For a thin layer of tissue that forms your natural outer covering (thanks Oxford Dictionary) it’s hard to imagine the skin in so simple a definition. Apparently I’ve had trouble with mine from the day I was born and it has been a rocky road to mutual appreciation to say the least. You see, your skin is always with you, doing what it does best – protection – but that can lead it down all kind of crazy dark alleys without any apparent explanation. From contact dermatitis to nodular rosacea, warts to pigmentation, cystic acne to shingles, my skin and I haven’t always seen eye to eye as it seemingly went rogue with no explanation, or did it?
As your largest organ, or largest bodily system depending on who you want to argue with, your skin is not only your first line of defense against the outside world but a barometer of health closely allied with your second largest organ, the liver. Had I known this years ago I might not have been so hard on my skin and might have channelled those energies into asking ‘why?’ What was my skin really trying to tell me about what was going on beneath the surface?
Rather, like many teenagers suffering from acne I was ping-ponged from GP to Dermatologist followed by an assortment of drugs from Minomycin to Vibra-Tabs, the contraceptive pill to Roaccutane, and assisted by skincare ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide, triclosan and tretinoin; And when I hear stories of other sufferers of chronic skin diseases, including eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis, it only points more strongly to the power of the skin and its effects on the being living within.
So what is SkinFit Lifestyle? It’s a personal philosophy of making friends with my skin.
From the surface ranting and raving that goes on from morning till night, to the inner workings of the body and the way my skin interacts with the world at-large, I’m chasing that ‘glow’ – the one that comes with happy, healthy skin and a happy, healthy being living on the inside.
Have a question about the skin you’re in? Email hello@skinfitlifestyle.com
