A Japanese study found that patients with very dry skin and wrinkles who consumed a lactobacillus plantarum supplement (made from breast milk) for 12 weeks “saw a significant reduction in wrinkle depth” and improved skin gloss. Skin elasticity improved by 13.17% after just four weeks and by 21.73% after 12.The American Academy of Dermatologists is excited by the prospects of probiotics for acne and rosacea treatment. An Korean study of 56 acne patients found that drinking a lactobacillus-fermented dairy beverage reduced their acne lesion count and decreased oil production.An Italian study of acne and rosacea patients found that those who took an oral probiotic supplement in addition to their regular acne and rosacea treatments had clearer skin than patients not taking the supplement. Promising stuff!“Although I don’t envision probiotics ever being used as a standalone treatment for acne or rosacea, they could be used as an effective combination therapy with prescription medications or over-the-counter topical treatments,” says Whitney P. Bowe, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York.Uh oh...turns out probiotics won’t work for everything. “Initial studies of different strains of oral lactobacillus for both prevention and treatment of atopic dermatitis were encouraging, but follow-up reviews and meta-analyses have been conflicting,” wrote New York City dermatologist Reena Rupani in Dermatology Times. A Cochrane Collaboration review of 12 different studies that all focused on probiotics and childhood eczema from 2003 to 2008 found that there was no evidence that lactobacillus and bifidobacterium reduced symptoms. Damn.Okay, so science has pretty much agreed you can eat and supplement your way to better skin — but wouldn’t it be faster to directly apply probiotics to the skin? Not quite.Many dermatologists recommend a DIY yogurt mask to soothe irritated skin, but the American Academy of Dermatologists says there’s “currently no research or studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of this home remedy.”When it comes to probiotic-packed beauty products, clinical trials found that in cream form, the probiotic lactobacillus plantarum acted as an anti-inflammatory and decreasing the size of acne lesions, according a 2012 paper in the Journal of Cosmetic Science; an earlier study found that topically applied lactic acid bacterium streptococcus thermophilus increased the ceramides in the skin, improving moisture levels and firmness.The AAD says that when topically applied, probiotics can confuse an overactive immune system, providing “bacterial interference” that will keep the skin from flaring up into an acne or rosacea breakout. So, is indeed evidence that topical probiotics do something great for the skin — but their reliability and value has yet to be determined.