3 interesting facts about stretchmarks

Stretch marks are one of those things that many women feel super self-conscious about. They seem to come from no where, yet we spend a lot of our time obsessing about it. If you want to know more about your “tiger skin”, then you need to read on.

What causes stretch marks?

Your skin has three layers – these being the hypodermis (deepest layer), the dermis (the middle layer) and the epidermis (outer layer). Stretch marks are formed in the middle layer – the dermis. As your body grows naturally, the connective fibres in the dermis slowly stretch. However when there is rapid growth, these fibres can be stretched beyond their elastic limit and may become damaged or even break. As I said before, these are basically scars formed from the inside out, which is why they can be difficult to treat.

Who gets stretch marks?

Stretch marks are very common and anyone can get them. They tend to affect women more than men and that’s because around eight-in-10 women get them during pregnancy. During puberty about seven-in-10 girls and four-in-10 boys develop stretch marks during growth spurts

• Young stretch marks are easier to treat than older ones

The stretchmarks that are less than a year old are the young ones. They appear when the skin is in distress. They are easier to treat because the skin is still in the process of trying to heal. The older stretchmarks change colour as an indication that collagen bundles mix with abnormally thin elastin fibres but are unable to fully realign themselves. Normal elastin fibres are still absent.

• Dehydrated skin is more likely to show stretchmarks

When your skin is stressed, it pulls apart and stretchmarks form. This can easily be prevented or slowed down through making the skin as moisturised as possible. This is where the concept of tissue oil comes from. It is a highly moisurising oil that does not leave the skin feeling overly oiled or greasy. It does not wipe off too easily onto clothing and it has a lot of natural properties in it.

• Black African Organics solution

This is yet another problem that we decided to target. We know that when you look good, you feel good too. This is why we have put together the anti stretchmarks kit. It comprises of natural products from our range that help fight off the signs of stretchmarks, prevent stretchmarks and reduce the appearance of stretchmarks. The kit is currently priced at R420 and comprises of:

1. Organic skin repair tissue oil
2. Natural anti – stretchmarks body butter
3. Coffee and vanilla skin scrub