The skin acts as a barrier to the outside world. It prevents pathogens and harmful substances from entering the body. It can also act as a shock absorber. It is designed to withstand higher pressures without being damaged. Just think of the soles on the bottom of your feet. You carry your body weight your entire life, and also the extra weight that you put on from time to time. And if the skin weren't very elastic, we would all move around like robots. Of course, muscles and tendons are also needed. They are the reason why the skin is most resilient where there are large muscles underneath. The skin is particularly elastic where it stretches directly over joints.

Our early ancestors didn’t have much to protect themselves from the heat and cold. The skin played an important role and it still does. It ensures that the body can maintain a constant temperature. If the temperature drops, small blood vessels contract in the upper layers of the skin and give off less heat. This prevents the body from cooling down too much. This is also the reason you get goose bumps when you get cold: the hair follicles’ small muscles contract. The opposite happens when temperatures are high. Blood vessels expand. The blood cools down slightly, allowing the body to maintain its temperature. Furthermore, sweat glands produce fluid that can spread across the surface of the skin. The evaporating sweat then helps to cool down the body.

Even if it doesn’t look like it, two thirds of the human body are made up of water. Losing a lot of water would be life-threatening. The skin makes sure this doesn’t happen. It only releases as much moisture as is necessary to regulate the body temperature. When we are resting, this is about half a liter to one liter per day. This amount may increase dramatically when we exercise.

If we didn’t have our skin, our perception of the world would be very limited. In fact, our sense of touch complements our other senses - and it doesn’t only do its work in the dark. The skin registers very diverse stimuli and passes this information onto the brain. There are specialized cells recognizing pressure and heat sensations, as well as caresses, vibrations and of course, pain. They are distributed differently throughout the body depending on location. For example, there are many sensory receptors on the lips and fingertips, but few on the knees and elbows. And they play a particularly important role in cosmetics: when we apply lotion and take care of our skin, the soothing touch is also a message that says, "me-time".