Human Skin

Microbiome

A new set of testing focused on looking at how personal care and cosmetics products affect the skin microbiome.

Introduction

The human skin microbiota is a complex and evolving area of skin and cosmetic microbiology. At Melbec we can support the development of Microbiota safe/friendly products using a sensible stepped approach.

Process

The first stage is to ensure that a product does not contain pathogenic organisms which are present in the cosmetic as contaminants.

Microbiota friendly cosmetics should not significantly alter the balance between skin bacteria eg. Staphylococcus epidermis and pathogens eg Staphylococcus aureus. Dysbiosis such as this is associated with skin diseases such as eczema.

A healthy microbiota is often associated with a diverse microbial community, whereas communities dominated by a small number of microorganisms may be associated with dysbiosis and disease.

This stage of testing assesses the impact on microbial diversity attributable to the test product and takes into account the body area and skin type.

A Microbiota-safe or friendly product should not adversely impact the ability of the skin microorganisms to grow and flourish. Different in vitro skin models can be used to assess the impact of test products on microbial growth.

If you wish to advertise microbiota formulations on television or if you want to have more in-depth data on the impact of your product on the skin microbiota we can use metagenomic sequencing and analysis using bioinformatic software.

Testing

This testing uses volunteers, and we assess the impact of the test product on the skin at the relevant body sites and on the entire microbiota.

Find out how we can help

Want to learn more about how Melbec can help you with your testing requirements?

Fill in the form below, give us a call or email us!

01706 214 492 info@melbecmicrobiology.co.uk