Caring For Your Skin Microbiome
Your skin is the largest organ in your body and rather than just neatly packaging everything on our inside, it plays a huge role in our health. Our skin is the major interface between us and our environment. It plays a role in our immune defenses (several types of immune cells are present in the skin and substances such as antimicrobial peptides all act as a defensive layer), hydration, temperature, and protection (senses pain and pressure). The skin feeds back to us about the outside world both physically and emotionally through touch and texture, temperature, and vibration. Our skin also makes crucial Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.
Without our skin, we wouldn’t be able to live our lives. So it stands that we want our skin to be as healthy as possible. We all know that the look of our skin reflects our overall health and people comment on how well people look when their skin glows.
Our skin microbiome is home to millions upon millions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Maintaining the skin microbiome is a big part of that ‘glow’, but also our health. So what does the skin microbiome do?
I’ll pop it down in dot points below ⬇⬇⬇
Role of the skin microbiome
- Strengthens the skin barrier
- Helps the skin retain moisture
- Out competes for pathogens
- Protects against UV damage
- Protects against environmental toxins and pollutants
- Helps prevent and/or treat skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis
- Beneficial flora work to absorb nutrients into the skin – the perfect pairing with a nourishing nutrient rich oil or cream
Factors that affect or diminish the skin microbiome
- Excessively dry or oily skin is shown to have an altered microbial community
- Toxic personal care products
- Environmental chemicals, exhaust fumes,
- Age
- Geography (where you live)
- The health of your gut microbiome
- Over-cleansing and exfoliating
How to best look after your skin microbiome
Avoid over cleansing
Your skin isn’t designed to be constantly cleaned and most certainly, not regularly abraded with rough exfoliants – especially your face. Choose a gentle cleanser and exfoliant, or better yet, choose one which is gentle AND contains probiotics. We choose the INIKA exfoliant for probiotic-enriched super gentle care of your skin. Or use a gentle enzyme-based cleanser like the Grown Alchemist Enzyme Exfoliant
Avoid toxin exposure
Avoid chemical-laden sunscreens, face and body creams, body washes, and beauty products. Now, this is a whole other topic to dive into… Needless to say… many skincare products have synthetics, chemicals, and preservatives that kill off those beneficial bugs, damage your skin, and can lead to whole-body toxicity.
Keep your skin supple, avoid dry or oily skin
You can do this with some amazing balancing oils such as the BOPO Hormone Hero Face Oil, The Beauty Chef Glow F.A.C.E oil
Look after your gut microbiome
This is a critically important step. Skin issues start in the gut and the health of your gut will always show up on your face. Try our Beauty Chef range of probiotic-enriched prebiotic products for restoring a healthy gut lining and microbiome. Working on your skin from the inside out.. Start with Glow Inner Beauty Powder – it contains all the micronutrients to support cellular health and your skin
Provide Nutrients
Of course, your skin needs a lot more than simply a beneficial microbial community.
It needs hydration and nutrients as well. That’s where choosing the right skin care products come in. For example, The Beauty Chef ‘Glow Face Oil’ has Jojoba (Vitamin A and D) Macadamia and avocado oil (Omega 3’s) Argan oil (Fatty acids and Vitamin E) Sea Buckthorn (Vitamins A, C, E, and, K) plus so so so much more. All of these nourishing oils are also high in essential minerals, anti-inflammatory, help regulate sebum gland oil production, and, when paired with a skin-friendly probiotic, are a perfect combination. Remember your skin flora is what enables the absorption of these nutrients.
Our top picks for microbially balanced skin
INIKA Organic Phytofuse Renew Exfoliator
A gentle exfoliator to remove dead skin cells for a clear, fresh, and bright complexion. Clinically proven to improve skin brightness, reduce roughness, and skin elasticity and fitness, this probiotic-enriched exfoliator will be nothing but nourishment and renewal.
INIKA Organic Phytofuse Renew Eye Cream
There’s nothing better than the combination of plants and probiotics and this eye cream has resveratrol from grape juice, rose of Jericho, and squalane from olives. Put it all together and you get reduced dark circles under the eyes, increased skin elasticity (by 39% in 28 days), reduced volume of wrinkles (by 16% in 28 days) and a brightened and lifted eye area.
INIKA Organic Phytofuse Renew Cream Cleanser
The Beauty Chef – Probiotic Skin Refiner
By encouraging cellular turnover, this wholefood formula improves tone and texture, smooths fine lines, and helps prevent the signs of aging, sun damage, and pigmentation while strengthening the skin’s protective barrier.
Containing lactic acid formed during our unique Flora Culture™ fermentation process, PROBIOTIC SKIN REFINER nourishes your skin’s ecosystem, strengthening its barrier to lock in moisture.
The Beauty Chef – Glow F.A.C.E Oil (in store)
With a unique pre and postbiotic extract, this moisturising oil will help support the skin’s barrier system and protect the skin microbiome against the harsh effects of the environment for healthy, glowing, and radiant-looking skin. Postbiotics are the amazing beneficial compounds produced by beneficial probiotics. So a double dose of microbial goodness to keep your skin intact and resistant to the rigours of life.
Skin Juice – Good Juice (in-store)
Good Juice contains probiotics that support your skin’s immune system. Like the gut, the skin needs healthy bacteria to fight infection, reduce inflammation, and aid nutrient absorption. Good Juice leaves you calm, clear, and protected from the inside out against damage and ageing.
References
Skin microbiome modulation induced by probiotic solutions
The skin microbiome and the gut-skin axis
Structure and function of the human skin microbiome
The Skin Microbiome: A New Actor in Inflammatory Acne
