As one of the leading companies in the field of skin testing, Labskin Ltd was recently contacted by the BBC to assist them with a feature they wanted to do on adult acne.
Our Chief Scientific Officer together with a Senior Scientist went to Kings Cross station to meet and swab the faces of 2 ‘skinfluencers’, Sarah and Afia.
Sarah (30s, white, female) has suffered with acne since her last pregnancy (interestingly her third pregnancy – a daughter – and had no issues with her previous pregnancies – sons). Afia (20s, black, female) has suffered with acne since being a teenager.
We transplanted their microbiome onto Labskin. We tested Afia’s microbiome on Labskin with an over the counter acne treatment (Acnecide containing benzoyl peroxide) and Afia’s choice of blemish treatment (The Inkey List blemish treatment containing salicylic acid and succinic acid). We enumerated the amount of acne bacteria before and after treatment, and measured the amount of Il-1a present, a cytokine for inflammation and irritation.
THE RESULT
The Inkey List product reduced the amount of acne bacteria present more than the Acnecide, but it produced a higher level of Il-1a than Acnecide. Therefore, was more irritating to the skin, even though it is effective in reducing the bacteria present.
We were unable to recover workable amounts of bacteria from Sarah (due to a large amount of make-up being worn).
Afia had very visible acne skin with pimples, redness and blemishes. Sarah did not.
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