Skin microflora & probiotics
The relationship between skin and the natural flora that is found on the skin’s surface is not well understood. It is, however, clear that this symbiotic relationship is crucial for the normal functioning of the skin. There are approximately one trillion bacteria from more than 1000 species living on your skin. Many are beneficial but some are just neutral.
Your skin maintains some control over the microflora on the surface by regulating the pH. pH plays a key role in the activity of the skin’s flora as a natural defense against harmful microbes.
The Esse approach to skin microflora is in some ways similar to the modern approach to gut microflora. We understand that the skin needs the beneficial microflora to function optimally. Our goal is to boost the numbers of the beneficial organisms to make sure that the harmful, infectious microbes can’t colonise on your skin. This is in contrast to the “kill them all” approach of many products on the market.
Many brands pay attention to the pH of their cleansers but, because most emulsions become less stable at low pH, moisturizers are often not in the optimal range. We have taken great care to keep the pH consistent at 4.5 across the range.
We also use prebiotics to selectively feed beneficial skin flora. These include fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin. These are long chain sugars that opportunistic bacteria cannot use as food. This favours the symbiotic (good) skin flora and means that your skin does not have to activate an immune response to protect itself from invading bacteria and fungi.
