Science · One of five
The skin microbiome
The bacteria living on your skin are part of how healthy skin works. Here is what the research shows, and where it stops.
Most of us grow up thinking of bacteria as something to get rid of. Your skin is home to a busy community of bacteria, fungi and other microbes, known as the skin microbiome, and the research suggests they help skin defend itself and keep its barrier working. As one review put it, with the microbiome you are never alone.
Why balance matters more than cleanliness
Some of those residents earn their keep. Beneficial bacteria such as Staphylococcus epidermidis are credited in the research with helping to hold less welcome microbes in check and with supporting the skin barrier. When the community is thrown out of balance, a state researchers call dysbiosis, studies have associated it with conditions including acne, eczema and rosacea.
An association in the research is not evidence that a moisturiser treats any of those conditions, and we make no such claim. What it does suggest is that skincare should avoid making things worse.
Healthy skin mostly manages its own microbiome. Often the most useful thing a product can do is leave it undisturbed.
Support, not control
Harsh cleansing, high-pH products and heavy fragrance can all disturb the balance, so much of microbiome-friendly formulating is about what you leave out. We make every product slightly acidic (pH 5 to 5.5), because the research indicates the skin's resident microbes prefer it, and we leave out synthetic fragrance to lower the risk of irritation. Of everything we do for the microbiome, this has the strongest evidence behind it.
Two ingredients play a more active part.
Feeding and steering, gently
Prebiotics are food for the microbes already living on your skin. We use inulin, a plant-derived prebiotic, with selective feeding shown in the laboratory but not yet on human skin. We also include a chlorella extract. Its maker's evidence, from a small study, suggests it holds back the more troublesome species while sparing the helpful ones. That is their data, and we grade it as such.
It is a young field. A good deal of the microbiome language in skincare runs ahead of the evidence, promising to rebuild or rebalance your skin in ways the studies do not yet support. So we describe these ingredients as support, and make no claim that they rebuild or rebalance anything.
Every Biotaderm moisturiser is slightly acidic (pH 5 to 5.5), carries a plant prebiotic, and leaves out synthetic fragrance. The aim is to work with the system your skin already runs, rather than override it.
Prebiotic
Inulin
Food for the microbes already living on your skin. A plant-derived prebiotic.
Microalgal active
Chlorella extract
Supplier evidence for holding back the less welcome species while sparing the helpful ones. A small study, and their data.
What this means for our products
Made for your microbiome
References
Eight sources for the science on this page. The inulin and chlorella evidence is referenced on each ingredient's own page.
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1
Grice, E. A., and Segre, J. A. (2011). The skin microbiome. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 9(4), 244-253.
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2
Byrd, A. L., Belkaid, Y., and Segre, J. A. (2018). The human skin microbiome. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 16(3), 143-155.
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3
Sanford, J. A., and Gallo, R. L. (2013). Functions of the skin microbiota in health and disease. Seminars in Immunology, 25(5), 370-377.
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4
Flowers, L., and Grice, E. A. (2020). The skin microbiota: balancing risk and reward. Cell Host and Microbe, 28(2), 190-200.
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5
Dréno, B., and others (2016). Microbiome in healthy skin, update for dermatologists. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 30(12), 2038-2047.
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6
Sfriso, R., and others (2020). Revealing the secret life of skin, with the microbiome you are never alone. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 42(2), 116-126.
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7
Fournière, M., and others (2020). Staphylococcus epidermidis and Cutibacterium acnes: two major sentinels of skin microbiota and the influence of cosmetics. Microorganisms, 8(11), 1752.
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8
Uberoi, A., and others (2021). Commensal microbiota regulates skin barrier function and repair via signalling through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. Cell Host and Microbe, 29(8), 1235-1248.