How do JooMo products encourage natural microbial diversity of the skin?
In this mini-series, Kit Wallen, Russell Research Director JooMo Ltd., explains the science that drives the brand, and why they are steering clear of ‘probiotic’ and ‘prebiotic’ skin care claims.
In this part, we hear how JooMo’s products function to encourage healthy biodiversity on the skin, the science behind the brand itself.
How do JooMo products work?
The first step is to understand how ‘3rd wave cosmetics’ can revolutionise skin health.
The key is to understand the function of the skin’s natural microbiota: the skin is the largest organ in the body and is host to probably the most diverse range of microbes, and these skin bacteria are key players in host defence.
They directly protect humans from pathogenic invaders and help the immune system to maintain and regulate that delicate balance between effective protection and damaging inflammation.
Creating the right environment
To enhance the body’s immune system and to have perfect healthy skin, therefore, the sole purpose of ‘3rd wave cosmetics’ should be to create the correct environment for a biodiverse and healthy ecosystem to thrive.
To maximise the efficiency of the immune system, ‘natural’ skin uses many complex interlinked techniques to create the most efficient environment.
Protective processes
The following is an overview of just a few of the main protective processes involved:
Skin pH: it has been shown that an acid skin pH (4-4.5) keeps the resident bacterial flora (‘good bacteria’) attached to the skin, whereas an alkaline pH (8-9) promotes their dispersal from the skin.
Sebaceous glands secrete the oily, waxy substance called sebum, a hydrophobic coating that protects and lubricates the skin and hair and provides an antibacterial shield. Sebum promotes the growth of bacteria such as Propionibacterium acnes, which, by hydrolyzing the fats and oils present in sebum, releases free fatty acids thereby contributing to the maintenance of the acidic skin pH.
Eccrine sweat glands are the main sweat glands of the human body, found in virtually all skin. They produce a clear, odorless substance, consisting primarily of water and salt (NaCl) which continuously wets the surface of the skin and produces a powerful natural antibiotic called dermcidin. It is only salty, acidic skin environments that activates dermcidin. Use of normal cosmetic products (that include preservatives, soaps, foamers etc.) has profound detrimental influence on skin surface pH and sebum. This leads to pathogenic bacterial, viral and fungal growth with long term immune system malfunction and allergy problems.
‘Do no harm’
So the challenge for 3rd wave products such as JooMo was to ‘first do no harm’ so all such products must be chemical free.
As such JooMo became the first 100% truly natural and preservative free face and body wash. Building on top of this, Microbiota Immune Response Regulation (MIRR)™ technology (researched and developed at some of the UK’s top research institutions) restores, rebuilds, repairs and stimulates the skin’s natural immune environment, keeping the skin’s natural defences intact.
MIRR technology is at the heart of all JooMo products, and uses the synergistic effect of totally natural ingredients to create the conditions for a thriving and biodiverse ecosystem.
Groundbreaking recent trials at the Medical University of Graz have shown that JooMo significantly increased biodiversity (and thus skin health) in just 2 weeks, and was the only product tested that retained skin moisture over a 4 week period.
