2 Essential Fatty Acids Your Clients' Skin Needs

fattyacidsnt

In 1929, George and Mildred Burr discovered the importance of essential fatty acids (EFAs) in the body. Since then, there have been many dissertations on how they work and which are the most vital. Internally, humans can get the required amounts of EFAs from foods we eat such as fish, certain vegetables, nuts, etc. However, skin is another matter. This article will discuss the two best sources of EFAs that produce visible benefits to the skin—and even reducing inflammation and helping to regulate hormonal imbalances.

EFAs and Skin

The two most vital EFAS in skin are omega 3 and omega 6. These are polyunsaturated fatty acids that are important for the skin’s structural integrity and barrier function. They also act as a potent signaling device, influencing or switching on the inflammatory response—such as in skin sensitivity.

The most important role of EFAs is that they are the only thing that can help maintain our skin matrix—that jelly-like substance that connotates the thickness, turgidity and youthful “bounce.” Someone may look pretty good at 50 years old, thanks to years of treatments and injections, then one morning as the sunlight creeps through their window and across their thighs, they suddenly see it—crepey skin! That “chicken skin” somehow shows up out of nowhere, appearing on the inner thighs, under the arms, at the bottom of the neck or under the jawline. It isn’t just loose or weakened muscles, or descending adipose fats; it’s the thinning of the skin’s matrix, like air being let out of a balloon.

No matter how much we may try to haul this up with microcurrent or peels, crepiness always creeps back. We can slow this down in advance with enzymatic skin revision, but pumping that thinning matrix back up is the only answer to filling out the crepe on a long-term basis, outside of constantly undergoing traumatizing exfoliation procedures.

Continue Reading about essential fatty acids in DaySpa's Digital Magazine....

Danné Montague-King is a botanical chemist, author and founder of DMK. For the past 50 years, DMK has used its unique DMK Skin Revision concept and treatments to provide skin care programs for all ages and ethnicities in more than 30 countries.

More in Physiology