Your postcode doesn’t just influence your lifestyle – it shapes your skin too.
And if you live in a city, your skin microbiome has changed more than you might realise.
The invisible ecosystem on your skin
Your skin is home to trillions of microorganisms that help protect, regulate and strengthen its natural barrier. This living community, known as the skin microbiome, plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy, resilient skin.
But modern urban life has dramatically altered this delicate ecosystem.
Research conducted by Esse Skincare, based on over 1,000 fully sequenced skin microbiome samples, shows that people living in cities have lost around 73% of their natural microbial diversity compared to rural communities and hunter-gatherer populations.
In other words, someone living in Manhattan has a very different skin environment to someone living closer to nature – and the difference is both measurable and significant.
Why microbial diversity matters
This loss of diversity is not just a scientific curiosity. It has real consequences for skin health.
Inflammatory skin conditions have become increasingly common in modern populations:
• Around 85% of teenagers experience acne
• Approximately 30% of people develop atopic dermatitis
• Nearly 70% of women report having sensitive skin
In contrast, these conditions are extremely rare in hunter-gatherer communities.
The evidence suggests that modern skin struggles because it no longer has the microbial support system it evolved with.
How modern life changed our skin
For most of human history, skin was constantly exposed to soil, plants, rivers and animals. These natural environments provided regular contact with a wide variety of harmless, transient microbes.
These microbes didn’t stay permanently on the skin, but their presence helped “train” the immune system to respond appropriately, maintaining balance and resilience.
Indoor living has disrupted this process.
Today, most microbial exposure comes from other humans and artificial environments. This means the immune system is more likely to encounter potentially harmful bacteria, pushing it into a state of ongoing low-grade inflammation.
The impact on the skin barrier
When microbial diversity declines, the skin’s protective barrier weakens.
Urban skin often exists in a state of constant alert, making it more prone to:
• Sensitivity
• Redness
• Inflammation
• Barrier disruption
• Chronic irritation
The skin we were biologically designed to have is increasingly mismatched with the environments we now live in.
Can we restore what’s been lost?
We can’t go back to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle – but biotechnology offers ways to support the skin’s natural ecosystem.
Live probiotic skincare introduces beneficial microorganisms that help rebalance the microbiome. By re-exposing the skin to the types of microbes it evolved alongside, the immune system can function more calmly and effectively.
The goal isn’t to recreate the past, but to support the skin in a modern world that no longer provides the microbial input it needs.
When the microbiome is restored, the skin’s foundation becomes stronger, healthier and more resilient.
This is skin as it was always meant to be.
Source
Article originally published on:
https://www.esseskincare.co.za/the-skin-microbiome-crisis-weve-lost-73-of-our-microbial-defences-to-modern-life/
About the author
Rochelle is the founder and driving force behind Aesthetic Appointment. With a passion for the aesthetics and pro-ageing industry in South Africa, she has been in the aesthetic publishing industry since 2012, dedicated to creating a valuable platform for insights and knowledge, bridging the gap between patients and doctors - delivering reliable, medical-based information. Rochelle firmly believes in the power of a good skincare regimen, especially when started at home, and is committed to educating consumers about the myriad of treatments, procedures, and products available to them.