The meaning behind the title - Desquamation (from Latin desquamare, meaning "to scrape the scales off a fish") is the shedding of the outermost membrane or layer of a tissue, such as the skin.

"Our skin mediates the most important transactions of our lives.  Skin is key to our biology, our sensory experiences, our information gathering, and our relationships with others.  Although the many roles it plays are rarely appreciated, it is one of the most remarkable and highly versatile parts of the human body."  

 - "Skin A Natural History" by Nina G. Jablonski

A Small Lesson in the Composition of Your Skin
Though our skin is composed of three main layers, we are generally concerned with the two top sections, the epidermis and the dermis.  
The dermis is the center layer of our skin.  It contains everything we generally worry about, our hair follicles, sweat glands and oil glands and is composed of collagen and elastin....our friends when we are young and our foes as we age.  
The epidermis is our "armor", per say.  The epidermis, itself, protects us from the elements, bacteria, ultra-violet light.  But, the epidermis has no blood vessels, connective tissue, cartilage or fat....it's simply made up of the dying skin cells waiting to be evacuated from the body...aka, desquamation.


Like your heart beating and your lungs inhaling and exhaling, your skin sheds itself automatically.  Approximately every 35 to 40 days, an entirely new epidermis (the outer most layer of skin) is created.
Yes, the desquamation of our skin, in literal terms, is the main focus of my profession.  But, I thought of the title of this blog to mean something more.  


I am about to turn 30 and everything I know, to this point, will change.  The way I care for myself, my skin, and my life will have to change.  I need to shed my old theories of what is best for me, what is best for my clients, what is best for my family and try to build some new foundations.  Now, like our own epidermis, I am fed by my past, by my history, my education, my family....my dermis, my live layer of life.  I need to take everything I have learned, thus far, and transfer it into actions for my future.  


I feel I help my clients, family and friends desquamate their lives (and skin) on a daily basis....and now, I hope to continue to help them and help you!