THE SKIN is the body's largest organ, weighing 1.8 to 2.7 kg (4 to 6 lb).
ON AVERAGE, adults have 300 million skin cells. The production of new cells slows down as we age.
SKIN CELLS naturally renew themselves every 21-28 days, and we shed approximately 4% of our total number of skin cells daily.
FACIAL SKIN is 0.12 mm (0.005 in.) thick, compared with body skin which is 0.6 mm (0.02 in.) thick. The thinnest skin is on our lips and the thickest is on our palms and the soles of our feet.
THE SKIN has billions of nerve endings which relay information from the outside world to the brain.
EACH SQUARE half inch of skin contains at least 10 hairs, 100 sweat glands, 1 m (3 ft) of tiny blood vessels and 15 sebaceous glands.
THE SKIN'S colouring is determined by the pigment, melanin. Melanin is the skin's natural defence mechanism against the sun's harmful UV rays.
DARKER-COLOURED skins have higher levels of melanin than paler skins and so their natural resistance to the sun is far greater.
THE BODY is made up of 70% water, 35% of which is found in the skin.
ON AVERAGE, each of us will shed about 13.6 kg (30 lb) of skin during our lifetime.
