Prebiotics
- INCI
- Varies (e.g. Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide)
- Also called
- Microbiome-supporting ingredients
- Best for
- sensitive or reactive skin, barrier support
Prebiotics are intended to support the microorganisms that already live on skin, rather than adding new ones. The usual analogy is fertiliser rather than seed. They tend to be gentle and appear in barrier-focused, low-irritation formulas.
How well established is this?
Skin microbiome research is an active field producing genuine findings, and it is also being marketed well ahead of what can be specifically claimed. Be sceptical of precise claims about "rebalancing" a microbiome — there is no settled definition of what a balanced one looks like, and it varies between people.
Pairs well with
No products in the catalog list this ingredient yet.