While the desire to retain a youthful appearance hasn’t changed over the years, the use in this pursuit have. Non-invasive procedures such as microneedling, laser resurfacing, and deep peels are now common practice, with more treatments coming into the market every year. In fact, America’s Aesthetics Society released 2021 statistics indicating a 44% increase in non-surgical aesthetic treatments – a trend being witnessed in South Africa as well.
These non-invasive treatments can be effective, but they aren’t entirely risk-free. We, at Esse, are committed to supporting the skin’s natural processes, and while Esse doesn’t advocate for treatments that disrupt the microbiome, we can play our part to ensure the skin is optimally prepared and protected before and after. Drawing on more than 10 years of research, our team – led by Esse Founder, Trevor Steyn – has created innovative skincare products that help support the aesthetics industry by incorporating the world’s first live probiotic treatments.
The Pre-Care Oil and the Post-Care Oil both contain live probiotic microbes to support skin’s return to a healthy, resilient state. Referred to as “live biotherapeutics”, beneficial organisms like this are used in the medical field, such as in recent protocols for the treatment of third-degree burns. We’ve honed our delivery of probiotic bacteria, keeping them dormant in soluble capsules until they’re applied to the skin.
What are the benefits of live probiotics?
- Protection against pathogenic bacteria and external environmental factors – reducing risk of infection and interrupted healing
- Increased skin moisture levels – reducing transepidermal water loss with a healthier barrier
- Accelerated healing – improving re-epithelialisation for faster healing and reduced downtime
- Reduced sensitivity and chronic inflammation – resolving inflammatory signalling to return skin to a resilient state
How do these new formulations work?
For the pre-treatment care, you will apply the Esse Pre-Care Oil with the Esse Activator for two weeks before your procedure. The Pre-Care Oil delivers low levels of probiotics to habituate your skin to these bacterial strains and to bolster skin resilience. The Esse Activator releases the probiotics onto the skin by dissolving the microcapsules, while providing tailored nutrient mix to feed these beneficial microbes.
Once you’ve had the treatment done, your skin will be in a vulnerable state because your microbiome is disrupted and the barrier function impaired. This is when you will start to use the Esse Post-Care Oil containing a higher level of probiotics to protect the skin by competitive exclusion. The Esse Activator, also used with the Post-Care Oil, will ensure your skin’s pH is buffered to the correct level and that microbes are released onto the skin with selective nutrients.
To really lock in the improvements to your skin and maintain that youthful appearance, we’ve also added Sapienic Acid. This is the most abundant fatty acid in our sebum and is unique to humans (as in Homo sapiens… sapienic…). Sapienic Acid is toxic to skin pathogens, but our commensal microbes have evolved immunity making this a powerful ingredient to support the reinstatement of a healthy skin microbiome.
What are the benefits for you?
These formulations will increase the efficacy of your anti-ageing treatments by promoting the production of collagen during healthy healing. They allow for faster resolution of inflammation, so you’ll enjoy a quicker recovery time. The formulation also reduces the adverse outcomes of these non-invasive treatments.
To find out more about the Esse Pre-Care Oil, the Esse Post-Care Oil, and Esse Activator or other Esse products, visit www.esseskincare.hk.