Stratum corneum
Dead flattened cells plus lipids — the crust residents cling to.
Lipophilic bacteria eat sebum lipids. Moist folds favour coryneforms. Dry sites are harsher.
A shower is a storm, not an extinction. Recolonisation comes from follicles, folds and hands.
Parts
Sebaceous glands
Oil wells for Cutibacterium. Density maps the T-zone.
Sweat and salt
Water and salt change who can sit in an armpit versus a shin.
Hair follicles
Reservoirs that reseed the surface after washing.
Malassezia film
Lipid-dependent yeasts on scalp and chest.
Transient hitchhikers
Hands pick up soil and door-handle species that often fail to stay.
Life cycle
1Seed from birth
Delivery and first contacts start the map.
2Daily weather
Sweat, sebum, clothes and washing shift abundances in hours.
3Rebound
After soap, residents return from folds and follicles.
4Injury rewrite
A wound can change the plot. Care is clinical when infected.
This page does not tell you how to grow skin organisms.
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