I’ve dabbled in natural healing and health for a number of years, as you can see from my past posts right here on this website. But recently, I’ve been taking a deeper dive into the realm of holistic wellness, or basically how I can be healthy in my body, on my body, and in my mind. And my research kept pointing me to the same thing over and over and over again: the body’s microbiome.
The same is true for when quarantine hit and, like so many others, I began to focus more on skincare. The deeper I dove into how to create a natural yet effective skincare routine, the more and more I saw the word microbiome.
It suddenly all made perfect sense. I suffered from awful acne until I stopped using skincare products. I switched to only water unless I was wearing makeup or sunblock and my skin cleared up! I used to think that perhaps this was just because I had sensitive skin, but the more I read into it, the more I realized that it was because I was building and maintaining a healthy skin microbiome.
Did you know that your skin is home to billions upon billions of microbes? And that these microbes are absolutely essential to skin health? They produce essential nutrients, protect you from harmful pathogens, and even provide some protection against the elements. There is also evidence that your internal microbiome contributes to skin health by communicating with the guys on your skin as well as enabling the body to process proteins, vitamins, and antioxidants, all the stuff you need to glow on the outside.
But did you also know that the typical skincare routine can disrupt the delicate balance of the skin microbiome? Yep. Cleansing strips that protective barrier and raises the pH level on your skin. A healthy microbiome depends on this protective layer and needs it to be slightly acidic. Then there’s all the other products, full of ingredients such as alcohol, preservatives, and even essential oils that kill off these good microbes and disrupt that natural balance.
What happens when your skin microbiome is thrown off balance? That’s when skin issues begin to pop up. Acne, yeast, inflammation, etc.
The same happens when the microbiome in your gut is disrupted because the body lacks the help it needs to fight off the bad microbes and responds by raising inflammation.
So how do you maintain a healthy microbiome?
Heal your gut
Probiotics and probiotic rich foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, and kombucha are great places to start in getting your gut bacteria back in check. The probiotic that I like and take regularly is Seed Probiotics
Making sure that you are eating healthy and fiber filled foods such as fruits and vegetables is key to helping good bacteria thrive, with or without probiotics.
Destress
Stress has been shown to have a detrimental effect on the microbiome. Ways to keep your mental cool include meditation, deep breathing, spending time in nature (which adds healthy bacteria to your body), and exercising benefit the mind, body, and microbiome.
Minimize your products
Your skin really doesn’t need a whole bunch of stuff slathered on it everyday. Everything it needs to keep it moisturized and exfoliated is part of the natural process of sebum production and skin renewal.
If you wear sunblock (which you absolutely should) or makeup or if you just like having a skincare routine, you can totally make it microbiome friendly.
- Stick to preservative free, skin pH friendly cleansers such as oils (the oil cleansing method works wonders), oat flour, and honey
- You really don’t need a toner, but a spritz of rose water or natural hydrosols feels really nice
- If you need moisturizer, single origin oils such as plum seed, hemp seed, argan and jojoba are great for the skin
- Sunblocks should be, like cleansers, preservative free and pH friendly. I love the Kari Gran Essential SPF
What about the shower?
There are more and more companies making microbiome friendly products, such as Mother Dirt
But I’ll let you know a secret. Other than your hands, pits, and groin, you really don’t need soap. A good scrub with water and a little single origin oil like avocado to moisturize and you’re good to go! Oils are also great to get sunblock and grime off your skin by massaging it in and wiping it away with a warm washcloth.
Don’t forget there are lots of other ways to care for yourself than buying and using skincare products!
- Go for a walk
- Read a book
- Snuggle a pet
- Take a nap
- Take a soap free bath
- Drink some tea
