Do men and women have different skin types?
HOW often have I been asked the question, ‘Is our skin different’? The answer is yes, our skin — that of men and women — is different.
Here are a few differences.
* The skin of a man tends to be more deeply pigmented than the skin of a woman, therefore women are known as the fairer sex.
* The skin of a man is thicker than the skin of a woman and has more collagen, therefore women tend to age faster than men.
*Women have more subcutaneous fat — that is fat below the skin — than men. Therefore women suffer from cellulite. When last did you hear a man complain about cellulite?
* Women show less muscle definition.
* Men tend to show signs of ageing less than women because of the presence of facial hair.
* The skin of the face is more alkaline in females than the skin of the males. The skin is also thinner in women.
* Men secrete more sebum (oil) and they secrete it throughout life. Women stop secreting sebum after menopause, therefore the skin looks coarser and drier as the woman ages. On the other hand, men suffer more from seborrhoeic eczema as they age.
* Men sweat more than women and the sweat stays on the body longer. Men also have more body hair and therefore more surface area for bacteria to colonise .
* We also find that the skin is drier in women than in men. The female skin is also more functionally responsive than the skin of men Therefore female skin has a greater tendency to redness and to irritation to skin care products and so women are said to have tender skin.
* The skin of women is slightly cooler than the skin of men especially at the fingertips.
It is important for us to realise these important differences between the skin of a man and the skin of woman. These differences are important in developing skin care products, for example odour control is more difficult in males than in females, because of the presence of body hair and the increased production of sweat and of sebum.
Facial stinging is also more prevalent in women and therefore we must test facial products and cosmetics more rigorously for sensitive skin in women.
Less collagen in female skin combined with thinner skin means a larger anti-ageing market for women.
Lastly, the increased subcutaneous fat in women means that the market for the development of cellulite treatment is almost completely confined to this group.
There are profound differences between the sexes and these differences start with the skin.
Dr Persadsingh is a skin specialist. He is the author of Acne in Black Women and The Hair in Black Women. Check out his website at acneinblackwomen.com.
