The Skin’s Own Moisturising Elements: Natural Moisturising Factors (NMF)

Your skin is a very delicate organ of your body which is most exposed to environmental conditions and adversities. You need proper care and pampering to have a healthy and glowing skin.

Talking about skin care, moisturising is a very important step of any skincare regime and it has been stressed many times in previous articles as well that every skin type needs moisturising. This is a misconception among people that it is only dry skin that needs to be moisturised regularly. One most important point is that your skin has the ability to moisturise it on its own!

Yes, that’s right. Natural moisturising factors, abbreviated as NMF, are an important part of the outermost layer of your skin, known as stratum corneum. Natural moisturising factors (NMF) have their role in keeping skin hydrated. As always mistaken, hydration is not the only purpose of these factors. They also maintain skin desquamation, plasticity, and barrier homeostasis. This is why it is important to make sure that your skin has an adequate amount of NMF on its surface and none of the external factors are disturbing them.

Natural moiturising factors (NMF) are usually formed by proteolysis, the process in which big protein molecules are divided into small hygroscopic amino acids. So they basically are amino acids along with a few lipids.

There are various factors that can lead to the removal of natural moisturising factors (NMF) from your skin, leading to increased susceptibility. One most important factor is overexposure to sun and harmful sun rays as well increased exposure to water as in swimming.  Decreased content of NMF results into the sensitive, dry, and easily vulnerable skin.

So the cause of decreased NMF in the skin goes back to extrinsic and & intrinsic causes of skin ageing.   Slowing production, increase free radical-related damage can be easily be combatted with the right skin care with the aim to revitalise and stimulate the layers thereby preventing damage and increasing production of new elements that form the NMF.

When the content of natural moisturising factors (NMF) is low in your skin, it is important to replace it with suitable things. Choosing an appropriate moisturiser becomes even more important in such cases. Our suggestions for an appropriate moisturiser is quite an in-depth talk as this is an industry that has pioneered highly creative misunderstandings that have become accepted as norms.

Avoiding the loss of natural moisturising factors (NMF) is the first step. However, if somehow your skin loses these factors, replacing them with artificial ones is mandatory in the first instance. Picking products with skin identical moisturising factors are the key to keep your skin healthy, glowing, and youthful. Deficiency of these factors may lead to early ageing due to increased susceptibility to harsh environmental conditions.

Focus on formula of your skincare products to make sure that you are providing your skin with essential moisturising factors. The elements that can help replenish lost moisturising factors include hyaluronic acid (low molecular weight), phospholipids as well as other such as coconut oil, cocoa butter, shea better, lecithin etc. Applying too many moisturisers can lead to problems of their own discussed in our talk.

When you choose products with factors that resemble natural moisturising factors (NMF) in your skin, the bond in intercellular skin matrix becomes stronger. This leads to a healthier and prettier skin. Moisturising factors also make sure that intercellular region is strong. A strong intercellular association is the key factor that prevents entry of harmful things like microorganisms in your skin. So it is a defense mechanism as well.

So the summary of all above discussion is, it is very important to make sure that your skin has adequate amount of natural moisturising factors (NMF). For the purpose, you should avoid harsh external conditions like excessive exposure to sun.