Treat Dry Skin Naturally during Cold Winter Months

Cold weather brings dry skin, but what really originates dry skin and what
ingredients in skin moisturizers really work?

Well, dry skin is caused by two factors:

One is the alteration of the skin's protective barrier and excessive water loss
through the skin, and the other is a loss in the proportion of the skin's water-
holding sugar and protein molecules. This may all sound complicated but
truth is that dry skin is caused by a general loss of water.

Most skin moisturizers and creams contain high quantities of detergents and
detergent-like chemicals. These ingredients worse skin conditions by
inhibiting biological skin repair much like skin irritants. Some products may
even include dyes and optical diffusers used to create the appearance of
healthy skin. Using products that include petrolatum and lanolin to impede
water loss doesn't help, however what does help is to shield the skin's
surface and help it heal from the inside-out. This can easily be done by
applying natural ingredients that aid skin repair.

Natural components such as hyaluronic acid a glycosaminoglycan found in a

special serum are also present in the intercellular matrix of human skin and
play an important role in tissue hydration, lubrication and cellular function,
and are capable of holding more water than any other biological substance.

Proteoglycans and Glycosaminoglycans are active controllers of cell

function. They participate in cell-matrix interactions and play an important
biological role in fibroblasts proliferation, specialization and migration by
effectively adjusting the cellular phenotype.

* Proteoglycans are complex macromolecules consisting of a central protein

and one or more covalently linked glycosaminoglycan chains.
* Glycosaminoglycans modulate the effect of fibroblast growth factor (FGF)
signaling which is crucial in a wide range of important organic activities with
differential effects in various cell types.

Another key ingredient in dry skin treatment is a biological product that

restores skin moisture and is found in the secretions of a snail from the
species, Helix Aspersa Muller. Its secretion contains an ingredient packed
with glycoconjugates that improves the skin's ability to synthesize plus
glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans which are always present in the
dermis and have a large water holding capacity -true moisturizing- and thus
confer support and skin resistance, helping skin withstand tension and
compression forces without tearing. It also helps to reinforce the skin and
elude sagging, dryness and wrinkles.

In short, dry skin is caused by the simple loss of hydration or the ability to
retain it. In order to restore skin to its natural balance you need to apply
products that contain natural ingredients, especially those known to help
restore skin hydration. Some of the best known are rose hip oil, squalene
and other olive oil by-products.