If you turn on your TV or open any beauty magazine, odds are you'll come across an ad for the newest anti-aging cream, featuring models with impossibly smooth faces and long lists of chemicals.
These ads sound misleading and, don't get me wrong, some of these so-called "anti-wrinkle" chemicals are just marketing buzzwords.
But it turns out that a few of them might actually help protect your skin from damage.
Your skin is like a layer cake, and the icing on that cake is a thin layer of cells called the epidermis.
The epidermis is supported by the dermis, which is where you'll find nerve endings, sweat glands, hair follicles, and connective tissue.
Connective tissue is made up of a mix of cells hanging out in an extracellular matrix, which contains some specific molecules that give your skin some structure and help with things like healing wounds.
One is collagen, a really plentiful protein that helps cells stick together and makes your skin stronger.
There's also elastin, a protein that gives your skin the ability to bounce back when you stretch it.
Then, there are long chains of sugars called glycosaminoglycans or GAGs, which act like sponges and can hold huge amounts of water.
They help resist squishing forces on your skin and keep it hydrated and healthy-looking.