Whether your skincare routine is basic or elaborate, each product you use has a specific purpose.
You have cleansers to remove dead skin cells and promote growth. You have moisturisers to hydrate skin, you have retinols to stimulate collagen, elastin and skin cell turnover, and there are other specific products besides this.
One of the most interesting recent trends in skincare, however, is the rise of the skin microbiome, which is the ecosystem of microbes that live on our skin’s surface.
Much like how certain bacteria is invaluable for gut health, some bacteria provides mutual benefits to our skin’s health and can help the skin to feel less dry and more youthful.
As well as this, a healthy microbiome causes skin responses to activate that help to produce collagen, refresh skin cells and boost the renewal of skin, as well as training your immune system to avoid overreacting.
By reducing skin sensitivity, microbiome-based skincare could potentially be used to help avoid breakouts of spots and eczema, although research is still being undertaken to find out how the two are related.
Typically two main types of active ingredients are used in a microbiome product:
- Probiotics, which are sources of the good bacteria themselves, which are most well known as the core ingredient of certain types of healthy yoghurts, and
- Prebiotics, special types of ingredients that encourage the growth of healthy bacteria.
As the field of microbiomes in skincare is still relatively new, research is still being undertaken as to whether the former or the latter is better for the skin, although they also can work together and with other parts of the formulation to provide potent results.
For more information and advice from a skin care clinic in Bristol, contact us today.
