Good skin relies on some fundamentals, one of which is having a strong skin barrier. It’s easy to know if you don’t have a good strong skin barrier because you probably suffer from dry skin, dermatitis, acne, sensitive skin, or a bucket load of other skin conditions.
Your skin barrier is a super complex ecosystem of lipids, acids, proteins and cells. But there is one part that’s just as important which is often overlooked - your skin's microbiome!
What’s my skin microbiome?
Your microbiome is the name we give to the trillions of bacteria living on the surface of your skin, and it’s absolutely vital for a healthy, vibrant, glowing complexion.
Your skin microbiome is made up of a delicate balance of good and evil bacteria. When the good ones are in power: Viola! Beautiful looking skin. But... when the shady characters start to grow in numbers and swing the balance of power your skin will start to show signs pretty quickly.
Old-school skincare creams, lotions and potions have always contained ingredients that assist in supporting the lipids, acids, proteins and cells in your skin, but they tended to overlook your skin’s all-important microbiome. However now with new knowledge of how important it is to support your skin's microbiome we are entering a new era of skincare.
The world of the skin's microbiota is still being researched but you can already get products that contain prebiotics, probiotics and other enzymes. It is creating a lot of buzz in the beauty world so more and more products will be released (we’ve been using probiotics for a while now in our formulas … read on!).
What’s the difference between Probiotics and Prebiotics in skincare?
Probiotics are good bacteria (this is usually what you get in dietary supplements because they’re good for your gut too!). Their use in skincare products is still very new as they’re not the easiest things to work with. Bacteria can be a little fickle and need perfect conditions to survive. A small shift in temperature could see all of them leave so getting them to hang around through the life of a product is tricky.
Prebiotics are the precursor to probiotics. They feed the good bacteria on your skin so they multiply and keep everything balanced. The right prebiotic gets gobbled up faster than a box of donuts at the Happy Shed, so they’re the perfect stand-in since they’re much more stable in skincare formulas.
Which Happy Products will give me my Prebiotics and Probiotics?
Wondering where you can get your skin’s next fix of prebiotics and probiotics? We’ve got you covered with cleansers, toners, creams, serums and even shampoo!
TheSweet Dreams Ultra Rich Beauty Cream uses a prebiotic made from a skin identical complex carbohydrate which balances your skin’s microbiome and also provides intense hydration to reduce flakiness, dryness and itchiness. It strengthens your skin's natural defenses.
Both of ourFairy Godmother Serums have a prebiotic/probiotic complex called Ecoskin. We absolutely love this stuff because it’s used for the optimization of the cutaneous ecoflora, the strengthening of biological defenses, and the improvement of your skin’s radiance by using a restructuring and smoothing effect.
Tickled Pink Perfecting Tonic and Perfectly Happy Light Anti-Oxidant Cream both use the power of fermented papaya to promote revitalised, fresh looking skin. It has a very gentle exfoliation action from properties of the papain enzyme.
Actually the Tickled Pink Perfecting Tonic has a double dose of bacteria goodness for you because it contains fermented radish root too. You'll also find fermented radish root in the Raindrops on Roses Hydrating Tonic.
Our much lovedSmitten Kitten Probiotic Cleansing Milk uses the natural prebiotic Inulin and a probiotic from radish to gently cleanse your skin while supporting your skin's microflora. Cleansing disrupts your skin's ecosystem, so by using Inulin and radish ferment we leave behind some good bacteria with enough supplies to replenish themselves and keep your skin in tip-top condition.
Inulin was so good we couldn’t resist adding it to our new Happy You Shampoo to take care of your scalp (because healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp!).
Here’s to letting your good bacteria thrive!!!! May your good bacteria be happy ;)
