Your skin is a diverse community of good and bad bacteria that make up its microbiome. Healthy looking skin has a balanced microbiome and preserved skin barrier. Atopic prone skin has an unbalanced microbiome and altered skin barrier, allowing vulnerability to irritants which can cause redness, flare-ups and itching.
Much like our gut relies on active probiotics and other gut bacteria to restore health, the biome of the skin needs to maintain certain bacteria for healthy looking skin. Prebiotics are food for probiotics and the microbiome. In skincare, prebiotics like colloidal oatmeal encourage the presence of good bacteria, which can help create a healthy environment for the skin microbiome.
