Illustration of the signs of ageing in skin, dulling of the epidermis, brown spots, skin slackening and wrinkles. In the centre of the image: a cross-section illustration of young skin enabling a comparison with different types of ageing: -Top left illustrates the dulling of the epidermis, the skin is dry and cutaneous microrelief is irregular, causing the skin to become permeable to pollutants and dehydration. Superficial microcirculation is less good; skin cells become less oxygenated. -Top right illustrates spots. If they are brown it is due to melanin deposits, when red it is due to superficial microcirculation vessels, which are dilated. -Bottom left illustrates the loss of firmness due to diminished activity of the fibroblasts (blue). Fibroblasts are responsible for skinˇs elasticity, producing elastin and collagen -Bottom right illustrates wrinkles due to the deterioration of collagen (white vertical) and elastin (pink horizontal) fibers.