Your Living Coating

You are never alone on your own skin. It carries a dense community of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes — and most of them are helpful. They crowd out invaders, train your immune system, and help keep the surface slightly acidic, which many harmful germs dislike.

This is why scrubbing with harsh antibacterial soap can backfire: stripping the good microbes leaves open ground for bad ones. Skin conditions like eczema are now studied partly as a microbiome out of balance, not just an infection to wipe out.