What is the Microbiome?
What is microbiome?
The skin’s microbiome, otherwise known as the “skin flora,” is made up of a unique collection of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and virus which greatly impact how skin looks and feels. Like a fingerprint, each person’s microbiome is unique.
Did you know that the skin is the body's largest organ? It serves as a protective shield against heat, light, injury, and infection. The skin barrier or the surface of the skin is not only made up of a few types of cells but also contains our personal #microbiome. The #skin #microbiome is an invisible community of microorganisms, including bacteria, this #microbiome is unique to every person, much like our DNA ,no two are alike. In order to keep the skin barrier healthy and balanced, the microbiome needs and contains a supply of both “good” and “bad” microbes that live on its surface. Prebiotics are essentially food for the good bacteria (probiotics) that live on the surface of the skin.
When some bacteria proliferate more than others, our microbiome becomes unbalanced and the skin barrier is more vulnerable to infection.
What does the microbiome do?
The skins microbiome helps hinder bad bacteria from spreading all over the skin surface, it helps regulate PH, and it builds a protective layer which helps reduce trans-epidermal water loss.
How can you strengthen the skin’s microbiome?
Prebiotics!
Prebiotics are the substances on skin that help feed and encourage the growth and healthy balance of probiotics. This balance helps the skin fight off irritants and keeps the skin looking and feeling its best!
Kamedis biological studies successfully managed to show the prebiotic benefits of the botanicals that are integrated into the products. These botanicals are proven to inhibit the Cutibacterium acnes bacteria (the main "bad" bacteria found in acne), and encourages the commensal bacteria ( Staphylococcus epidermidis ) which is decreasing in acne prone skin.
Here's everything you need to know to keep your skin's defenses strong.
A balanced microbiome is crucial to your skin health
It's no surprise that when you look good, you feel good. Not only does a healthy skin barrier protect you from foreign invaders, it helps prevent evaporation to keep skin supple and hydrated. When the skin's protective barrier is compromised and the microbiome becomes unbalanced, it can make skin vulnerable to a variety of issues.
Your skin — your body's largest organ — is home to millions of fungi, bacteria and viruses that make up the microbiota. Similar to your gut microbiome, the skin microbiome is in charge of keeping you healthy and safe.
Typically, if you're a healthy adult, your skin microbiome will remain stable over time, even despite environmental fluctuations, pollution, sun damage and minor scrapes. However, it is possible for the barrier to become compromised and lose its natural balance.
Yes, some bacteria is actually good for you!
Although it might seem like using an antibacterial soap to get rid of bacteria on the skin's surface would only be a good thing, these soaps don't differentiate between good and bad bacteria — they simply remove all bacteria! Accordingly, overusing antibacterial soap can actually cause an imbalance in the skin microbiome.
This can make you more susceptible to germs. Banishing good bacteria from your microbiome can play a role in flare-ups of rosacea, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and acne.
People who suffer from rosacea understand just how harmful a compromised skin barrier can be. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology shows that an unbalanced microbiome may be linked to intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which causes an inflammatory response that leads to the development of rosacea.
Working your way to a healthy skin microbiome
You've probably already heard a ton about the gut microbiome, but did you know that it influences the skin microbiome? It's true! Eating healthy, fiber-rich foods — ones that build good gut bacteria through fermentation — can boost the skin's ability to fight off bad bacteria and retain moisture.
If you aren't sure that your skin's microbiome is healthy, or if you have some skin issues that you think could be solved with a stronger safeguard against pathogens, consider changing up your diet.
To start, encourage microbial diversity by promoting healthy gut bacteria and eating healthy foods. Focus on foods that contain prebiotics as well as foods with probiotics (like yogurt or kefir) to stimulate beneficial skin bacteria and address acne.
Summer Acne Marketing Tool
Acne awareness month
June is just the beginning of those hot summer months that escalate the severity and frequency of our acne. Thanks to the glorious heat, sweat, and humidity that our body produces excessively during those hotter months, the skin cells become especially stickier; that awful accumulation of dead skin cells and sebum becomes trapped inside the pore, creating the perfect environment for P.acnes, a naturally occurring bacteria, to multiply rapidly and results in inflammation.
The constant touching and wiping of the face and body- whether its wiping sweat off of your face or constantly plotting your blemishes with access makeup creates an even more irritating environment and disturbs the natural skin barrier
“Air-conditioning usually removes moisture from the air, making it incredibly drying, especially if it’s blasting you right in the face,” says Dr. Gohara. “So it ends up sucking the moisture from your face, which causes your skin to overproduce oil to compensate for the dryness.”
The result? Extra-oily skin (yup, even if your skin looks matte and dry; your pores produce oil from within, and too much too quickly can clog the pore before it reaches the surface). So while the A/C is kicking your oil production into overdrive, the heat wave is cranking out the sweat and the humidity is mixing it all together and sticking it to your skin.
Heat and humidity cause increased sweat and oil production in the skin leading to clogged pores and increased breakouts,” says Morgan Rabach, MD, a New York City-based board certified cosmetic dermatologist. While the culprits behind those comedones and cysts are primarily rising temperatures mixed with humidity, your skincare routine may not be helping matters. “The use of winter skincare, such as oil-based emollients, can be too thick for summer months,” explains board certified dermatologist Amy Spizuoco, DO.
3 main causes:
- Sunscreen – Sunscreen is vital – make no mistake about that. But the wrong kind of sunscreen can be comedogenic. That’s the technical term for something that clogs pores which can lead to pimples sometimes referred to as comedones. Heavy, oily sunscreens can irritate your skin and trap oils on the skin’s surface causing a break-out.
- Perspiration – Perspiring or sweating is the body’s built-in cooling system. Air evaporates the moisture secreted by the sweat glands onto the skin’s surface in response to heat providing a bit of a cooling effect. However, if oils on the skin trap sweat and prevent it from evaporating, it contributes to a clog in the system.
- Direct Sun Exposure – For acne-prone complexions, sometimes just the harsh bright UV rays of the sun itself are enough to aggravate and irritate the skin.
Kamedis Acne Kit targets and slows down the productions of the P. acnes bacteria which reduces inflammation and breakout appearance.
Wash – Kamedis CLEAR cleanser is formulated with key ingredients such as salicylic acid, glycerin, vitamin E, and soapberry to help wash away access dirt, sweat, and irritants to a clearer and healthier complexion.
Nourish- Kamedis CLEAR Acne Face Moisturizer is a light-weight yet nourishing moisturizer with key ingredients such as our Clear Botaniplex™, squalene and glycerin to help infuse the skin with moisture and working with the skin for a more balanced and healthier microbiome.
Target- Kamedis CLEAR Spot Treatment targets pimples and breakouts at the source with the use of our one-of-a-kind Clear Botaniplex™ system. This system is clinically proven to reduce blemish size and redness within 12 hours of application!