You’ve heard health experts and celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow rave about taking probiotics to improve gut health and immunity, but many people don’t realize that topical probiotics benefit skin. They can help neutralize harmful bacteria and stimulate healing.
Probiotics are living organisms that have nutritional, metabolic, and immune health benefits. The keyword is “living.” To be classified as a probiotic, products must contain live bacteria. That’s because the skin, like the gut, is a microbiome, home to a community of microorganisms of beneficial bacteria that protect and support the skin. When the microbiome is unbalanced, it shows in how skin looks and feels.
Probiotics help the skin do its job. Probiotics nourish, support, and help balance the skin microbiome by helping to reduce the negative impact of environmental aggressors and in alleviating conditions like acne, eczema, and atopic dermatitis (AD), which is a chronic, inflammatory skin disorder.
Age management could also benefit from live probiotic skincare. An independent 27-day skincare study found that 97 percent of participants reported a reduction in spots, 92 percent saw fewer lines and wrinkles, and 92 percent had improved texture.
Much like skin itself, probiotics need nutrients to be beneficial, these are called prebiotics. Some skincare products promote this as beneficial probiotic skincare. This can be a bit misleading. In actuality probiotics come in two forms, lysates or live probiotics. Lysates are a non-living fluid obtained by the manual process of breaking live probiotic bacterium apart. Live probiotics when applied topically work with the skin to naturally produce postbiotic metabolites that contain vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and alpha, beta, and polyhydroxy acids.
Recognizing the value that live probiotics bring to skin, researchers have increased their study of the skin microbiome. One by the Dermatology Department at the State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center addresses the impact on AD, citing research that indicates “a strong association between worsening disease severity and lower skin bacterial diversity.”
Another published in “Pharmaceutics” notes that rosacea is associated with changes in the skin microbiome. “The interaction between the microorganisms and the host immune system is important to maintain skin homeostasis,” or equilibrium, the paper states. “Therefore, balancing the skin microbiome is a logical approach in treating several skin conditions. Probiotics play a vital role in restoring the microbiome.”
Several studies call for additional, deeper research into the relationship between the skin microbiome and its host. In fact, the National Institutes of Health’s Common Fund Human Microbiome Project includes research on skin – the body’s largest organ – in its study of microbial communities that live in and on our bodies.
With LaFlore Live Probiotic Skincare’s products, the first patented microbiome-friendly skincare system, your clients can start reaping the benefits of probiotic-based skincare today. The entire line is dermatologist tested and approved, putting clients with even the most compromised skin at ease. Whether they want to balance an oily t-zone, reduce breakouts, soothe inflammation or just a holistic approach to age management, clients can find relief with LaFlore products.
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