You’re standing in front of the mirror, applying the third step of your evening skincare routine. The serum promises to smooth out wrinkles within fourteen days, the moisturiser cost half your pay, and yet you still feel that by the afternoon your skin is dull and tight again. Add to that nails that split at the slightest touch, thinning hair, and a quiet crack in your knee whenever you get up from the sofa or do a morning squat. These symptoms are not caused by a poor choice of cosmetics. They are linked by one common factor: the connective tissues are crying out for help from within . The illusion of the magic crucible The outermost layer of the skin (the epidermis) primarily acts as a protective barrier. Its evolutionary role is to prevent anything from the outside from getting in – including large molecules from expensive creams. However, the true source of youthfulness, firmness and elasticity lies deeper: in the dermis . It is in the dermis that fibroblasts – the cells responsible for the production of: Collagen ,