♪ (narrator) Hey, you've got something on your face.

Well, more like living in your face.

Can't see them?

Here, we'll show you.

Researchers just use a little glue.

Don't try this at home.

♪ When that thin layer of skin comes off, it takes some tiny hair follicles-- that barely visible peach fuzz--with it.

Those follicles that came out look like a miniature forest.

And inside some of them-- that's a face mite.

Entomologist Michelle Trautwein, at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, studies these long-term tenants of ours.

They've got eight little legs because they're actually arachnids, related to ticks and spiders.

Yep, you almost certainly have dozens of these stowaways on you right now and don't even know it.

Usually, your immune system keeps them in check.

But in rare cases, a population boom causes a red rash.

But don't freak out-- seriously.

They're actually not such bad houseguests.

You're not born with them.

Face mites are passed down from parent to baby.

They spend their days tucked right inside our hair follicles, next to the hair... all cozy.

See that yellow stuff?

It's sebum --that greasy oil your skin makes to protect itself from drying out.

That's what face mites eat.

When you're asleep, they climb out to the surface and mate before crawling back into your pores to lay their eggs.

So that's fun.

But if you're thinking about scrubbing them all off, forget it.

You'll never get rid of all of them.

And here's the weirdest part of all-- face mites don't have an anus.

They just eat and eat, but never poop.

They've made our vast landscape of skin into their own personal kingdom.

Just think of them as a natural, maybe even healthy, part of your skin ecosystem.

Now that you know that, you never have to be lonely again.

Oh, yes, we've got even more things that want to hang out with you.

Meet these acrobatic head lice... some cuddly leeches... or maybe a few ticks.

If Deep Look has grown on you, come over to Patreon and throw us some support.

Okay?

Thanks.