The Skin We’re In
The largest organ of the body, although it absorbs a great deal of water, it is also very much waterproof. It is also sensitive to pleasure, pain and temperature changes, sheds about 9 pounds per year, produces and stores Vitamin D, and contains roughly 3 million sweat glands! Each month we create a new glorious layer of beautiful skin just waiting to exfoliated, washed, lotioned, oiled, groomed, heated, cooled on repeat. The outermost layer consists mostly of dead skin cells, to which it requires exfoliation when these dead cells build up. This incredible organ, the skin, is an integral part of our immune system to which provides protection through an acidic outermost layer. So, for instance when we wash our bodies daily (or ever so often) with soap and body washes, we remove this layer of of skin turning our outer layer alkaline with each wash. This alkalinity, causes dryness thus resulting in the use of skin creams, lotions, butters, and salves (to name a few) to add the moisture we lost back onto the skin.
Sometimes what seems like a costly and complex solution related to the skin, is often something so simple and internally based, we don’t even realize just how affected the skin is to the inner being. For instance: acne can and often affects us all when we are in our teens and hormones are naturally fluctuating, but during those most impressionable years, the skin may often be reacting to our internal need to be seen, fear of being seen, fear of the way we are seen or fear of not being seen. This may manifest in an outer layer reaction, i.e. acne on our outermost protective layer, our skin. The skin is here to protect us and sometimes we don’t realize just how much our innermost fears and feeling manifest outwardly. Of course, this does not sum up or explain away all skin conditions as they pertain to adults as well as youths, but isn’t that simple fact fascinating on its own? Think about your own fears of being perceived, being seen or not being seen and how that’s manifested in your own life - re any past or present skin conditions. And of course we always advise a doctor’s visit for proper diagnosis, but consider our message as well.
Herbal support to consider to maintain skin health: oats, chickweed, witch hazel, yarrow, cannibis, horsetail, chaparral, rose, lavender, plantain, elderflower, lemon balm, nettles, oat straw, red clover, peppermint, spearmint, sassafras, aloe vera, echinacea, arnica, St. John’s Wort, Gotu Kola, violet, calendula, chamomile, to name a few…
In addition, always be sure to keep a balanced intake of water, good fats (omega 3s, coconut oil, olive oil, flax oil, avocado, hemp oil, etc), Vitamins A + D, silica, amino acids, and much more. Keep healthy. Stay vibrant. Remain protected. Be well 💚