There’s been a lot of press coverage recently on microbes in skincare; for the average consumer (even our amazing Odylique customers) this might seem like just another trend.

But actually, encouraging good bacteria, by using prebiotic skincare, can make a huge difference. None more so than for sensitive skin types.

Are ‘Prebiotics’ the Same as ‘Probiotics’?

In short, no. You have probably heard of probiotics in yoghurts and dairy drinks. Probiotics are living strains of good bacteria which keep your gut healthy. Prebiotics provide the conditions for the healthy gut bacteria to flourish. Prebiotic foods are things like beans, peas, oats, bananas and berries. They are fibre-rich and ‘feed’ the good gut bacteria.

The same principles of prebiotics and probiotics work for your skin. Prebiotics are compounds that nourish and encourage your skin’s good bacteria.

How Does Your Skin’s ‘Microbiome’ Work?

Each area of your body has its own unique microbiome of (mostly good) viruses, fungi, and bacteria.

Your skin is the largest organ you have, and your its microbiome helps to regulate inflammation and protect you from toxins and bad bacteria. We all have millions of skin ‘microbes’, many of which are beneficial.

Good skin bacteria have been found to protect from bad, like Staphylococcus aureus, which can lead to boils, and even septicaemia. In a recent piece for Healthline, Debra Jaliman, MD, a highly regarded dermatologist, said:

“Bacteria can play an important part in promoting skin health by preventing infections from becoming more serious.”

Some microbes can have both good and bad effects, depending on their balance. Cutibacterium acnes bacteria has many reported benefits in low levels, but when it overgrows it triggers acne.

What Impacts Your Skin Microbes?

Modern life is full of aggressors that can harm the good microorganisms on our skin. Stress, UV rays, pollution, allergies, hormonal imbalances, antibiotics, swimming in chlorinated pools and the use of acid-based or harsh skin care can all send your microbiome balance haywire.

When this happens, you may experience infections or skin conditions, such as acne, eczema, and rosacea. Skin sensitivity is very often the result of an ecosystem imbalance.

Evidence shows that skin care products with prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics (vitamins and amino acids) help get the skin back into balance.

Why Prebiotics in Particular?  

Prebiotics such as inulin and glucan are crucial as they are the provide the 'food' to re-establish the skin's shielding layer of good microorganisms, at the expense of the bad. 

Harmful microorganisms cannot metabolise the prebiotic. Hence the natural skin flora is reinforced and balanced, while the harmful microorganisms are disadvantaged.

Odylique and Prebiotic Skincare

It’s important to know that all skincare that ‘feeds’ the skin’s microbiome (aside from medical treatments and acid-based products) can be considered prebiotic.

So technically, all of our products can have a prebiotic effect because they all include ingredients that support the skin’s microbiome in a positive way.

You can use any Odylique moisturiser for example and know that many ingredients will be helping the skin with prebiotics.

We have taken this one step further with some of our new products and will be doing more with future development.

The specific prebiotic we use is extracted from chicory root and has been scientifically tested to benefit the beneficial skin microorganisms, but disadvantage the bad ones. 

For example, in our new Unscented roll-on Deodorant has the prebiotic extract, provides optimal conditions for skin health, balancing the delicate microflora.

Balancing the skin microbiome is especially important in deodorants as our armpits are meant to have a certain amount of good bacteria.

It is ideal as a replacement for harsh anti-perspirants. 

In our Prebiotic Rich Hydration Cream, prebiotics play a crucial role in helping the skin bounce back from typical daily aggressors like UV light and pollution. UV rays are incredibly destructive to our skin's good bacteria. But prebiotics have been shown to cut their recovery time after UV exposure by a factor of 2.

We also developed our new hair conditioners with prebiotics. 

So many people experience scalp issues like sebum overproduction, dandruff and itching, the root cause of which can be an imbalance of bacteria. 

Bringing the skin on your scalp into balance can have an astonishing impact on the condition and comb-ability of your hair. 

It’s nature’s clever way of replacing damaging ingredients like silicone and sulphates.

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