For healthy skin, you need to cultivate your good bacteria. And for that, there's nothing better than pre and postbiotics in our daily care.
This is also the reason why Blue Skincare has introduced pre and postbiotics in all its topical treatments (NACRE ECLAT, XERO NACRE) and for a pre and probiotics in its Skin Perfecting Food Supplement.
First of all, a little clarification is necessary: why do we talk about pre and postbiotics in cosmetics, and not probiotics?
Prebiotics
The current definition of prebiotics is that proposed by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP): a "substrate selectively used by host microorganisms that confers a health benefit". In simpler terms, they are complex sugars, fatty substances or amino acids that nourish and promote the healthy development of microbiota bacteria. They act a bit like fertilizer. In food, they are the fibers present in fruits and vegetables. In cosmetics, they are particularly interesting. They are substances such as inulin, from chicory, glycerin, squalane or even polyphenols, because we are gradually discovering that many ingredients, long used in cosmetics, also have a prebiotic role in the skin.
Postbiotics
According to the definition of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP): it is a "preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confer a health benefit on the host". These are therefore molecules secreted by probiotics (their waste products, so to speak, metabolites or membranes of these probiotics), inactivated components that mimic them and promote their good activity. Like soil, they promote the ecosystem in which a healthy microbiota lives. These are generally short-chain fatty acids, peptides, proteins or even enzymes.
What about probiotics?
They are not found in cosmetics for the simple reason that it is both impossible and prohibited by the Regulations to include a probiotic, and therefore a living organism, in a cosmetic, since there can be no bacterial proliferation in this type of product! When brands talk about probiotics, they are making a "marketing shortcut."
What are the benefits of pre and post biotics in topical care?
They create an environment that is favorable to the development of good bacteria for the skin. Indeed, prebiotics provide the food necessary for the proper development of good bacteria in the skin microbiota, while postbiotics allow them to develop in a healthy and favorable environment. Prebiotics even selectively stimulate the growth or activity of certain "good" bacteria to the detriment of pathogenic bacteria. This "balancing" activity results in many benefits. Here are the main ones:
Preserve the skin barrier
A healthy microbiome means an efficient skin barrier.
The contribution of these substances promotes the development of a healthy and balanced microbiome (i.e. the microbiota and the entire environment in which it lives). However, we know that the microbiome interacts with the hydrolipidic film, that it regulates the pH of the skin, that the probiotics that compose it are anti-inflammatory, stimulate skin immunity and are like the defensive sentinels of the skin. All these elements help to strengthen the barrier function of the skin and therefore protect it from dehydration, irritation, redness and other concerns. This is why we find them more and more in makeup removers and cleansers, such as in the Baume Métamorphose or the Eau Micellaire Lactée NACRE ÉCLAT in order to compensate for the stripping effect and help rebalance the microbiota.
Have better hydrated skin
Two fundamental factors play a role in this better hydration. On the one hand, skin with a good barrier function allows it to better retain its water. Indeed, the barrier function seriously limits excessive evaporation of water from the skin, known as insensible water loss. It also allows it to better capture the water that we bring to it. In addition, prebiotics, which are often sugars or glycerin, are active ingredients that in themselves provide hydration. The benefit is therefore twofold.
Regulate atopy and eczema
We now know that atopic dermatitis, or eczema, is closely linked to the overdevelopment of Staphylococcus aureus in the microbiota. However, thanks to complexes combining pre and postbiotics, we can specifically regulate the microbial flora of these atopic skins.
Fight against acne
Here again, we know that acne is linked to an excessive amount of sebum which leads to inflammation caused by the c.acnes bacteria. However, c.acnes, normally, is part of the so-called commensal bacteria, i.e. good for the skin. But there can be an imbalance. Professor Brigitte Dréno, head of the Dermatology department at the Nantes University Hospital, discovered that acne is linked to an imbalance in the microbiota, where c.acnes takes a predominant role compared to another bacteria, staphylococcus epidermidis.
Thus, by combining known treatments and active ingredients with symbiotics (complexes combining pre and postbiotics) which reinforce the capacities of the staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria, we can improve the effectiveness of treatments and prevent the recurrence of acne.
Avoid dandruff
Again, dandruff and other scalp problems have been found to be caused by the proliferation of a yeast present in the microbiota, malassezia. Again, a supply of pre and postbiotics such as lactic acid, or fermented rice water, often used in Asia, helps to rebalance the scalp.
Reduce body odor
The smell of sweat is due to the development of bacteria ( corynebacteria ) that break down the fatty substances in sweat when it comes into contact with the microbiota of the armpits. Here again, specific symbiotic complexes limit the proliferation of these bacteria and therefore the appearance of odorous molecules. A more natural way to manage this universal problem, without essential oils or aluminum salts!
Keep skin younger
We know that one of the reasons for premature aging is inflam'aging, this chronic and silent inflammatory state of cells, aggravated by pollution, stress or our lifestyle. However, symbiotics are formidable anti-inflammatories. These microorganisms therefore also delay wrinkles and loss of firmness. By promoting their proper development, symbiotics therefore indirectly play on the youthfulness of the skin. As long as they are associated with hyaluronic acid and peptides, the combo is perfect!
Pre and postbiotics, called symbiotics when combined, therefore help to rebalance the microbiota. When there is a skin problem, combining them with active treatment agents helps promote healing. But also to create the perfect conditions for maintaining healthy and younger skin.
