Japan is a country with high humidity and hot summer days and people living in this corner of the world often complain of significant discomfort from excess humidity and heat.
As we all know, humans are highly adaptable to a variety of climatic conditions and over the generations, humans in their specific climatic regions have evolved coping mechanisms for what the weather throws at them.
Our skin is particularly at the receiving end of the sunlight and wind, and it has to protect us from damage and prolonged exposure to the elements. The skin isn’t just there to cover our muscles and bones. It is, de facto, an organ, with multiple functions that are essential to our very survival.

Composed of 3 distinct layers – epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous fat layer, our skin’s primary function is to protect us from physical damage (utilizing a layer of fat); store water in the dermis and regulate body heat; and providing sensory stimuli and a medium of communication with the outside world through the characteristics of epidermis.

We constantly touch, scratch and cut our skin on a daily basis, so the epidermis has to be very elastic and resist contact with everything around us. To achieve that, it constantly renews itself. Over a month’s time it completely recycles and replaces all cells in its structure.
The skin is capable of protecting us from infections and superficial wounds, by employing a whole host of beneficial bacteria, living on the skin, which keeps us healthy-looking with their contribution.
Yet, we often forget how much we owe our own skin for keeping us healthy. Using cosmetics, tattoos, sun-beds and air conditioners, these modern lifestyle choices constantly compromise the hard work of our skin in pursuit of an attractive appearance and smell.
However, natural characteristics of the skin can make us feel attracted to another person, if we allow the skin to do its job.
Consuming colorful fruit and veggies, such as tomatoes and oranges, improves the attractiveness of the skin, regardless of a person’s ethnicity. Our natural body odor is much more effective at “turning heads” of adorers, even if we deem our personal BO disagreeable. Through inflammations and other dermal conditions, our skin can inform us of an imbalance in our gut bacteria, but also shows that we might live in an excessively stressful environment.
We should be more in tune with our body and read the signs our skin manifests.

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