A Gut Check for Your Face Cream

Probiotics can be found in virtually every consumer product under the sun, from dog treats and deodorant to candy and cleaning sprays. Now you can add skincare to the list. 

You Should Know: Probiotic skincare products promise to improve the skin by nourishing its microbiome. The claims include improving collagen production, locking in moisture, and tamping down inflammation.

Going Deeper: Your skin already has probiotics on it. That’s because the skin has its own microbiome. There’s also a relationship between the health of our gut microbiome and our skin, known as the gut-skin axis. Some of the research on these products is promising, but there haven’t been a lot of high-quality studies. Some studies had very small sample sizes or were done with a bacteria strain in isolation, not actually mixed with the other ingredients you’d find in one of these products.

Takeaway: Some of the concerns critics have about probiotic supplements also apply here. First, everyone’s microbiomes are individualized, like fingerprints, so one product won’t fit all. Plus, these products contain a lot of different ingredients and preservatives, some of which could kill the probiotics. It’s hard to know if the probiotics are active by the time they’re slathered on the skin — or if they even stay on the skin long enough to have a long-lasting impact.

Bottom Line: Try them if you want, but don’t expect miracles. Focus on caring for skin via your gut microbiome by eating probiotic fermented foods, like sauerkraut or yogurt, and plenty of prebiotic fiber.