Skin microbiome enhancers: Revealing global market trends, prospects and latest research

12 Sep 2023 --- As we increasingly become aware of symbiotic relationships to living organisms on our bodies, it becomes as important to give the native bacteria on the skin a boost to maintain eubiosis – interspecies harmony. On this topic, Personal Care Insights speaks to commodities trading company ADM, while sharing global market data and delving into research findings in this space.

“The skin is the second largest microbiota ecosystem after the gut. Further, there is a growing body of evidence that connects the skin microbiome with the gut microbiome,” says Vaughn DuBow, global director of marketing, Microbiome Solutions at ADM.

“This expanding research also comes at a time when consumers are focused on supporting their skin health, both for self-confidence in the short term and to facilitate healthy aging in the long term. Microbiome-supporting solutions are starting to pique consumers’ interest in this space, with research showing that probiotics/cultures are among the top five ingredients consumers associate with supporting skin health.”

Moreover, scientists studying the effects of leave-on cosmetic antimicrobial preservatives on healthy skin resident Staphylococcus epidermidis highlight that “cosmetic companies should consider Staphylococcus epidermidis-friendly preservatives and avoid their overuse to keep healthy skin with balanced microbiota.”

Global market dataResearch recommends cosmetic companies consider Staphylococcus epidermidis-friendly preservatives.
According to Innova Market Insights’ data, global microbiome-friendly launches in personal care witnessed an impressive 84% CAGR from April 2018 to March 2023. 

Nearly two out of three launches with these claims were in Europe (65%), followed by US/Canada (16%) and Asia (13%). Fifty-five percent of these launches with microbiome-friendly claims were in skin care products, followed by hand, bath and shower (21%).

Additionally, this space’s fastest-growing personal care sub-categories were Facial/Neck Tones at 215%, Shampoo at 176% and shower products at 128%.

Glycerol (82%) was the leading ingredient in launches with microbiome claims, followed by citric acid (60%), other oils (56%) and hydrogen (29%).

Moreover, the fastest-growing ingredients within these launches were moringa 229%, helianthus annus seed 226% and coco-glucoside 203%.

Hydration claims (63%) were in the lead, followed by Ethical – Animal/Fish & Bird (58%) and No Animal Ingredients (53%).

Ingestible skin careDuBow specifies biotics, such as postbiotics, can withstand the harsh F&B processing conditions, which are leading the next frontier of ingestible skin care solutions.
DuBow observes that consumers today are increasingly motivated to lead a balanced lifestyle to help them feel good, inside and out. “An important piece to this puzzle is skin health, and many consumers are proactively seeking solutions to improve their skin in both the short and long term.”

He shares that more than half of global consumers are interested in gaining information about improving skin health while stating that they are interested even when not suffering from skin problems. In addition, consumers are recognizing a link between the skin and overall health.

“As more consumers shift their focus to attaining their skin care goals, many are changing aspects of their everyday habits, such as their diets, while stating they are using foods and drinks containing probiotics,” adds DuBow.

“This presents product manufacturers with the opportunity to leverage the beauty-from-within category to further expand the use of microbiome-supporting solutions, including ingestible formats.”

Possible prospects
According to Innova Market Insights’ data, supplements with skin health claims had an annual growth of 31% CAGR from 2018 to 2022. Capsules (27%) led the product launches, but most innovations were in gummy format, with an annual growth of 64% in the same period. Biotin was the top ingredient for these supplements targeting beauty purposes (35%).

“Moreover, coffee/tea and savory snacks promoting skin health benefits have increased since 2019. This nods to the growing demand for convenient and accessible formats that may address skin care and health concerns,” says DuBow.

“Specific biotics, such as postbiotics, that can withstand the harsh processing conditions of certain food and beverage formulations are leading the way for the next frontier of ingestible skin care solutions, further supporting the projected success of the beauty-from-within category.”

Functionalities of skin microbiome enhancersBacterial changes in first three years of life has links to eczema risk, according to a recent study. 
We ask DuBow how skin microbiome enhancers work and who the target market is for such enhancers. 

“We’re continually investigating new microbial strains that can help meet consumers’ wellness goals, including those related to skin health. Our two probiotic blends – AD blend and Smooth Skin blend – show the potential to support different aspects of skin health,” he says.

“The AD blend may help support dry, itchy skin, clear skin and skin vitality and may help support aspects of skin health. The Smooth Skin blend may also support overall skin health and clear skin. Through both blends, we can provide our customers with highly sought-after beauty-from-within solutions.”

Additionally, he highlights that various formats such as tablets, gummies and stick packs are driving possibilities in bridging skin care and skin health. 

Eczema and gut microbiome connection
In recent news, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found significant associations between the gut microbiome and eczema in infancy. 

“The problem of eczema is increasing, and our study shows it could result from unwanted changes in the gut bacterial content. The first year of life could be a critical period to restore the gut bacteria to a more desirable composition,” said the study’s principal investigator, Paul Chan, MD, a professor of microbiology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“Our study found that the gut bacterial content of babies changes drastically over the first three years of life. We observed characteristic changes in the gut bacterial content before the babies presented with eczema. Remarkably, those bacterial changes were also observed in babies delivered by C-section. Gut bacteria may play a role in preventing or treating eczema.” 

The researchers found that Bacteroides were depleted and Clostridium sensu stricto 1 was enriched in the gut microbiome of one-year-old infants with eczema.

Comfrey extract for treating skin disease
In separate research, scientists studied the effects of comfrey root (Symphytum officinale L.) on the skin microbiome, finding that it “may serve as a potential factor influencing the extract activity in treating skin diseases.”

Comfrey extract is rich in phenolic acids, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, lignin and caffeic acid derivatives and has been used in folk medicine to treat diseases, but not much is known about its role on the skin microbiome.

When applied to the skin, the extract triggered a biodegradation of its constituents into metabolites. 

“Moreover, it should be emphasized that this metabolism did not result in the conversion of pyrrolizidine alkaloid derivatives into free alkaloids, which can be one of the confirmations of the relative safety of topical application,” detail the authors. 

“Additionally, it was observed that the comfrey root extract slightly altered the composition of the microbiota of the human skin in ex vivo cultures, without causing any imbalance.”

By Venya Patel