Let’s Take A Moment of Science… to Learn about the Skin’s Microbiome

“If you don’t like bacteria, you’re on the wrong planet.” — Stewart Brand

Science may not be my favorite subject in school but if it gets under my skin… then I’m all in. There is this growing trend in the industry on microbiome-based skincare, in fact it’s deemed as the next big thing. Understandably, I get asked a lot about it.

Here’s the science behind this craze.

The human microbiome is the aggregate of all microbiota that reside on or within our bodies. And microbiota includes bacteria, fungi, protists, and viruses — entities we have not considered friendly in the past.

In fact, until recently we didn’t pay much attention to our microbes at all because we did not understand their true functions.

Friend or Foe?

Science is now proving how our personal colony of microbes influences practically every aspect of our health — our immune system, mental wellbeing, weight, and the condition of our skin. The traditional estimate is that the average human body is inhabited by ten times as many non-human cells as human cells. In her book “10% Human” Alanna Collen claims that for every one of the cells that make up the body there are nine imposter cells hitching a ride. We depend on a vast army of microbes to…