skin plays a key role in defining our appearance, it is the main object of beauty care. According to tests carried out by scientists at Jacobs University Bremen, people with smooth skin are perceived as trustworthy and serious.

Skin structure:

The skin's protective acid layer:

On the surface of the skin, there is a fine layer consisting of free fatty acids, sweat particles, sebum and water. This natural protective acid layer which has a pH of between 4 and 6 forms a barrier against damaging external influences. However, it also influences the colonisation of the skin by micro organisms (bacteria). An intact protective acid layer supports protective bacteria and controls and regulates the propagation of pathogenic micro organisms. Accordingly, a disrupted skin barrier facilitates excessive loss of moisture, the penetration of harmful substances and the colonisation with unwanted micro organisms.

It is scientifically disputed whether frequent washing with alkaline soaps (curd soaps) and very hot water creates an imbalance in the acid layer of the skin over the long term. Nevertheless, modern skin cleansing products minimise strain on the protective acid layer and in healthy skin a return to the normal state occurs quickly.

 

Why does the skin need special care?

Healthy and intact skin contains its own natural moisturising factors (sebum, fatty acids, proteins), which provide for balanced skin moisture and ensure that the skin does not feel tight and prevents itching and flaking. Adequate skin moisture means that the natural elasticity remains intact.

So why does the skin need special nurturing? After all, our ancestors did not have access to this in the wide range we have today. Is regular washing with curd soap not enough?

• First of all, this is not true, since baths in donkeys' milk were reported from as far back as Cleopatra's time. Anyone who has visited Myanmar will have seen women with a yellowish paste made of thanaka bark on their faces to protect and nurture the skin.
• Secondly, we live longer nowadays than our ancestors did and more mature skin has special requirements. Since it is unable to maintain the natural balance, it needs support.
• Thirdly, we now have different expectations of the appearance of our skin. Skin that is well looked after is associated with youth, health and beauty.
• On top of all that, an increasing strain caused by skin-damaging substances from the environment, frequent washing with wrong cleansing products, sunbathing, dry heated air etc.

Therefore, the maintenance of the natural acid protection and the support of the moisture balance is the goal of modern skincare. This can stabilise the natural protection, equalise deficits and preserve the skin's moisture where there is dry ambient air.

 

BIOMATRIX®

Standard creams contain fats and water which have to be stabilised in drop form using chemical emulsifiers. Otherwise, fat and water would separate (Experiment: Pour water and oil into a suitable container and shake vigorously - the complete separation can be seen after a certain length of time). However, the emulsifiers contained in standard creams can destroy and wash out the skin's natural protective barrier, since they release not only the fatty acids of the emulsion but also the natural fatty acids of the surface of the skin. This is very detrimental to the skin's functioning. Protective substances are washed out of the skin during each cleanse. These cannot be replaced by other skincare products since more emulsifiers are deposited on the skin's surface during each repeated skincare step. The process is repeated during each cleanse in the morning and evening. Ultimately, the skin is "washed out" through the repeated use of skincare products with emulsifiers. This results in dry skin which feels tight and itchy and demands further nurturing.

Unlike standard skincare products, BIOMATRIX® is skin-identical. It is free from chemical emulsifiers and even strengthens the natural skin barrier. A skin-identical matrix provides a many times higher protection than the droplet structure of standard creams.

The difference between BIOMATRIX® and the structure of standard cosmetic creams is clearly recognisable in microscopic images. The structure of the untreated, natural skin surface is almost identical to that of the matrix.

Table 1 Comparison of BIOMATRIX® and standard emulsion/ cream

	BIOMATRIX®	Standard emulsion/ cream
Skin-identical	+ + +	-
Build-up and protection of the natural skin barrier	+ + +	-
Release of nurturing ingredients	+ + +	-
No emulsifiers	+ (no "washing out" of the skin's acid layer)	- (attacks the skin's acid layer)
No preservatives	+ (kontraindiziert, da potentiell Allergie auslösend)	+/- (depends on the product)
No fragrances	+ (not recommended as can trigger allergic reaction)	+/- (depends on the product)

 

The lamellar structure of BIOMATRIX® is produced using a complex high-pressure process. With the help of this method, which is carried out repeatedly, the fat/ water layers are stabilised. When this process is used, emulsifiers and preservatives can be completely omitted.

The skin-like structure can now lie on the skin's top layer in an ideal way and thus support the natural protective function (J. Wohlrab et al.; Skin Pharmacol Physiol 2010; 23:298–305).

However, not only is the protective barrier strengthened. By closely combining the matrix structure with the stratum corneum (corneous layer), nurturing substances can penetrate the skin more deeply. Similar structures are also used in the pharmaceutical industry. It was demonstrated that active substances from a matrix structure penetrate the skin many times better than standard droplet emulsions do. For its application in skincare, this means that nurturing components penetrate the skin more deeply and the protection from external influences is strengthened at the same time.

For this reason, all Swiss Cream Cosmetics SCC® products are free from fragrances and preservatives. Both substance categories potentially trigger allergic reactions and should therefore not be introduced to the skin.