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 Understanding the Importance of pH

I talk a lot on here about destroying the moisture barrier and how it’s important to use a gentle cleanser, but I realized I never completely explained why it’s important and what “gentle” really means. This is a longer post, but it is SO important. 

pH is everything when it comes to skin and skincare

pH stands for Potential of Hydrogen or Power of Hydrogen and measures the activity of hydrogen in a solution. The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline a solution is in comparison to distilled water, which is considered neutral at a pH of 7.0. Only wet solutions have a measurable pH.

When researching the value of skin pH you’re going to find a ton of different ranges and answers, the consensus seems to be that the skin pH can range from 4.5-6.5 with healthy levels at or below pH 5.5.

So what does this mean for skincare?

When we measure the skin’s pH we’re really measuring the skin’s surface and the moisture within the skin and the acid mantle.

The what now?

The acid mantle. This is what we’re talking about when we talk about the moisture barrier. Back in the day (1920 ish) two REALLY old guys discovered that the skin seemed to have some kind of acidic barrier. The acid mantle is a thin acidic layer made up of dead skin cells, sebum, and sweat. The “ah-ha” moment here is realizing that bacteria, contaminants, and harmful elements are alkaline in nature and thrive in alkaline environments. Therefore, when your skin is brought to a more alkaline pH you’re opening the door for a number of skin issues ranging from dry skin, dehydrated skin, oily skin, acne caused by excess oil, or thriving bacteria, dermatitis, etc.

Understanding the pH scale

The most important thing to recognize here is acids vs alkalis and how the units of measure work.

  • Acids are pH values under 7
  • Alkalis are pH values over 7
  • Value of 7 is neutral

Regarding the unit of measure, one pH represents ten times the change. For example, say my cleanser is pH balanced for skin at 5.5, a cleanser with a pH of 6.5 is ten times more alkaline than my pH 5.5 cleanser- a few units of pH can make a gigantic difference.

 


Maintaining the Acid Mantle

Maintaining a healthy pH is crucial to overall skin health. As the skin’s pH creeps closer to pH 7.0 the harder it becomes to fight off acne and the easier it becomes for bacteria to grow and multiply. Having too high of a skin pH can also affect skin aging, product effectiveness, and sensitivity of the skin.

Did you know that most drugstore cleansers have a pH of 7 or higher, with things like Neutrogena ranking as high as pH 9.0!? It only takes a split second to change the pH of your skin and that’s why I always recommend a gentle cleanser that is pH balanced for your skin’s liking (pH 5.5 or below).

NOTE: many companies say their products are pH balanced- this often means that their products have a pH of 7.0 because that is technically balanced. It does NOT mean they are balanced for what our skin likes.

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