Most people associate the word “fermentation” with things like wine or yogurt, but what about healthy, glowing skin? Fermentation is a transformation that is used very commonly in the world of skincare.
Skincare hero, lactic acid, for example, involves the process of fermenting milk.
This list of fermented ingredients in skincare just keeps growing and growing, including, ginseng, sugars, radish root, and more.
Fermented ingredients in skincare can boost your routine by enhancing the support your skin gets from antioxidants, helping skin absorb actives faster, and preventing inflammation.
WHAT IS FERMENTATION?
Fermentation is the process of letting microorganisms like pre- and probiotic bacteria transform an ingredient into a new chemical structure, creating new skin-enhancing ingredients, known as postbiotics.
POSTBIOTICS - WHAT ARE THEY?
To keep it simple, postbiotics are the end product of probiotics and prebiotics — created during the fermentation process of probiotic bacteria. Some examples of postbiotics are enzymes, peptides, peptidoglycan-derived muropeptides, polysaccharides, cell surface proteins, and organic acids
HOW DO FERMENTED INGREDIENTS BENEFIT SKIN?
Plenty of skin benefits come from fermented ingredients, but here are the most important to remember:
1. FERMENTED INGREDIENTS BALANCE THE MICROBIOME
The greatest benefit of fermented ingredients is that they provide probiotics by balancing the bacteria on your skin. When the microbiome is unbalanced, bad bacteria flourishes, causing good bacteria to be reduced and leading to skin issues like eczema, sensitivity, and acne.
Skincare products with fermented ingredients restore your microbiome’s equilibrium by increasing the number of good bacteria, allowing it to work properly and keep skin protected and moisturized. Probiotics can also help reduce inflammation and provide natural humectants, compounds that draw moisture into your skin.
2. FERMENTATION CREATES NEW INGREDIENTS
During the process of fermentation, molecules are created such as peptides and acids, enhancing the lipids that form your microbiome, ceramides, which help the skin stay moisturized while regulating acne.
3. FERMENTATION MAKES INGREDIENTS MORE POWERFUL
Studies have shown that many ingredients used in skincare become even more potent after fermentation, leading to more benefits and noticeable results in your skincare routine.
Nearly every ingredient that is beneficial for your skin will be boosted after the fermentation process.
4. FERMENTATION HELPS ACTIVES ABSORB FASTER
While ingredients are fermented, this process breaks them down into smaller parts, which are more easily absorbed into your skin. This also assists with increasing the potency of these ingredients. This also boosts the antioxidant properties of ingredients along with encouraging probiotic growth, helping to maintain your skin’s health.
5. FERMENTATION NATURALLY INCREASES A PRODUCT’S SHELF LIFE
Fermentation increases the shelf life of products since many ingredients that come out of this process are naturally antibacterial and antifungal. Depending on the type of fermentation, organic acids may be created which balance skin’s pH, preventing bad bacteria growth and allowing skincare products to last longer on your skin with reduced fillers and preservatives.
This process allows us to deliver maximum actives in our formulas with minimal to no synthetic preservation.
WHO BENEFITS FROM FERMENTED SKINCARE?
The best part of this answer is that fermented ingredients help nearly everyone, since products with these ingredients are typically safe for even the most sensitive of skin. They’re also commonly used to help soothe skin and reduce inflammation, making them perfect for those with eczema, rosacea, acne, and other skin conditions.
IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE PRODUCTS WITH FERMENTED INGREDIENTS
Most of our products contain one or more fermented ingredients to give you the highest level of potency, but we’d be here all day if I listed all of them!
So here’s a handful of our most popular products, along with the top fermented ingredients in their formulas:
THE CREAM
Suitable for all skin types, our rich, velvety moisturizer THE CREAM is perfect for providing all skin types with all-day, natural hydration. Fresh and potent botanical extracts are soaked in olive oil for 10-12 days to make up this phytonutrient-rich fermented elixir.
NOURISHING OIL
Our light-as-a-feather NOURISHING OIL contains green tea leaves fermented in olive oil for maximum potency of green tea's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits along with olive oil's hydrating/moisturizing benefits.
BAMBOO REFINING POLISH
Our TikTok-favorite liquid/physical exfoliant BAMBOO REFINING POLISH contains natural salicylic acid from fermented aspen bark. This is the hero acid for congested skin, and a natural BHA that delivers gentle, natural exfoliation to remove skin cells.
PLUMPING SERUM
Our 20% Vitamin C PLUMPING SERUM is crafted to give you a hydrated, lit-from-within glow with the help of hyaluronic acid (produced by fermenting bacteria) and the highest form of Vitamin C, ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid goes through a two step fermentation process involving citrus and stone fruits to make sure your skin absorbs the highest amount of Vitamin C possible.
BAKUCHIOL WONDER SERUM
Our plant-based retinol alternative BAKUCHIOL WONDER SERUM helps to instantly hydrate and firm skin with a fermented ingredient you’re familiar with, hyaluronic acid. It also contains purslane extract, the result of fermenting the lactobacillus and portulaca oleracea bacteria. Purslane is rich in Vitamin A, to stimulate collagen and help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and scars.
MOISTURIZING WASH
Our gel cleanser MOISTURIZING WASH is perfect for clearing dirt, makeup, and other pollutants from your pores with the help of lactic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid produced naturally through the fermentation of natural sources like milk, fruits, and vegetables. Lactic acid increases ceramides in the skin’s protective barrier while preventing skin congestion and improving pigmentation.
CITRUS CUCUMBER TONER
Our daily botanical prebiotic elixir, our CITRUS CUCUMBER TONER sustains skin’s optimal pH balance with the help of phytonutrients like fermented radish root extract, known for its anti-inflammatory properties, helping to reduce facial swelling and redness. Our toner also contains apple cider vinegar (ACV), made in a two step fermentation process involving transforming apple juice to vinegar. ACV has tons of skin benefits, including promoting natural exfoliation, helping to balance skin’s pH, and stimulating collagen.
MARINE PEARL CREAM
Our skin-mattifying and pore-minimizing MARINE PEARL CREAM contains resveratrol, which is produced from fermented grapes. This ingredient helps with lightening dark spots on the surface of the skin along with boosting skin’s firmness and elasticity.
DEEP ENZYME CLEANSE
A liquid exfoliator that gently uses two products of fermentation to gently unglue dead and dry skin cells from your skin’s surface, fruit enzymes and glycolic acid, our DEEP ENZYME CLEANSE is perfect for unclogging pores and renewing the skin. Specifically, the glycolic acid unglues the skin cells while the main fruit enzyme (sourced from fermented pineapple) pineapple bromelain sweeps them away to promote collagen production and cell turnover.
BLUEBERRY BOOST MASK
Our moisturizing and gently plumping BLUEBERRY BOOST MASK contains poly hydroxy acid (PHA) gluconolactone to help with gently dissolving dead skin, improving fine lines and discoloration, and balancing excess oil in the skin. Gluconolactone is an organic acid sourced from natural food items like fruits and nectars.
PUMPKIN ENZYME MASK
Our triple-threat PUMPKIN ENZYME MASK resurfaces, minimizes pores, and hydrates skin is enriched with a familiar fermented ingredient, pineapple bromelain, to treat acne and sun damage, and to even out skin tone.
If you want to learn more about the specific ingredients in each of our products, click here to head to our online store.
Thank you so much for reading this article about the benefits of fermented ingredients in skincare! If you have any questions regarding this or the ingredients in our products, CONTACT US here or give us a call at (727) 286-7684, we'd love to hear from you.
Xoxo,
Denice
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