The present paper proposes an insight into the characterization of an intrinsic human skin characteristic, which is the natural prestress of the cutaneous tissue. The aim of this work is to develop a 3D model based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) in order to quantify the natural prestress of the human skin. To this aim, the upper outer surface of a stratified 3D volume of skin is subjected to a mechanical impact. The cutaneous tissue is considered as an isotropic linear elastic material. The wave propagation velocity is calculated along a path on the surface of the FE model. The influence of the human skin prestress on the velocity of the wave propagation is investigated. A major conclusion states that the prestress slows down the wave propagation. Thus, the wave propagation velocity decreases when the prestress increases.