Let’s get skin-to-skin
Microbiome-Friendly formulas do a lot for your little
Whether you've got a baby on the way or one in your arms, navigating the choices on what’s best for your child can feel overwhelming.
Skin-to-Skin is here to support your journey in parenthood with time-tested and science-backed education and formulas that play nice with all ages, genders, and skin types.
The Birth of Our Biome
Discover how early exposure to microbes helps shape the immune system, digestive system, and even the brain development of your baby.
Let's Get Skin-to-Skin
Birth worker and educator Jillian Christofferson explains why skin-to-skin contact is one of the most important things you can practice as a new parent.
Get The Dirt on Soap
There’s a reason soap is the norm and it has less to do with science and more with good PR. Get ready for the real story behind a very recent invention: the daily shower.
Featured Stories
Sign up to be a CRUDE Ambassador and join the cutting edge of clean. Support sustainable skincare and earn cash just for educating your audience about the skin microbiome and promoting products that are safe and efficacious for you and baby. It takes a village to raise children and thrive in parenthood. Let's grow together!
Our founder Denise Cartwright was deeply inspired by the groundbreaking research of Dr. Gary L. Darmstadt, Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health and Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University. You can support his work and more by donating to the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Dr. Darmstadt’s research is committed to improving health outcomes for preterm infants by furthering our understanding of babies’ microbiomes.
Are you stinky? Is there visible dirt on your skin? If not, you're probably pretty clean! What it means to be 'really clean' is more an issue of semantics than science. No one likes to feel - or smell - funky, which is why we recommend Microbiome-Friendly Wash for your pits and bits. But for the rest of your body, water and friction alone truly do most of the work. Read more about how soap has actually shaped modern skin crises on our blog SOUL, the School of UnLearning.
Soap and detergent are highly effective at killing bacteria, which is why they’re so useful in stopping the spread of disease. But that effectiveness is indiscriminate; soap and detergent eliminate pathogenic, or harmful, microorganisms as well as helpful bacteria. In addition to eliminating healthy microbes, daily soap and detergent strips the skin of its sebum (oil) which feeds microbes and keeps the skin moisturized. Research consistently shows that bacterial diversity and homeostasis, or balance, is the key to healthy skin.
The litmus test for babies is the same as adults. Are they stinky? Are they visibly soiled? If not, they're probably pretty clean! How often they should be bathed varies depending on your lifestyle, environment, family habits, and health. When it is bath time, we recommend not over-cleansing the skin with sudsing soap and detergents. Instead, try our soap-free Wash as a gentle, yet effective alternative to traditional cleansers. It's even certified Microbiome-Friendly for infant skin specifically, and works as a light moisturizer post-bath.