Our Skin Is A Microbiome

Recently, I have been spending more time taking the knowledge of our skin barrier deeper than ever before. I am determined to know all there is to know about caring for our skin. After all, it is our largest organ and greatest defense mechanism against pathogens, viruses, and bacteria. And here at HSEN, we believe helping our skin thrive in its' natural environment, rather than a fabricated one, is the best way to find balance.

Our skin is made up of 4 layers: the epidermis, dermis, hypodermis, and muscle. Each layer contributes in a different way to balance the skin, reconstruct the skin, and protect it from environmental stressors. But there's another aspect that also plays a role in a balanced skin microbiome: your gut. You may have heard me say a few times at our markets, "We treat our skin like our gut. What comes in must come out, so what goes in must be so nutritional." So many factors affect our skin microbiome, a few being: our gut microbiome, environmental stressors, life cirucumstances, emotional wellbeing, etc. A microbiome is anything living together in one environment, aka the components that make up our skin.

Our skin is also comprised of an oil/water barrier, which means that having a balanced microbiome is vital. One way we can do this is through our skin products. Facial products must be a combination of oil and water to nourish the different layers of your skin, but on a molecular level, they must also be small enough and balanced enough to penetrate and permeate throughout the cells.

I am going to make some of you uncomfortable in this next section...but here is why I won't create products with beef tallow. Tallow is made from animal fat, mainly beef, bison, etc. It is a new skin trend that people swear by. But here's my 'opinion', if you will: tallow is composed highly of triglycerides and is highly comodogenic, meaning it has a high ability to clog pores, which also means it is not composed of small enough molecules to permeate into the skin cells, thus clogging them and causing unwanted skin conditions like acne and most commonly an unbalanced skin pH level and barrier. What you need to be searching for in your skin care products are oils that are light weight, high in linoleic acid and omega 6, and compliment your skin's barrier.

Let me dive into this a little bit. What is linoleic acid? Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fat that's full of omega 6, and is also something that our skin does not produce by itself. We typically get this fatty acid through our diet! This is why gut health is directly related to skin health! Knowing this, we have spent so much time creating our products to contain oils that compliment your skin! Our face moisturizers, serums, and one of our eye creams include oils with linoleic acid. Oils high in this fatty acid are avocado oil, apricot oil, and rosehip oil. The beneift of these is that they are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, and greatly help to balance the skin's barrier and pH. Another oil we include in our products that is NOT high in linoleic acid, only for the purpose to compliment the skin and help with barrier balance is jojoba oil. Why the contrast you may ask? Well, remember when I told you our skin is a balance of oil and water? To me, this means sustainability and resiliency. Jojoba oil is composed of basically no linoleic acid, but instead, it's full of eicosenoic and docosenoic acids, and vitamin E. It helps protect the skin from stressors and anything that causes inflammation, and matches the skin's natural sebum so well it can't help but balance out the barrier.

Our skin is so fascingating to us here at HSEN! It was created with intent to protect us and provide for us, so we take our products seriously and make sure that what we include in our products are truly beneficial for your skin. Your skin shouldn't have to work hard to sustain itself, but rather, your skin care products should make it easier and less stressful for your skin to thrive in its natural microbiome!

I hope this little knowledge dump helps all of you understand a little bit more about your skin and our very deep heart for your skin's wellbeing.

Xoxo,

Dani Michelle, HSEN