Can probiotics really improve your complexion?

We all know “friendly bacteria” can be good for your health, but now it’s appearing in skincare products. Our beauty expert sorts the fact from fiction

THE PROMISE

Beauty jargon can be hard to digest, but the latest buzzword is one exception. We’re all familiar with probiotics and how they can help maintain a healthy gut, thanks to fortified yoghurt drinks, but did you know that when packed into skincare products they can have a positive impact on your skin, too? We ask the experts how…

THE SCIENCE

Only a small amount of the probiotics we eat reaches the skin, so adding more in a topical face cream can really help. Elizabeth Arden Consulting Dermatologist, Dr Dendy Engelman, explains, “Billions of natural bacteria, both healthy and unhealthy, reside on the surface layer of the skin, and if they become imbalanced it can result in skin problems. For skin to function properly and protect itself, ph levels need to be balanced.”

HOW IT WORKS

Probiotics are essentially friendly bacteria, and using skin products that contain them can help to reboot your complexion in three ways. They neutralise bad bacteria to calm inflammation, ramp up your natural defence mechanism to tackle pollution that attacks the skin’s surface and also add some muscle-power to the skin’s barrier to lock in moisture more effectively.

THE VERDICT

Whether you’re prone to blemish breakouts, struggling to hydrate parched skin, or live in an area with higher pollution levels, introducing a dose of probiotic into your daily beauty regime will help benefit your complexion. Look out for cleansers and moisturisers containing L. Bifidus – a probiotic that can be applied topically to the skin.

Dermatologist Dr Justine Kluk adds, “Anybody with dry, rough or reactive skin can benefit from products that reinforce or restore the skin’s barrier in order to achieve smoother, better hydrated and more comfortable skin.”