If you’ve never heard of your skin microbiome, don’t worry—that's what we’re here for. We’re breaking down what the skin microbiome is, how to improve yours, which products you should be using, and so much more. Let’s jump in.
What is Your Skin Microbiome?
Your skin microbiome is the microscopic world that lives within your largest organ—your skin. It’s full of trillions of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and viruses that play an important role in your overall skin health.
When these microorganisms are in balance, your skin is glowing, soft, hydrated, and plump. When the microorganisms are out of balance, or when the bad bacteria outweigh the good bacteria, you can develop skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, acne, and rosacea.
Luckily, there are ingredients and products you can apply topically to improve your skin microbiome and keep it healthy.
Why Is A Healthy Skin Microbiome Important?
Just like your gut microbiome, your skin microbiome should consist of diverse bacteria, as these microorganisms can strengthen your skin barrier, fend off disease-causing pathogens, and aid immunity.
For further breakdown, a healthy microbiome is important because this physical layer protects you from the outside and works to:
- Help your immune system
- Your microbes serve as a warning system that alerts your immune system when harmful bacteria or viruses come into contact with your skin.
- Control inflammation
- Because your skin microbiome can detect negative pathogens, it will send signals to the rest of your body to activate your immune system when inflammation is high. Not only that, but this process also helps heal skin wounds, too.
- Fight infections
- Some of the good bacteria found within your skin microbiome can actually act as natural antibiotics. These help fend off unnecessary infections and keep your skin acidic, which deters other germs from thriving.
The benefit of your skin microbiome is more than just skin deep. Sure, you’ll have a glowing complexion and fewer breakouts, but a healthy skin microbiome can keep your skin free of harmful diseases, infections, and germs.
How to Restore Your Skin Microbiome
There are lifestyle choices, like diet and smoking, that can contribute to your microbiome, as well as genetics, environment, pollution, and UV light. And while some of these variables are inalterable, there are several tips and tricks to restore your skin microbiome without changing your DNA.
- Moisturize your skin
- One way to protect your skin barrier, which in turn keeps your skin microbiome healthy, is by properly moisturizing your skin. Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, squalane, goat milk, and omega fatty acids.
- Eat a balanced diet
- You’ve likely heard about the gut microbiome. It’s just like your skin microbiome (full of trillions of bacteria), but in your gut. Studies have found that eating a plant-rich and diverse diet can strengthen your gut microbiome, which in turn, affects your skin microbiome.
- Avoid over-cleansing
- Antibacterial products are best when used in moderation. Try to avoid upsetting the balance of your microbiome by cleansing less frequently.
- Interact with nature
- Not only do green spaces boost our mental wellbeing, but there’s also evidence that nature can improve our microbiome, as well.
- Exercise
- Research has shown exercise benefits the gut by increasing the number of different types of bacteria. And when you have a greater diversity of microorganisms, you have a stronger skin microbiome.
- Use skin-soothing products
- At Beekman 1802, we’ve formulated products with Kind-to-skin ingredients that help your skin microbiome flourish. Keep reading for the science behind goat milk’s role in the microbiome.
How Can Goat Milk Skincare Products Improve Your Skin Microbiome
Goat milk is one of the most powerful ingredients in skincare because it has the same pH as human skin. Meaning, goat milk’s prebiotic and postbiotic characteristics help maintain, balance, and nourish the diversity of organisms living on our skin without any irritation.
By including goat milk skincare products to your routine, you’re not only optimizing the nourishment of the skin’s native microbiome, but you’re also getting all the lactic acid, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and proteins that come along with goat milk, too.
Ready to incorporate some of our goat milk favorites? See our top recommendations below.
Top Microbiome-Friendly Products for A Healthy Glow
Now that you understand the connection between a healthy skin microbiome and glowing skin, you’re likely ready to start using some microbiome-friendly products yourself. Lucky for you, goat milk is the star ingredient in each of our products, but we want to share our coconut line, which is microbiome-friendly body care.
We all want glowing skin on our face, but we can’t forget about the rest of our body. First up, body wash.
Our Coconut Cream Hand & Body Wash is formulated with breakthrough microbiome-friendly fragrance technology so you can enjoy the sweet scent of coconut milk and vanilla blossom without any irritation. Use it to soothe dryness and deliver intense moisture while cleansing.
Next, our Coconut Cream Whipped Body Cream intensely moisturizes, softens and smooths skin, and absorbs quickly thanks to fatty acid-rich goat milk and vitamin E. It goes on silky smooth and never feels greasy.
And finally, our Coconut Cream Goat Milk Bar Soap is non-drying, microbiome-friendly, and provides deep hydration and nourishment. Once again, we can thank goat milk’s pH level, lactic acid, vitamins, and minerals that help renew and strengthen our skin.
Building A Microbiome-Friendly Skincare Routine
Now that you know what microbiome-friendly products to use on your body, let’s focus on incorporating microbiome-friendly skincare into your everyday routine.
Meet your new favorite cleanser, Milk Scrub.
Like we mentioned above, over cleansing can actually harm your microbiome, which is why finding the right cleanser is critical for healthy skin. Our Milk Scrub polishes away skin-dulling buildup without damaging your skin barrier. Plus, the goat milk prebiotic and milk postbiotic extracts feed your skin’s microbiome to stay balanced and healthy.
Next up, our Bloom Cream Daily Moisturizer.
This global bestselling face moisturizer is enriched with goat milk and healing Epsom salts to deliver moisture beyond the surface for petal-soft skin. Goat milk’s vitamin and lactic acid-rich base helps to restore healthy hydration and repair a damaged skin barrier.
And finally, you’ll apply our Oh! Mega Milk facial oil.
This barrier boosting facial oil is the first fermented face oil to absorb 20% deeper with 90x more omega fatty acids for extra glow and no grease. Goat milk, niacinamide, and vitamin C work together to nourish the skin, brighten dark spots, and repair your skin’s natural barrier.
By using these three products every day, you’ll be well on your way to improving your skin microbiome.