What Skin Looks Like

A Skin Diagram of the Skin Layers

Seen from a distance, skin layers may look perfectly smooth. But what we actually see is dependent on several factors, including the state of the very top layer, the type and amount of pigment in the layers beneath and the state of the tissues and the blood vessels in the deeper skin layers.

As we get nearer it becomes obvious that the skin layers are not absolutely smooth and perfect.

If we look even more closely we will see that the surface is marked by a network of tiny furrows of variable sizes which divide the surface into rough rectangles. These change shape during movements of the skin. In some areas, such as the hands, movement would not be possible without the flexibility afforded by these furrows.

Looking closely at older skin reveals fine lines and pores.

First impressions may depend on skin health and facial skin care. In youth, light is reflected from a healthy, undamaged skin that is functioning perfectly.

Skin Facts

• The skin covering the body of a newborn baby has an area of about 2500 cm². By the time the baby has grown up it may have to cover 18000 cm² (1.8 square metres - about the size of a shower curtain). If the baby grows up to be very tall or very fat, it can be considerably more.
• The skin of an average woman weighs about 3 kg, and that of an average man perhaps 5 kg.
• The thickness of the skin varies, depending on its site on the body. It is thinnest on the eyelids and thickest on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.

Over most of the body the skin carries hairs, but in most people these are not very noticeable except on the head, eyebrows, eyelids, face, armpits and groin. In some dark-haired people the hairs on the forearms and legs (and, in men, the chest) may be visible. Shaving leg hair is common in some cultures.

There are sweat glands all over the skin, opening at tiny pores on the surface; in certain areas, such as the armpit, they are particularly prominent.

The delicate skin around the eyes undergoes some marked changes over the years: this shows the non-wrinkled skin around the eyes of an eight-year-old...

...but at the age of 20 early signs of damage and wrinkles in skin are visible...

...and by 34 fine lines and wrinkles in skin are developing...

...which have deepened into wrinkles in skin (called "crows feet") by the age of 60. These are mainly due to exposure to ultraviolet light; daily protection with products containing UV sunscreens may help to reduce wrinkled skin. 

Thick skin on the palms of the hands can withstand considerable wear and tear... 

...and may develop callouses (patches of hard, horny skin) to protect the structures beneath. 

'Terminal' hair grow on the scalp and eyebrow. After puberty they also grow in areas that are sensitive to sex hormones. 

Smooth-skinned legs are seen as attractive in some but not all cultures. Shaving does not make hairs grow more strongly: it just feels that way.

Human Hand Skin Texture

Skin furrows are most obvious over the joints, where they correspond with folds in the deeper layers of the skin caused by joint movements. The lines on the back of the hand are quite faint, and cross each other at various angles.

There are also skin lines that are normally invisible but become apparent in certain rare pigmentation disorders (see Skin Color). The lines on the palms of the hand and the fingers (and on the soles of the feet) are fine but very distinct, making a series of parallel curves and forming patterns which are unique to each individual ('fingerprints'). These are caused by the peculiar arrangement of the deeper parts of the skin. The pores of the sweat glands open on the ridges of these patterns.  

The skin over the fingers owes much of its flexibility to the arrangement of deeper tissues overlaying the joints... 

...while the folds in the thick skin of the palms allow the hands to open and close freely.

On the face there may be many deeper wrinkles, particularly around the eyes. These become more marked with age and are significantly deepened by sun exposure and smoking. 

In skin heavily affected by the sun, patterns emerge, both coarse and fine.

When we look at skin under a microscope it looks almost like a moon landscape, with hairs growing out of it. The patterns are more obvious and flakes of dead skin can be seen.  

Everyone carries complex and unique skin patterns on their fingertips. 

Seen with an electron microscope, skin looks almost like a lunar landscape; a growing hair can be seen among the 'rocks', which are dry, dead skin cells called 'squames.'

The three-dimensional structure of the skin, shown in this skin diagram: (left) the thick hairless skin of the palm of the hand, (right) the thin hairy skin of the forearm.