This Skincare System Has Changed My Views on Microbiome Restoration

Two months ago, I received a package from a former beauty editor named Dahlia Devkota inviting me to try Editrix, a new skincare brand she’d developed that focuses on strengthening the skin’s microbiome system. Over the past year, I’ve been up to my (very hydrated) eyelids testing out skincare products that claim to restore the healthy bacteria and fungi living on and in our bodies. Based on what dermatologists have told me, most products claiming to rework the skin’s acidity and alkaline levels don’t pack enough punch to make an iota of difference. So I was hesitant as I lined the set of Editrix products up on my desk. What can I say? It’s astonishing how many beauty products on the market promise the world or entice with watered-down ingredients claiming to miraculously set the clock back—when in reality, it’s only your wallet that gets set back?

Weeks later, I sat down for coffee with Devkota for an education in microbiomes (and a conversation that eventually quelled my jaded pessimism). She wasn’t a teenage influencer starting a brand solely because she has hundreds of thousands of followers—but not the faintest idea of the difference between skin’s acid mantle and acid washed jeans. Devkota is an educated writer and health nut, whose sister—a doctor leading international research on the microbiome—collaborated with her on the research and development for Editrix.

So I tried it. And after several weeks of using Editrix day and night, I fell in love with the line, a skincare regimen dedicated to bringing back your face’s own homeostasis and health via three main factors: microbiome, pH intelligence, and ayurveda.

Editrix consists of four products that can be used periodically as a skin detox when you’ve been overloading with various products, suffering from adult acne, or generally need to calm your face down. It can also be used daily for general maintenance or a much-needed glow-up.

First in the line is Demigod, an Ayurvedic oil cleanser that uses a unique combination of prized oils to take makeup off. It smells dreamy and has two things I love for skincare: rice bran oil and jasmine oil. Both are ultra-healing for the skin, and downright useful for taking off my eye makeup. Next is an acidic mousse called Deuxième Post Biotic Fermented Cleanser. I only use this when I want to take excess makeup off. You can also leave it on for a minute or two as a quick mask; the lactic acid in the mousse gives the skin a nice glow. There’s also Superare Microflora Barrier Film, a watery serum packed with rice water, niacinamide, rose water, a series of proprietary ferments, and lactic acid. It fortifies skin for resiliency, brings down your skin’s pH, and allows your microbiome to remain intact. Finally, there’s bakterium delirium, a cream-like serum that contains all the things that Superare does, but also packs in antiaging ingredients like bakuchiol, vitamins C, E and F, as well arbutin for melasma-lightening.

Two main components contributed to these products working so well on my skin. First, Editrix’s Biodiveristy Broth, which was created through taking beneficial bacteria from human skin donors and growing it in a lab using a unique fermentation process. The result of this process produced post biotics that are highly prized amino acids, cells, surface proteins, and organic acids your skin needs. Second, the lines’ use of Liberated Botanicals, which is the result of taking the yeast galactomyces (used in sake fermentation and the hero ingredient in the prized SK-II products everyone adores) and fermenting it with ayurvedic plants like tiger grass, calendula, and terminalia arjuna. Here, fermentation breaks the plant nutrition down into smaller molecules for easier absorption.

But let’s move away from the scientific facts and get to the point. Since using Editrix, my skin has felt stronger, less prone to sun damage, and much more plump and fuller—not only when I first apply it, but hours and hours later. Yes, I do like to ask a million questions about skincare, I do like to be thorough. But I’m loving the fact that I found something I don’t need to question continuously: intelligent skincare on a whole new level.