Covid-19 Draws Consumers towards Fermented Skincare

October 1, 2021

All About Fermented Skincare

Fermented Skin Care Gained Traction as Health-consciousness due to Covid-19 Shifts to Skin Care. Shiseido recently conducted an online survey with 555 participants and results has shown that more than half of them became conscious about skincare due to the pandemic. It is also found that 70% of the respondents reflected conscious of ‘health’ as a keyword in skincare. Currently fermented products are more popular as supplements but about 20% of them showed interest to try skincare with fermented ingredients.

The Science

Fermentation is a process where a substance is being broken down into simpler substances by microorganisms such as yeast or bacteria. Ferments like probiotics, enzymes, bacteria or yeasts help to maintain our skin’s microbiome. Like the gut our skin has its own community of microbes and its balance is essential for achieving hydrated and nourished complexion. Having a large ecosystem is crucial to protect the skin against external aggressions. This is because lacking in skin microbial flora will allow problematic pathologies to settle including psoriasis, eczema and acne.

Fermented Goodness

1. Improved penetration and potency

The fermentation process works to break down large molecules and increase nutrient density of products. This process supposedly renders skin care products more absorbable and potent by making them bio-available.

2. Formation of new beneficial ingredients

As all know, fermentation is a transformation process and by-products created may bring added benefits to our skin. Depending on the type of ingredients and microorganisms used, different metabolites are formed and often they are rich in nutrients like vitamins, peptides and organic acids etc. Some examples include lactic acid derived from fermented milk and others like AHA (alpha-hydroxy acids) and amino acids formed as a result of fermentation.

3. Preservation effect

Certain fermented ingredients possess preservation effects and can increase the shelf life of your skin care product. Hence, it allows the reduction of use of traditional preservatives that are deemed as harmful to us. With fermented ingredients, we are able to make products safer and more natural.

The Link Between Fermentation and Skin Microbiome

The skin is an ecological environment for commensal and pathogenic bacteria. Like yoghurt produced via fermentation of milk with gut-friendly bacteria is able to balance the bacteriological ecosystem in the intestine. It is hypothesized that fermentation products of human skin commensal bacteria can function as skin probiotics for treatment of skin infections by pathogens and allow maintenance of a healthy skin microbiome.