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It may have been banned from the Whole Foods beverage aisle because of a kerfuffle over its alcohol content this summer. But now kombucha is cropping up in the beauty aisle as the latest tonic for healthy skin.

Just what can kombucha, a fermented beverage made with black tea, sugar, and a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts, do for your skin?

It’s an antioxidant (like many teas), a skin firmer (that’s thanks to the yeast), and a skin brightener (that’s the sugar). And many proponents of the probiotic beverage say it’s good for creating an alkaline (read: healthy) pH.

Here are three natural brands making use of the health tonic for your mug. More good news: none has the drink’s signature skunky smell.

Juara (www.juaraskincare.com), a natural line inspired by Indonesian beauty rituals and ingredients, has long used the fermented sweet black tea as an anti-aging ingredient in its skin-care products like the Juara Sweet Black Tea Eye Cream. It tightens skin and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, say the founders, who also brew their own ‘buch. (It’s not used for the products, however. Just guzzled by them.)

Marie Veronique Organics (www.mvorganics.com), a seriously lovely apothecary-style skin-care line, uses kombucha extract in many of its anti-aging products like the Moisture Serum. That’s because kombucha may help boost the skin’s hyaluronic acid levels. (Hyaluronic acid plays a role in skin hydration and plumpness.) So kombucha helps keeps skin smooth and healthy looking.

Emergin C (www.emerginc.com), a spa brand that kicked off with a focus on vitamin C, now favors kombucha as a key ingredient. The health tonic appears in EmerginC Scientific Organics Kombucha Cleanser, part of the new Scientifics Organics range that includes smoothie-worthy ingredients like spirulina and goji berry.
— Melisse Gelula