As a society, we are pretty excited about dressing ourselves. We cover ourselves with fun garments decorated with a rainbow of colours, patterns, and textures that we can switch up every hour. Outfits enable people an outlet for self-expression. No matter how creative or artistic you feel you are. You are creative through your expression in the way you dress (even if you don’t think you are).
We as humans take great care in looking after our outfits so we can wear them repeatedly and maybe you even feel great sadness when it is time to say goodbye to clothes you have had for years. Perhaps they hold memories, they hold meaning.
But what about the outfit we can’t see?
From the second you entered this world, you have worn an invisible outfit. An outfit which changes with you. Every life decision you have made has changed your invisible outfit…
The decision to roll down a hill at 2 years old changed your invisible outfit, every holiday, hug, relationship, job has impacted and changed your invisible outfit.
Every person in this world adorns an invisible outfit which takes the shape of thousands of microbes living on your skin. It is a shifting, diverse outfit which you wear every day and helps fight against infection by secreting chemicals and stimulating the immune system to fight off nasty bacteria and viruses.
But when we come to talking about our bodies and what we wear, the skin microbiome is rarely mentioned. The beauty of the skin microbiome is it is a free outfit to maintain! So let’s look after the outfit we wear every day by eating a balanced diet, having a gentle skincare routine, spending time in nature, exercising and drinking plenty of water!
All Things Biology 
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