Balancing the skin microbiome: fact or fiction

The “skin microbiome” consists of the skin’s resident microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses) as well as their genomic content and metabolic by-products. Modern techniques for sequencing DNA have enabled researchers to find microbes that could not be cultured in the lab using traditional microbiology culture techniques. Skin microflora is influenced by environmental conditions, temperature, humidity, clothing, exposure to pollution as well as internal factors like diet and psychological stress, thus making it very challenging to study and understand. Nevertheless, the cosmetic industry is teeming with products claiming to “balance” the skin microbiome. There is no doubt that there is a serious shift in microbiome diversity of diseased skin versus healthy skin. However, healthy skin is balanced already, so claims to balance healthy skin with cosmetics is somewhat a fallacy.
Studies are needed to determine the variations in the day to day, week to week as well as seasonal and other environmental factors on healthy skin microbiome of untreated skin to determine if the changes observed from cosmetic products is meaningful.