LEVEL 3
The World of Fermented Ingredients
Microbiome-related ingredients in skincare fall into three major categories. Understanding their differences will significantly improve your product selection.
Prebiotics are ingredients that serve as nutrition for the skin's resident bacteria (beneficial flora). Common examples include inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, and alpha-glucan oligosaccharide. By creating an environment that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria, they indirectly support skin health.
Probiotics involve applying live microorganisms directly to the skin. While widely used for gut health, stability challenges present a major hurdle in cosmetics. Live bacteria cannot coexist with preservatives or temperature fluctuations, making product formulation extremely difficult.
Postbiotics are the metabolites produced by microorganisms during fermentation (fermentation filtrates, lysates, etc.). Rather than the bacteria themselves, they deliver the beneficial compounds directly to the skin.
The greatest advantage of postbiotics is their high stability. Since fermentation is already complete, they can coexist with preservatives, withstand temperature changes, and offer greater flexibility in product design.
Cosmetics require preservatives for quality maintenance, but preservatives kill bacteria, making coexistence with live bacteria (probiotics) extremely difficult. Storage temperature management also poses challenges.
Postbiotics, on the other hand, are "just the beneficial compounds that bacteria produced", so there are no preservative compatibility issues, and they deliver stable results. The majority of today's fermented cosmetics use this postbiotic approach.
KAIAN develops skincare products formulated with a 3-strain fermentation complex.
Feel free to reach out with questions.
