Why does skin lose elasticity?

As you get older, you will notice that your skin begins to lose its shape and elasticity. But why does it occur? We enlisted the help of Guru Magazine to explain the reasons behind it.

One of the microscopic substances that make up your skin is known as collagen. Collagen is nothing more than a protein that is twisted in a helical shape; like a DNA molecule. However, collagen has three strands instead of two. Collagen’s shape helps to keep your skin strong and firm and confers some elastic properties as well.

While collagen does have elastic properties, there is a protein in your skin that is more involved in the elasticity of it: this protein is called elastin. That name is quite apropos, no? Elastin allows your skin to pop back into place after some kind of force depresses it or pulls it out of position; like your aunt’s fingers pinching your cheek.

Unfortunately with age, collagen’s and elastin’s ability to function properly declines due to many reasons. Here are just a few:

1.)  Genes: this is probably the biggest factor in determining why and when your skin will lose elasticity, sag, and form wrinkles. Now, I’m not saying go ahead and do whatever you want because you can’t control your genetic code anyways. Remember: you can maximise your genetic potential only up to a certain point but you can destroy it far more quickly.

2.)  Smoking: It’s a well-established fact that this causes damage to the skin through one of several ways. The first is the fact that smokers will purse their lips and often furrow their brows and squint their eyes when they actually smoke. All else equal, the actual physical motion of the facial muscles will wrinkle the skin much more quickly than a non-smoker. However, it’s really less about that and more about the fact that cigarettes contain substances that negatively affect collagen synthesis, increase its breakdown, while simultaneously diminishing nutrient delivery to the skin.

3.)  U.V. Radiation. Most of us get this from the sun and many others flirting with danger get it from tanning salons. You can think of U.V. radiation as a weapon of mass destruction for your skin. Exposure to too much of the wrong kind of U.V. radiation essentially bombards your proteins in the skin with WMD’s that destroys the collagen directly. In addition, U.V. radiation can cause the DNA in skin cells to undergo genetic mutations that will lead to skin cancer. How fun!

4.)  Stress. When your body is under a lot of stress it releases a stress hormone known as cortisol. This hormone causes all sorts of problems that lead to inflammation of the skin. For example, it can lead to inflammatory breakouts that we typically get as teenagers. This inflammation, over the long term, in and of itself can destroy collagen and elastin and this can then lead to things like acne scars. If that wasn’t bad enough, cortisol is also a hormone that slows down the reparative mechanisms in your skin and has been implicated in the destruction of collagen directly. This means that just because you aren’t getting breakouts, which may be a sign of stress, that doesn’t mean cortisol isn’t destroying your skin right now. Insidious, isn’t it?

5.)  Sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep you can suffer a lot of ill effects, but you already knew that. However, did you know that not only will a lack of sleep cause stress but that it’s during our sleep that a lot of repair and regeneration of our skin takes place? If you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t give your body enough time to properly heal itself. So get your beauty sleep!

6.)  Diet. Do you like sweets? Too bad if the answer is yes. It’s been shown that eating too much stuff with sugar can cause your skin to start sagging prematurely due to a process called glycation. What basically occurs during glycation is that the sugar you eat begins to attach itself to elastin and collagen, thereby disrupting the normal cohesiveness of your skin, which therefore causes it to wrinkle and sag. It’s no fun, but you might consider cutting out some of that sugar for this and many other health-related reasons.

If you’re looking for some help, Guinot Creme Fermete Lift 777 – Lift Firming Cream 50ml is for all skin types.

• Visibly firms and regenerates the skin.
• Smoothes wrinkles.
• Gradually firms the contours of the face.

Apply morning and/or evening to the face and neck after cleansing thoroughly. Apply using upward strokes from the jaw to the forehead.

Active component:

• Actiprogerin: Limits progerin synthesis (associated with senescence) in the cells.