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Prebiotics
You’ve probably heard all about how you need good bacteria in your gut to keep your body healthy — but have you thought about the microbiome of your skin?
The probiotics you might eat in yoghurt or miso actually add bacteria to your gut; prebiotics are the food that these bacteria need to thrive. Prebiotics have a lot of benefits for skin. Just as the good bacteria in our gut keep our digestion on track, on our skin they protect us from inflammation, redness, acne and a host of other problems.
See all products containing prebiotics.
Use prebiotics for…
• Protecting skin from infections and acne
• Soothing and protecting more sensitive skin
• Helping to strengthen dry or cracked skin
Where do I use prebiotics in my skincare routine?
Prebiotics are fairly easy to incorporate into a skincare routine — they aren’t harsh ingredients and won’t irritate or damage sensitive skin types.
One way to include them might be a cleanser, or you might find you prefer to use a toner type product where the prebiotics are left on your skin longer and so can work throughout the day or night.
What to look for on product labels…
When you’re looking for skincare products, you’ll often find that prebiotics are advertised on labels, making it easier to find formulas that focus on these ingredients.
The prebiotics might also be listed as oligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides and fructooligosaccharides as this is the full name for the carbohydrate components.
You’ll most likely find that prebiotics will be well labelled on products however. Fermented skincare has been growing over the last year or two, but it isn’t as established as ingredients like AHAs, and so fermented products tend to stand out more.