The skin you can touch right now is covered in flat, tough cells called corneocytes. They are your body's outer shield.
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Corneocytes are the cells on the very top of your skin. They started out as living skin cells deep down and slowly moved up.
Corneocytes are not alive anymore, but they still do an important job. Your skin is like a wall made from them.
Corneocytes stack up in many layers, like bricks. Between them is a layer of fats that works like mortar, the glue between bricks.
This wall keeps water inside your body and helps keep germs out. The top cells flake off all the time, and new ones from below take their place.
Press Flake off on the 3D model to see a top cell come loose.