Your skin barrier consists of the acid mantle of sebum and perspiration. The hard outer skin proteins formed from dried and flattened skin cells, and the underlying mixture of cells and protein fibers.

Damage to the Skin Barrier and Skin Condition
When the skin’s barrier is compromised, the following problems can occur:

Bacterial infections (acne)
Virus infections (cold sores)
Fungal infections (athlete’s foot)
Blotches and rashes
Less skin repair and more rapid untimely aging

Skin PH is a chemist’s term for Potential of Hydrogen. Many skin care companies taut how wonderful their product will “make your pH balance”-but most people don’t fully realize what “pH” really means.

Potential of Hydrogen is used to measure the acidity or alkaline in the “outer” layer of skin. (Your barrier). Without getting into scientific rhetoric, your skin needs a “neutral” acid level. A healthy acid level “protects” the skin in many ways.

Antioxidant- lipids (fats) are oxidized to protect the skin from excessive oxidation. As I mentioned in prior articles-this is why “whiteheads” which are oxidized sebum (natural oil in pores) turn into “blackheads” as the sebum is oxidized (hits natural light).

Water Repellent- a healthy skin barrier keeps water retained. Making the skin less vulnerable to dehydration from environmental factors such as sun and wind (for the outdoor active type).

Bacterial Inhibition- a healthy acid balance (pH) keeps skin healthier with less blemishes.

Certain Soaps Can Damage the Skin Barrier
Mainstream soaps have a higher than normal alkaline thus leading to a higher pH level. Inexpensive soaps with synthetic ingredients (actually detergents) strip away the mantle and protective keratin proteins. This makes the skin more vulnerable to the above mentioned damage to the skin barrier.

Increasing Skin Cell Turnover
A key to maintaining a healthy skin barrier is increasing skin cell turnover. Good cell turnover keeps a wonderful constant flow of cells moving “outward” in the skin with a fresh supply of outer skin proteins replacing the old cells.

Exercise is a key factor for healthy skin cell turnover. The dead, older cells need to be removed so other topical nutrients can better penetrate into the skin barrier. Retinoic acid can be irritating to some persons skin so natural hydroxy acids and exfolliants prove to be effective and gentle to the skin barrier.

Let Your Natural Bacteria Protect You
Bacteria is not as horrible as you think. Normal skin has a small amount of bacteria.

This normally harmless bacteria protects you from disease causing harmful bacteria by filling the niches in your skin’s environment that harmful bacteria could occupy. So don’t worry so much about bacteria, a not so fabulous word.

In closing, I must stress how regular “aerobic” exercise improves skin’s healthy barrier. It does remarkably improve skin quality. Exercise increases blood capillary density in the skin and improves the nutrition of cells.

Looking good feels fantastic. Doing good? Even Better!
“But how can we make both happen at the same time?”

Kate Hudson award winning actress and animal advocate partnered with David Babaii and WildAid to bring the first line of haircare products that support animal rights advocacy to the world’s attention.

WildAid by David Babaii celebrates beauty in nature by encompassing all earths elements to create a line of natural hair care products with heart. Nourishing ingredients with resonating value not only for your hair but the future of our precious wildlife.

A firm commitment to protecting the environment lead David to develop an innovative new line of styling products with an exclusive blend of exotic natural and renewable ingredients. Rich Cupuacu butter from the South American Amazon, nutrient rich super volumizing volcanic ash from the Vanuatu islands of the South Pacific, Blue Algae, and Polynesian White Ginger (to name but a few).

The products are free of sulfates, parabens, petrochemicals, animal products and of course, free from all animal testing. Even better, ten percent of all profits go to WildAid, the global wildlife conservation organisation, to help save endangered animals. So the benefits truly go beyond beautiful hair!

Now when you do something great for your hair, you’ll also be doing something great for the planet. It’s beautiful to be good.

So if you want to purchase a pure product that preserves all things precious visit David Babaii for WildAid.

About WildAid

WildAid is a non-profit organization that works with governments and communities of the world to reverse the devastation of our planet’s wildlife. Our mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade within our lifetimes, allowing threatened species to recover to safe levels. WildAid’s goal is a world in which local communities can improve their lives without destroying their environment, and where humanity can survive together with wildlife for generations to come. WildAid public service messages are seen each week by over one billion people around the world, and in addition to Kate Hudson, include such notable supporters as Jackie Chan, Harrison Ford, Ralph Fiennes, and Yao Ming and many world champion athletes.