Microbiome: How Skincare Impacts Your Skin's Ecosystem

The human body plays host to trillions of microorganisms. So many, in fact that they outnumber our cells 10 to 1.

While some of these tiny life forms can cause illness, they often live in harmony with their larger human hosts: In our mouth, up our noses, and on our skin.

When we say keep your hands away from your face, this is why!

Using a petri plate filled with a nutrient broth commonly used in labs, microbiologist Tasha Sturm, stamped her 8-year-old's hand on the plate. He was not sick at the time.

Sturm then incubated the petri dish at body temperature, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Two days later, the bacteria that were transferred to the dish had built a colony.

We are covered in billions of strains of bacteria. Plus we collect all sorts of microbes as we go about our regular daily life.