Finding Balance Within The Skin

It's been 10 years since Lancôme’s advanced génifique was launched, and continuing on its remarkable journey is a new formula that lets your skin recover faster, feel stronger and look visibly younger than before. Dr Magali Moreau, principal scientist of advanced research at l’oréal research and innovation centre tells us more about it.

- Sarah Hani Jamil

FEMALE: What is the microbiome’s role in skin health?

Dr Magali: “The skin microbiome is an invisible ecosystem of living microorganisms, which is an integral part of our skin surface. Incredibly, there are over 1,000 different species within this ecosystem – and they communicate with our cells. Our microbiome balance is essential to our skin’s health and appearance. Conversely, a disturbed microbiome equilibrium is often associated with compromised skin – this is what we call dysbiosis. We have now discovered that our microbiome supports our skin’s ability to defend itself and recover. Basically, our microbiome acts as one of our skin’s first lines of defence from its surrounding environment. We can summarise this in three roles:

Protect: It continuously participates in the production of compounds and proteins that are antimicrobial, antioxidant and help maintain the low skin pH, all of which create an unfavourable environment for potential passing pathogens.