Chemistry of skin: Sebum

Sebum can be our friend when it is protecting our skin from infection or fungi, protecting from friction, and reducing TEWL, but it can be our enemy when it’s causing us shiny skin and acne pustules! As you can see from this picture, sebaceous glands are located in the hair follicles of our body. The...

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Chemistry of skin: Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL)

“Trans-epidermal water loss (or TEWL) is defined as a measurement of the quantity of water that passes from inside a body through the epidermal layer to the surrounding atmosphere via diffusion and evaporation processes.” (Wikipedia) This is a continuous process over which we have little control. It can increase due to disruption to the skin...

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Fun with chemistry: Preserving & re-using containers

I see suggestions all the time that we really don’t need a preservative in products we might be using ourselves, and I find that strange, as if using a microbe-free product should be a privilege we reserve for other people! (And a bit hypocritical, if you believe there’s something inherently bad about using preservatives. You...

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Chemistry of skin: Stratum corneum lipids (updated)

If you’ve just joined us, please check out this post on the chemistry of your skin before reading onwards… If we think of the corneocytes in the stratum corneum as “bricks”, then the stratum corneum lipids are the mortar. (The water soluble natural moisturizing factor is found inside the corneocytes; the lipid soluble stratum corneum...

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Chemistry of skin: Natural moisturizing factor (NMF)

Natural moisturizing factor (NMF) is found within the corneocytes, and makes up 20% to 30% of the dry weight of the stratum corneum. It consists of amino acids (40%), sodium PCA (12%), lactate (12%), urea (7%), ions (18.5%), sugars (like glycerol – 8.5%), and a few other things. These are water soluble humectants (meaning they...

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