Vincobiosis® Acneic by Reig Jofre wins the Research award at the 2nd Tecnología Estética Awards
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13/07/2026Vincobiosis® Acneic by Reig Jofre wins the Research award at the 2nd Tecnología Estética Awards
29/05/2026Acne during the summer: why more spots appear and how to prevent this
13/07/2026
Find out why you get spots on your face, what quorum sensing is and how this affects your skin’s microbiota. Understand the cause of acne and how to treat it, being kind to your skin.
Table of contents
- Why you get spots on your face
- Skin microbiota and its relationship with acne
- What is quorum sensing? The language bacteria use to talk to each other
- An example found in nature: marine bioluminescence
- How to alleviate spots by blocking inter-bacterial communication
- Vincobiosis® Acneic: the gentle, intelligent way to look after your acne-prone skin
Why you get spots on your face
If you get spots on your face or pimples that seem to come out of nowhere, you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s all down to oiliness or blocked pores.
However, it’s actually more complicated than that.
Acne is one of the most common skin complaints in the world, affecting more than 80% of people at some point in their lives. Although it’s usually associated with adolescence —the period when juvenile acne often occurs — it can also appear during adulthood and on different areas of the body, such as the face, back or chest.
If you’re interested in this specific case of teenage acne, you can read: How to treat teenage acne from the root without damaging your skin.
Understanding what acne is and why you get spots on your face means looking beyond the merely visible. Lying beneath spots and pimples, the skin has an invisible ecosystem made up of microorganisms which, when the skin is healthy, live together in balance: the skin microbiota. But sometimes this balance is upset, and this is when some of the bacteria in the microbiota proliferate out of control, become aggressive and trigger actions that cause the blemishes typical of acne.
You can explore this concept further in this article: “Why do I have acne? The skin microbiota has the answer.”
To launch such actions, these bacteria work together as a team and, for coordination purposes, they use a communication system called quorum sensing, which is how they “speak” to each other.
Skin microbiota and its relationship with acne
The skin microbiota is made up of millions of microorganisms —bacteria, fungi, viruses and yeasts— that live in our skin.
Under normal conditions, this ecosystem is in balance and acts as a natural defence: it keeps pH stable, protects us from pathogens and controls inflammation.
But this balance can break down.
Factors such as hormone changes, stress (associated with stress-related spots or stress-related acne), pollution or use of inadequate products can interfere with the microbiota and cause skin dysbiosis, i.e. an imbalance in the skin’s microorganisms.
When this happens, bacteria such as Cutibacterium acnes can proliferate wildly and encourage the production of more oils, inflammation and spots on the skin, the symptoms typical of acne. But to exercise these mechanisms, bacteria do not act on their own: they communicate with each other. And this communication, this bacterial “language”, has a name: quorum sensing.
What is quorum sensing? The language bacteria use to talk to each other
Quorum sensing is the communication system used by bacteria. Its “words” are small molecules called autoinducers that bacteria send to each other.
And this sets up a sort of “chat” between bacteria that lets them know if, for example, there are enough of them to work as a team and carry out actions that are good for them, but bad for us. Examples of this are forming biofilms, a kind of protective layer that makes bacteria more resistant, or activating activate inflammatory responses.
In acne-prone skin, this process is directly linked to the appearance of spots, redness and inflammation.
An example found in nature:
marine bioluminescence
But quorum sensing is not only used by the bacteria that cause acne; rather it is a “language” that all sorts of other bacteria use on many occasions.
One of the most visual examples of quorum sensing happens in the sea. Some marine bacteria use this system to emit light: a phenomenon known as bioluminescence.
These bacteria release small chemical signals into their surroundings. When bacteria are in small numbers and the concentration of these signals is low, nothing visible happens. But as the number of bacteria increases, so the signals build up, eventually reaching a threshold: this is when the bacteria “detect” that they are lots of them, and they all switch on their light-emitting genes.
This phenomenon has been widely studied in bacteria living in symbiosis with marine organisms. The light they produce is not only a visual effect; it can also serve as a form of inter-species communication, a defence mechanism or a device to lure their prey.
Bioluminescence, which literally means “life that produces light” (from the Greek bios, “living”, and the Latin lumen, “light”), is a phenomenon found extensively in nature. Across the oceans we find organisms that light up the water, such as squid that regulate their light level to camouflage themselves or throw predators off their track, or fish that use light to attract prey or communicate with each other.
On land this phenomenon is less common, but it does exist. Fireflies, for example, emit light to attract a mate or warn off predators, and some fungi in the Armillaria genus produce a glow that attracts insects who help to spread their spores.
Put simply: one bacteria on its own generates very little visible effect, but lots of bacteria communicating with each other can activate a group response.
In acne-prone skin this group coordination does not emit light, but can be linked to processes such as the formation of biofilms, inflammation and the appearance of spots and blemishes. The problem, therefore, is not just what bacteria are in the skin, but rather how they communicate with each other when the skin microbiota balance breaks down.
How to alleviate spots
by blocking inter-bacterial communication
So bacteria can talk to each other, but they also can be prevented from talking to each other.
When these signals are blocked, bacteria are prevented from initiating the group behaviour that can encourage spots and pimples to appear on the skin, but without destroying the microorganisms that under normal conditions are a natural part of our microbiota and are beneficial for our skin.
This approach is particularly relevant in skincare for acne-prone skin, because it does not seek to “trash” bacteria in the skin, but rather to act in a more targeted fashion: blocking the communication that can trigger processes relating to the symptoms of acne, such as oiliness, inflammation, spots or pimples, thus helping to restore balance to the skin’s microbiota.
This approach is based on one key idea: caring for the skin without being harsh on it. You can learn more about it here.
Although this system may sound innovative for acne treatment, nature has been using it for a long time. Some plants produce molecules that are able to block inter-bacterial communication, thus preventing them from coordinating to initiate harmful activities. Biotechnology has developed new solutions for acne-prone skin based on these natural defence mechanisms, which seek to act on the cause of spots and blemishes, blocking bacterial communication (quorum sensing) and restoring balance to the skin’s microbiota.
If you want to explore this type of approach further and understand which solutions are truly backed by scientific evidence, you can also read: No to natural remedies for acne without scientific evidence, yes to biotechnology applied to your skin.
Vincobiosis® Acneic: the gentle, intelligent way
to look after your acne-prone skin
This knowledge has changed the way we understand acne treatment.
With acne-prone skin, we now know that it’s not a question of getting rid of spots at all costs, but of helping to restore natural balance to the skin’s microbiota.
Based on this gentler way of understanding skincare, Vincobiosis® Acneic, the range of products for acne-prone skin by Reig Jofre pharmaceutical laboratory, offers an innovative approach using plant-based biotechnology.
Its mechanism of action draws on the defence strategy used by nature: some plants are able to block communication between bacteria to stop them from working together to initiate harmful behaviour.
Vincobiosis® Acneic incorporates this same strategy into skincare in the form of Canonia Allysis®, its exclusive biotechnological ingredient that blocks communication between the bacteria responsible for causing spots and blemishes to occur, helping to restore balance to the skin’s microbiota without destroying the beneficial bacteria that live in the skin.
The Vincobiosis® Acneic routine —comprising cleansing mousse, facial gel cream and body lotion— is designed to look after acne-prone skin without damaging the skin’s microbiota. By helping to restore its natural balance, it helps to reduce visible blemishes such as spots, redness and oiliness.
You can find Vincobiosis® Acneic products in your local pharmacy.
Or if you prefer, you can also buy them online via approved points of sale.
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