patmaddox
Sep 28, 20213 min
When it comes to health and wellness, probiotics pop up in all sorts of unexpected places. Perhaps most unexpected? As a skin care ingredient. While we know that probiotics are beneficial for gut health, is it true that they are beneficial for skin health? How do probiotics help your skin anyway? Read on to learn everything you need to know about probiotic skin care, and why you need it in your routine.
What Are Probiotics?
In short, probiotics are “good bacteria” that are crucial to balancing the “bad bacteria” in the body. As stated by WebMD: “Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for you, especially your digestive system.” Probiotics are considered beneficial as they can help repopulate good bacteria that may be lost due to diet, medication or certain health conditions leading to more bad bacteria than good.
Common sources of probiotics are fermented foods, with yogurt being one of the most well known, but also including sauerkraut, miso, kombucha and even pickles! Typically when discussing the benefits of probiotics, we are referring to the gut flora which consists of hundreds of microorganisms to ensure your metabolic activities remain healthy and effective. However, probiotics can also be used to help heal skin conditions.
How Should I Use Probiotics On My Skin?
While there are many DIY recipes for probiotic face masks, as always, we do not recommend creating your own kitchen concoctions. This is because applying products to your skin that are intended for food consumption often vary wildly in their levels of beneficial ingredients. For example, many probiotic foods contain ingredients like lemon and vinegar. While in principle, acids are skin-friendly, these types of acids in foods have the potential to irritate the skin and cause extreme photosensitivity and even serious chemical burns. Especially if you are dealing with a skin condition such as acne or eczema where the skin can already feel raw and sore, please avoid homemade solutions and instead, look for professional probiotic skin care products that meet industry-wide safety requirements.
Probiotic skin care products are most effective when they can be massaged in or left on to absorb into the skin. This allows the probiotics to positively impact the moisture barrier and balance the skin. Depending on your skin type and concerns, you may not need probiotics for every step of your skin care routine and may prefer to incorporate it only into a few areas. For example, if you have a dry skin type and are dealing with some eczema or the odd blemish, using a probiotic face mask once a week is an excellent option. If you are an oily skin type trying to manage more frequent blemishes, incorporating probiotics in your daily cleansing and moisturizing - as well as a weekly face mask - is an excellent way to help your skin balance the bad bacteria that may be contributing to breakouts.
Cool and balance your skin with our Clear Skin Probiotic Cleanser. This clarifying cream-gel cleanser treats oily and problem skin with cucumber and tea tree oil. Sweet almond milk and yogurt reduce the visible signs of problem skin and breakouts without stripping the skin of moisture. Cruelty-free and formulated without parabens, sodium lauryl sulfates, synthetic dyes, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs and triclosan.
Our selection of professional products use the finest natural, organic and Biodynamic® ingredients to maintain beautiful, healthy-looking skin. Experience the long-lasting benefits of our exclusive professional treatments, available only from our valued spa partners.