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In the Flex 4 skinning model, the skin controls all visual elements of a component, including layout. The new architecture gives developers greater control over what their components look like a structured and tool-friendly way. Previously, MX components that used the Halo theme for their skins defined their look and feel primarily through style properties. Spark skins can contain multiple elements, such as graphic elements, text, images, and transitions. Skins support states, so that when the state of a component changes, the skin changes as well. Skin states integrate well with transitions so that you can apply effects to one or more parts of the skins without adding much code.