Probiotics (good bacteria) aren’t only beneficial for a healthy gut - they can help heal compromised and ultra-sensitive skin too. We explain the exciting benefits probiotic skincare can deliver and their place in your skincare routine. 

What are probiotics?

Probiotics such as Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium are live bacteria and yeasts that are beneficial for your body.

Their benefits, when taken orally, have been studied extensively for gut health with impressive results. Probiotics have been found to strengthen the gut barrier, improve immune function, and prevent bad bacteria from overtaking the gut.

With such effective potential for maintaining a healthy gut, various strains of probiotics have also been tested on other areas of the body such as the mouth, reproductive system, and skin.

This is where probiotic skincare gets really interesting!

The eco-system of your skin barrier and probiotics

The skin is the body’s largest organ. It plays a critical role as the primary barrier between the external environment and your internal body.

The outer layer of the skin is called the epidermis, which in itself has several layers. The upper most layer - the one that is visible and exposed to the outside environment - is the stratum corneum also known as the skin barrier.

The skin barrier is essentially a mix of dead cells, skin lipids, and natural moisturising factors like amino and fatty acids. It helps keep the skin hydrated, prevent microbes and bad bacteria (pathogens) entering in and acts as a shield against the abrasion of the layers underneath.

Keeping the skin barrier functioning optimally is the key to healthy skin. A strong barrier helps keep skin hydrated, fight off irritants, and prevent bad bacteria thriving.

Your skin is like an ecosystem with both good and bad bacteria living there. The same way the rainforest or great barrier reef need specific conditions to flourish so does your skin.

It needs good bacteria to function properly and thrive. Too much bad bacteria can weaken and compromise the skin barrier, triggering or exacerbating all kinds of skin concerns.

The skin barrier can become compromised in many different ways. An extreme example would be a severe burn or wound.

Other less extreme examples include scratches, acne where the skin is compromised/open and a high level of pathogens (bad bacteria) are present, wounds, slow healing ability (diabetes and other immune disorders), eczema and dermatitis.

Any of the above can cause the skin to become compromised and broken with tiny wounds leaving the cells exposed to increasing levels of bad bacteria.

In short, the skin’s environment - its eco-system - is no longer a healthy, well-functioning place. 

What has all this got to do with probiotics?

It’s been proven that probiotics help improve the health of the gut by healing weakened gut walls, restoring the balance of good and bad bacteria, and boosting immunity.

So, could a probiotic do the same for the skin barrier? Is there a type of probiotic to benefit the skin conditions specifically?

The answer is yes. Probiotics can be part of your skincare routine!

After extensive testing on keratinocyte monolayer scratches (one cell thick scratches) it was found that only a couple of beneficial bacteria were effective in the healing and repair of the scratch.

Enter esmi Skin Minerals Lacticaseibacillus.rhamnosus Lysate!

This good-bacteria can help kill pathogens (bad bacteria) or place good bacteria in a skin environment that is compromised (such as eczema and dermatitis) and susceptible to the infection of bad bacteria.

What is a lysate?

A lysate is a concentrated dose of probiotic function. It’s a more stable way to include probiotic benefits in skincare formulations.

How can lysate benefit skin?

Lysates probiotic bacteria possess immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antioxidant and stabilising properties to support optimal skin health.

It can stimulate rapid skin cell healing to accelerate the healing of wounds.

Introducing, esmi Skin Minerals probiotic skincare

The esmi Probiotic Skin Mylck features your specially selected and scientifically proven Australian Made probiotic Lysate ideal for skin application, helping create an ideal environment for your skin to thrive if compromised by outside elements and bad-bacteria.

The esmi Skin Mylck is a lightly moisturising lotion and can be great for extremely sensitive, compromised skin.

We suggest you also use our Probiotic Skin Mylck with our Uncomplicated Cleanser original for best results.

esmi is your first skincare brand to use a 100% Australian made probiotic.

Have any questions about probiotic skincare and how the esmi Skin Mylck range can work in your skincare routine? 

Reference:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4633615/

*esmi Skin Minerals are the first skincare company using a 100% Australian made Lacticaseibacillus.rhamnosus Lysate produced in Australia’s first and only cGMP/TGA certified facility for probiotic API manufacturing.