The latest in microbiome friendly skincare
What’s in your skin microbiome? An enormous variety of living organisms, sustained by your skin and helping (or not) to keep it healthy. If before we were constrained by the ability to grow the microorganisms in culture, now it’s possible to identify them using DNA, and this allowed us to uncover microbes that are hard to culture in a Petri dish.
What do these microorganisms do for you? They are there to serve themselves, kept warm and in nice humidity, and they are fed. This is a relationship, commensalism, in which microorganisms evolved with humans. We inherit microorganisms from our mothers when we are born; they will colonize our skin and the rest of the body.
The variety of the microflora is enormous (see below for details). Is this important? Different microbes have different metabolisms and will accumulate different chemicals, and some of them will promote the growth of others, and discourage some nasty organisms capable of producing illness. Genetic differences may affect the type of bacteria that grow on our skin and make us more prone to skin problems.
Most (>90%) of bacteria of the human skin microbiome are classified into four types: Actinobacteria (52%), Firmicutes (24%), Proteobacteria (16%), and Bacteroidetes (6%). Among them, coagulase-negative staphylococci, especially Staphylococcus epidermidis, anaerobic Cutibacterium acnes (formerly: Propionibacterium acnes), Corynebacterium, Micrococcus, Streptococcus, and Acinetobacter are the dominant species. According to estimates, representatives of Cutibacterium, Staphylococcus, and Corynebacterium genera, isolated from almost all skin areas, may constitute 45 to 80% of the entire skin microbiome
Fungi—mainly belonging to the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota types—also form part of the skin microbiome; the dominating genus is Malassezia. As expected, skin problems may push the microbiome in different directions. To correct skin problems, we may have to work on both sides of the equation: the skin and the microbiome.
Understanding how the microbiome affects skin health makes the use of benzoyl peroxide even more strange. This oxidant will kill bacteria, fungi, and skin cells without distinction. It makes more sense to try and discourage the “wrong” bacteria by using a more careful approach, which is how we work at Skin Actives.
Aging skin will sustain a different microbiome than young skin; wrinkles, low sebum production, and different modes of skin renewal are bound to affect the type of microorganism that can prosper in different skin ages. The same goes for very different microenvironments like feet and underarms.
In short, it will take some time until our better understanding of the skin microbiome translates into specific skincare products. In the meantime, just be nice to your skin and the microbiome will be happy too.
No, you can’t use probiotics on your skin. Have a look at SAS bioferments instead.
Five reasons why you want to use Tremella on your skin
References
Skin Actives Kefir bioferment for your hair! And, what’s a prebiotic?
Skowron K, Bauza-Kaszewska J, Kraszewska Z, Wiktorczyk-Kapischke N, Grudlewska-Buda K, Kwiecińska-Piróg J, Wałecka-Zacharska E, Radtke L, Gospodarek-Komkowska E. Human Skin Microbiome: Impact of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors on Skin Microbiota. Microorganisms. 2021 Mar 5;9(3):543. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9030543. PMID: 33808031; PMCID: PMC7998121.
Look for these microbiome friendly skincare by Skin Actives
https://skinactives.com/concerns/oil-blemish-control/