There is a term used by dermatologists to describe the skin of an individual who has suffered extensive sun damage, or photoaging, as it is called. They describe this person as having “cigarette-paper” skin.
You have probably seen persons who fit this description. Typically, “cigarette-paper” skin is mottled and has a freckled look. Chronic sun damage creates little piles of pigment under the epidermis, which we see on our arms and faces as sun freckles. This develops because the cells that produce pigment become over-active and dump a lot of melanin (the pigment that gives our skin its color) unevenly into the deeper layers of the epidermis. This leads to the stained, dirty, or murky look of photoaged skin.
This is not the complete story of “cigarette-paper” skin, however. While this process is going on, the sun is also destroying the elastin and collagen, two vital proteins that give our skin elasticity and tensile strength. Remember, this is an accumulative process in which the fibers of elastin and collagen at first clump together, then are gradually liquefied and absorbed by the body.
At the same time, the sun causes a drastic thinning of the epidermis. In fact, biopsy specimens show that this layer’s thickness can go from a youthful 20 cells down to only two or three cells after chronic photoaging. The results: The skin develops a stained, murky look and hangs loosely where the taut, supple tissues of youth used to grow. The skin can become so thin that doctors must be very careful in removing adhesive tape because the skin can tear as the tape is removed!
A daily application of K.L. Perrins Clinical Fade and Repair Formula, with 10 percent glycolic acid, can greatly improve the health of such skin. It improves the look of the top-most layer, or stratum corneum, by aiding the sloughing off of dead cells. The epidermis, previously only a couple of cells high, increases in thickness. Production of elastin and collagen is stimulated, which helps restore elasticity and strength to the skin. Cells are “re-educated” so they begin to produce pigments normally. The Skin Blemish Formula also contains hydroquinone and kojic acid, which act together to fade sun spots, age spots, as well as help return your skin to its normal healthy color. In short, your skin develops that fresh, more youthful look that we all desire.
