I spend a lot of time applying creams, masks, serums, eye contour products, and many other lotions and potions. I also spend a lot of time merely about skin. I think about how it is the one accessory that I am stuck with forever. About how it reveals my age. About how it reacts to various situations and emotions (do your cheeks redden when you are embarrassed?). About how it reflects my lifestyle and diet. I collect what I call “funny factoids” about skin, the largest organ of our body… This morning, I ran into an old (May 2006!) Allure Magazine “Beauty by the Numbers” column, and was reminded of some of my favorite funny factoids about the largest organ in the human body.
- 200 A.D.: Year in which the Roman physician Galen combined wax, olive oil, rose petals, and water to create the first cold cream.
- $1,000: Amount paid to Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan0Vandebilt in 1924 for her endorsements of Pond’s Cold Cream.
- 21: Total square footage of skin on the average human body.
- 7: Total weight in pounds of skin on the average human body.
- 40,000: Number of dead skin cells the body sheds every minute.
- 650: Average number of sweat glands in one square inch of skin.
- 20,000: Number of pores on the face.
- 53: Percentage of American women over the age of 33 who have acne.
- 16: Percentage of American who have at least one tattoo.
- 60: Percentage of American women who say they would give up chocolate or their morning coffee for better skin.
