Pop sugar: Why This $225 Probiotic Serum Is Worth Every Penny
Published on Sep 12, 2023 at 12:05 PM
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Last year, my skin reached rock bottom with the diagnosis of perioral dermatitis. The stubborn rash of red bumps erupted from my nose, down my nasolabial folds, all the way to my chin, flaring in intensity intermittently. Even a cocktail of prescription medications would not heal it, and I could no longer use any exfoliants, vitamin C, or retinol without it flaring up. This went on for months.
My facialist, dermatologic nurse Natalie Aguilar of N4 Skincare, noted that my inflamed skin's microbiome (i.e. the part of the skin barrier made up of an ecosystem of benevolent microorganisms) was out of balance. She traced it back to a severely drying laser treatment for acne that had left me with extreme peeling and chafing on the tip of my nose, initiating the negative cascade into dermatitis. As board-certified dermatologist Leela Athalye, MD, explains, "When [oil stripping] practices disrupt the skin barrier [and microbiome], the skin becomes vulnerable to pathogenic bacteria. This creates dysbiosis, or disruption to the delicate balance of the microbiome, and can lead to dermatitis or other skin disorders."
It all made sense when I eventually caught my miniature schnauzer Delilah, who was later diagnosed with a bacterial and yeast infection on her paws, walking on my bed pillows. "The microbiome is a part of the skin barrier that plays a huge role in protecting you from bacteria, viruses, germs, and pathogens," says celebrity holistic aesthetician Melissa Imperial. Stripped of my natural sebum, my protective skin barrier and its microbiome were out of order, leaving me unprotected against the microbes on her paws. Once in a state of dysbiosis, the same active ingredients that I had used for years were hindering my microbiome's ability to regenerate.
To break this vicious cycle, I leaned hard into the microbiome skin-care trend and discovered BioJuve. "BioJuve is about restoring the skin ecosystem," says geneticist Thomas M. Hitchcock, PhD, the chief science officer of Crown Laboratories. "When you treat the underlying ecosystem [of microbes that make up the microbiome], you are changing what grows there [because] microbes react and produce according to the environment they are in." Treating the skin like an ecosystem of microbes, in turn, empowers the skin's innate mechanisms for health, immune function, and — as it turns out — much more.
The brand makes zero medical claims, but I had nothing to lose, so I made the best decision of my career and began using the BioJuve Living Biome Essentials Duo ($225). After adopting the brand's four-step system and changing nothing else in my diet or lifestyle, my dermatitis cleared up in five days. The next time I saw Aguilar, she was shocked, asking, "What have you been using?" I have since become so passionate about BioJuve that I bonded with the team at Tiev, a new medspa in Orange County — and one of the only practices in OC to carry this exclusive line — and have been going back ever since.
