24 SKIN MICROBIOME


MyMicrobiome plugs a gap MyMicrobiome was founded 2017 by a team of microbiome enthusiasts offering an education platform around the microbiome. The goal was to make the microbiome topic accessible for the broad, non-scientific public. In 2019, due to lack of regulation in the


cosmetics industry, MyMicrobiome developed the world´s first independent certification mark for Microbiome-friendly cosmetics and personal care products. The laboratory team in Germany installed


six different standards to test in vitro, according to the scientific gold standard. Testing includes a balance test, co-cultivation and single- organism plate assays. With this method a direct influence of a


product on the skin microbes can be measured, allowing a ‘Microbiome-friendly’ claim, if the product does not show any or only little influence on the tested microbes. By July 2022, more than 250 cosmetic products from 60 global brands are Microbiome-friendly certified.


How to substantiate a microbiome- friendly claim? Although the cosmetics industry is used to perform studies on subjects in order to measure the activity of certain cosmetics, e.g. reduction of wrinkles, refining the pore structure or hydration, the analysis of the skin´s microbiome is more complex and needs rethinking of this pattern. In vitro assays are a direct forward step to


analyse cosmetic products for their potential to disturb the human skin microbiome. It is possible to select the most abundant microbial species of the different body sites from current scientific publications. Our microbiota vary greatly between the


different body locations, thus different key species must be considered for each, e.g. face, body, scalp, vulva, mouth or nose. These key microbes can be cultivated with the product of interest in the laboratory in different settings. In vitro assays allow standardisation


of the experiments within a controlled environment. Although the skin’s environment is not simulated, the direct product-microbe interaction can be measured and the results are very sensitive and meaningful. Thus, these tests can be applied to get


insights into a product’s influence on microbes relevant for the skin microbiome. If the product shows no effect in these straightforward tests, the likeliness that the product respects the skin´s microbiome is high and a ‘Microbiome- friendly’ claim can be applied. Besides direct in vitro testing methods, in


vitro skin models and in vivo studies are used for the analysis of the microbiome. Tissue models are a useful tool to analyse specific host/product or host/microbe interaction on a molecular level, but when it comes to microbe versus product interaction these models are limited. Tissue models are artificial skin models


that rather add to the bias than reducing it when looking at microbe-product interaction. Interaction of microbes with cell culture medium is likely to affect their metabolism and


PERSONAL CARE September 2022


may not reflect the natural cross-talk occurring at the skin surface.9 Besides that, the number of microbes


applied is very limited, most models only work with two to three organisms maximum, questioning the validity of these models to understand the influence of a product on the skin´s microbiota.9 In vivo microbiome analysis is used


to examine the skin microbiome as such. However, in vivo tests as explained above, must be answering a very specific question and are not useful to gather broadly applicable claims. They are neither standardisable nor controllable due to the high interpersonal diversity and the manifold influences on the microbiome.9


Conclusion We are still in a situation in which we just understand an iota the skin microbiome. It is understood though, that the microbiome plays a pivotal role for our health. Science is working towards possibilities to improve the microbiome, however worldwide standards of microbiome analysis are not yet in place, which makes a comparison of data very difficult. Cosmetics should at least leave the skin


microbiome untouched, which is best analysed by straight forward in vitro evaluation with a diverse set up of key microbes, representing the cosmetic customer´s microbiome of the world.


PC


References 1. Advertising Standards Authority. ASA Ruling on Unilever UK Ltd. 13 January 2021. https:// www.asa.org.uk/rulings/unilever-uk-ltd-a19- 1031915-unilever-uk-ltd.html


2. Top Class Actions. Clinique Faces Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Probiotic Cream False Advertising. 4 March 2021. https://topclassactions.com/ lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/ beauty-products/breaking-clinique-faces- nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over- alleged-probiotic-cream-false-advertising/ 3. Puebla-Barragan S, Reid G. Probiotics in


Cosmetic and Personal Care Products: Trends and Challenges. Molecules. 2021 Mar; 26(5): 1249. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC7956298/


4. Santoni O. Bloom Regulatory. Microbiome Claims: Should Pre-, Pro- and Postbiotic Skin Care Be Regulated? Cosmetics & Toiletries. May 2021. https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries. com/regulations/claims-labeling/ article/21836088/cosmetics-toiletries- magazine-microbiome-claims-should-pre- pro-and-postbiotic-skin-care-be-regulated


5. Hill C, Guarner F, Reid G, Gibson GR, Merenstein DJ, Pot B, Morelli L, Canani RB, Flint HJ, Salminen S, Calder PC, Sanders ME. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2014; Vol. 11, pages 506–514. https://www.nature.com/ articles/nrgastro.2014.66


6. Kronemyer B. Is it time to regulate probiotics in cosmetics? Dermatology Times. August 2019; Vol. 39, No. 8. https://www. dermatologytimes.com/view/it-time- regulate-probiotics-cosmetics


7. Bouslimani A, da Silva R, Kosciolek T, Janssen S, Callewaert C, Amir A, Dorrestein K, Melnik AV, Zaramela LS, Kim J-N, Humphrey G, Schwartz T, Sanders K, Brennan C, Luzzatto- Knaan T, Ackermann G, McDonald D, Zengler K, Knight R, Dorrestein PC. The impact of skin care products on skin chemistry and microbiome dynamics. BMC Biology. Volume 17, 2019. https://link.springer.com/ article/10.1186/s12915-019-0660-6


8. Environmental Working Group. Personal Care Products Safety Act Would Improve Cosmetics Safety. https://www.ewg.org/ personal-care-products-safety-act-would- improve-cosmetics-safety


9. Boxberger M, Cenizo V, Cassir N, La Scola B. Challenges in exploring and manipulating the human skin microbiome. Microbiome. 2021, 9:125. https://link.springer.com/content/ pdf/10.1186/s40168-021-01062-5.pdf


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