September 28, 2021

The Science of Microbiome Friendly Skincare

Microbiome Friendly Skin Care Products and the Science Behind Them

The microbiome, along with the acid mantel of the skin, is a critical part of the jigsaw of healthy-looking balanced skin. It needs to be looked after with the utmost of care.

At Columbia Probiotic Skincare we believe that by avoiding certain ingredients on your skin and using our probiotic products, you will strengthen, protect, and balance your microbiome. Using our probiotic products in combination with other precautions helps to restore, balance, and protect the skin from within. By effectively working on immune triggers within your skin, you will be protecting it from daily pollutants and the impact of day-to-day challenges on the skin. Our science goes beyond simply protecting the skin surface, it works deeper within the skin at a cellular level.

The biggest impact to the health of our skin microbiome

The skin care treatments you choose to use on your skin have a huge impact on the health of your skin microbiome. We often use ingredients that are too aggressive, which can strip the skin’s natural oils and expose it to irritants. This can lead to imbalance, redness, and dryness as moisture escapes from the skin layers. Dermatologists call this TEWL (Transepidermal Water Loss).The skin’s microbiome along with the natural acid mantel is delicate and needs to be looked after in order to help protect it. The best way to do this is by:

Treating your skin gently and avoiding harsh preservatives, strong acids peels and pads as well as too much exfoliation.
Carefully managing stress, and getting adequate of sleep can also impact the skin barrier positively, therefore looking after yourself also helps to promote healthy looking skin.
Protecting your skin from external factors including daily pollution, grime, extreme weather, and harsh sunlight.
Maintaining a proper diet which includes fruits and vegetables, sufficient daily water consumption, eliminating sugars, avoiding processed foods, and excessive alcohol consumption.

Understanding the aging process

We all age in different ways depending on a number of factors including genetics, lifestyle, exposure to UV light, pollution, and other internal factors such as stress and hormones. For many the first signs of aging occur in our mid to late 20s or early 30s, with fine lines appearing, pigmentation, a change in skin texture and loss of skin radiance resulting in dullness. It is not all bad news, by taking good care of your skin at any age huge improvements can be seen!

Why does aging skin develop wrinkles?

Smooth, plump skin relies on proteins called collagen and elastin. When these two proteins are compromised, wrinkles become visible. Collagen, together with elastin, is responsible for skin strength and elasticity and these proteins give skin its youthful, supple, and toned appearance. Collagen strands within the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) help to hold the skin’s structure together and form the framework of tissues. As we age, and degradation occurs, these collagen strands slacken and can break, which causes the skin to sag and wrinkles to form.

The causes of skin pigmentation

With age, our skin becomes more prone to the development of pigment spots, a hallmark of photo-exposed skin. Normally appearing on our face neck and hands, these clusters of excess pigment (melanin) are typically the combined result of prolonged sun exposure and high levels of stress in our skin cells. This is because prolonged UV exposure and intense stress in our skin cells can trigger biological pathways that lead to overproduction of melanin in clusters of cells. This excess melanin is transported from melanin producing skin cells to cells in upper layers of the skin, where the dark brown spots form.

The role of Antioxidants

The damage free radicals cause to the skin microbiome is directly linked to a speeding up of the aging process. When the skin is damaged immune triggers release collagen and elastin-digesting enzymes which unbalance the skin’s equilibrium. Make sure your products contain antioxidants to help fight free radical damage.

Thousands of natural antioxidants are found in fruit, vegetables and plants and include vitamins A, C, and E. Columbia Skincare’s microbiome friendly skin care products are abundant in natural antioxidants from the precious Bioorganic botanicals used throughout the range that are ethically sourced from around the world. The high antioxidant content combats free radicals which are the cause of oxidative stress, damage to the skin structure, and at excessive levels induce an inflammatory response.

Our research and development team at Columbia Probiotic Skincare has been all over the world and searched for the best Bioorganic botanicals which are rich in antioxidants to add to our scientifically developed formulations. Antioxidants are fantastic when dealing with the first signs of skin aging and when paired with our probiotic ingredients your skin will be balanced from within.

The power of pro microbiome friendly skincare

Our unique selection of peptides work with our other probiotic ingredients to help stimulate cells (fibroblasts) that produce collagen (responsible for skin elasticity), hyaluronic acid (responsible for hydration) and fibronectin (responsible for skin support). These components give skin its youthful, supple, and toned appearance.

Columbia probiotics deliver an active network of natural signaling molecules, including Transforming Growth Factor β (TGF- β), to stimulate fibroblast activity and restore the composition of the extracellular matrix resulting in firmer skin. Our scientific studies confirm an increase in fibronectin synthesis, collagen synthesis, and an increase in natural hyaluronic acid levels. In addition, our formulations have been shown to improve skin smoothness, reduce wrinkle depth and enhance the overall structure of the skin.

The emerging technology and enhanced understanding of our skin’s microbiome allow us to develop microbiome friendly products that are effective as well as safe for all skin types.