Our Science
How Fafabiotic Products Work:A Microbiome-Centered Approach
How Fafabiotic Products Work:
A Microbiome-Centered Approach
At Fafabiotic, our formulations are based on a foundational principle in human biology:
The human body is composed of more microbial cells than human cells.
This microbial ecosystem — especially the skin microbiome — plays a critical role in skin health, resilience, and function.
Rather than layering on synthetic ingredients to mask symptoms, our approach is to develop viable microbial formulations that communicate directly with the skin’s native microbiome. The goal is to support the skin’s innate capacity to regulate inflammation, strengthen barrier function, and maintain homeostasis.
Viable Probiotics: Function Through Live Activity
Many topical “probiotic” products contain lysed bacteria, ferments, or postbiotics. These may have some biological activity, but they do not replicate the interactions initiated by living cells.
Each Fafabiotic product contains a single, well-characterized bacterial strain, chosen for its compatibility with skin physiology and its ability to remain viable through packaging, activation, and application. The formulation is designed to maintain anhydrous stability until the user initiates activation, ensuring the microbes are alive and metabolically active at the time of use.
Viability Data: Strain-Specific Performance
- At time of packaging (T=0)
- Post-packaging shelf stability (Viability over time at high room temperature (25C)
- Immediately post-activation by the user (T=0 after activation)
- Up to 30 days after activation (Viability over time at high room temperature (25C) during product recommended use)
CFU counts are measured using standard microbiological plating methods. Below are representative viability graphs for each strain: PS: We conduct several other measurements that you can learn about in this section.
Strain A (Fresh Smoothing Probiotic Lotion)
Strain B (Fresh Hydrating Probiotic Lotion)
Looking for an
Acne Solution?
Clearing acne and rebuilding healthy skin isn’t about stripping it—it’s about working with your microbiome.
Our Hypothesis: Skin as a Responsive Ecosystem
Clearing acne and rebuilding healthy skin isn’t about stripping it—it’s about working with your microbiome.
We view the skin not as a passive surface, but as a dynamic microbial–human interface. Our hypothesis is that targeted microbial cues, delivered in a stable, viable, and active format, can help re-engage the skin’s self-regulating mechanisms, help the beauty and health of skin, leading to long-term improvements in texture, resilience, and function.
Fafabiotic products are not designed to override the skin — they are designed to communicate with it.
Looking for the best
skincare for menopause?
As estrogen declines, skin becomes thinner, drier, more sensitive, and slower to heal. Fafabiotic’s live probiotic formulations support your skin’s microbiome and barrier at every stage of this hormonal transition helping it stay hydrated, resilient, and visibly calm without irritation. 12 weeks, that’s it!
Our Approach
Select
Our team of scientists examines scientific publications and partners with universities or strain discovery companies to choose probiotics for our products.
The key criteria for selection include:
- The probiotic must be safe and included on the FDA’s GRAS list.
- Credentialed journals must publish refereed scientific publications that demonstrate the benefits of the probiotic under consideration.
- Ideally, the probiotic should originate from the human microbiome.
Develop
Once a probiotic is chosen, different strains will be obtained either from the ATCC cell bank or our manufacturing partners.
- Each strain will be formulated to create stable dry probiotic
- Each strain will undergo evaluation on our baseline Bloom platform to assess compatibility.
- Subsequently, Bloom media and formulations will be developed for strains that meet the baseline compatibility criteria.
- Product concepts will then be created and subjected to various tests.
Test
Extensive testing will be conducted before finalizing a formulation and proceeding to production.
- Stability and purity of the Probiotic material: Our probiotics are generated through fermentation, followed by a formulation process that safeguards their cell wall integrity and viability during downstream drying. The formulated cells undergo a drying process to yield dormant, shelf-stable cells. The viability of the dry product and the presence of any non-target microorganisms will be assessed once the product is ready. The powder must contain only the intended probiotic at the specified concentration for that batch. Any impurity will necessitate the rejection of the batch and a restart of the process. formulation and drying process should also provide a long shelf-life at room temperature. During development, we will use accelerated stability testing to quickly assess if reformulation is needed. Real-time stability testing will be done on candidate formulation.
- Stability and purity of the bloom media: Each bloom media is tailored for a specific probiotic and must be sterile, containing zero microbes. Additionally, the media must retain its sterility within the packaging. T=0 and overtime testing will be done to assess the purity of the media as well as maintenance of its physical stability assessing any sedimentation or separation.
- Safety of the texturizing vehicle (cream/lotion): Our texturizing vehicle, whether it be a lotion or cream, must pass the safety substantiation testing soon to be mandated by the FDA. It must also comply with the FDA’s permissible microbial load standards. Throughout development, our team establishes procedures to ensure contamination-free texturizing vehicles. Samples of the final formulation are sent to our testing facility partners for standard safety substantiation testing.
- Compatibility of the texturizing vehicle and probiotic: The chosen probiotic will be blended at various concentrations with the texturizing vehicle and incubated for a minimum of 7 days to evaluate compatibility. The data collected will inform formulation adjustments and for final formulation will be published for customer awareness.
- Effectiveness of the packaging approach in maintaining product purity and quality: Packaging plays a vital role as it must offer both aesthetic appeal and protection against moisture, oxygen, and light to ensure a shelf-stable product. The packaging process must prevent any contamination. purity of the product at multiple points during packaging will be tested and adjustments to the process will be made to guarantee high quality packaged products.
Produce
- Upon completing all tests, ensuring compliance with FDA cosmetic regulations, and meeting our stringent quality standards, our production team will commence the manufacturing and packaging of the target product.
- Utilizing the final product, we will perform an additional series of safety validation tests.
- In collaboration with our early adopter customers, we will evaluate the probiotic’s efficacy on different skin types against prior studies to robustly substantiate claims for our cosmetic products.
Fresh Hydrating + Fresh Smoothing
Choose Fresh Smoothing OR