Probiotics are a trendy technology that has gained a lot of interest in the area of food and wellness over the last decade. As often happens with popular food trends, cosmetic manufacturers have taken the technology and tried to adapt it to their products. This has the double benefit of consumer recognition and potentially providing new benefits. But is there scientific support to back up the use of probiotics in topical products? Read on to find out.

WHAT ARE PROBIOTICS?

When the technology was first introduced, probiotics referred to live bacteria that provided health benefits, typically for the digestive system. These cultures were found in yogurt or food supplements. Probiotics are considered “good bacteria” and come from two groups including Lactobacillus found in fermented products and Bifidobacterium found in some dairy products. Cosmetic products are different from food in that it is not generally permissible to have living organisms growing in your products. For this reason suppliers of probiotics for cosmetics supply them as lysates. Essentially, chopped up, nonliving versions of bacteria. And they might also be supplied as hydrolyzed proteins, enzymes, or other materials obtained from bacteria.

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