pH and the Skin
Have you ever bought a product aimed at dry skin and after a few days your skin felt drier than before you started? Does your skin flip between oily and dry randomly? Have you ever experienced balance issues with your skin?
Similar to balancing your hormones, balancing skin can be quite tricky and often times a bit of a trial-and-error process. You will be pleased to know there are ways to short-cut the experimental process - one of which is managing the pH of your products.
pH stands for potential hydrogen, and it measures the acidity and alkalinity of substances. The range is 0-14, 14 being very alkaline (often called a base) and 0 marking the lower end of the acid scale. 7 is true neutral, like pure water, but our skin isn’t neutral, in fact water can throw off the skin’s proper pH… crazy right?
Men’s skin tends to be more acidic than women’s skin, and although the pH of our skin increases with age, it remains acidic. When we’re born our skin has a neutral pH that becomes acidic within a couple weeks of birth.
So, let’s unpack what I just said. Our skin is protected by a natural barrier called the “acid mantle” that plays a vital role by working with skin-natural ingredients like ceramides, cholesterol, enzymes, sweat, and even our skin’s own oil to protect skin’s surface and lower layers from external threats from things like bacteria, pollution, and allergens by maintaining the skin’s moisture levels.
Skin’s acidic pH also plays a role in keeping its delicate microbiome balanced. An acidic microbiome makes it more difficult for harmful pathogens to multiply but lets the good stuff flourish.
A properly functioning acid mantle should stay slightly acidic with healthy skin falling between a pH of 4.5-5.5. Just about everything out there is trying to throw the skin’s pH off including humidity fluctuations, the sun, and skincare products. No wonder our skin has problems!
When pH products are applied to the skin that are too high or too low the skin is vulnerable to factors that can trigger breakouts, signs of eczema, redness and sensitivity. That’s why daily use of products whose pH is too high or too low visibly and progressively damages skin.
When you hear that skincare products have been pH balanced it means that the chemists have formulated it to strike a reasonable balance between product performance and the pH that the skin needs to be healthy. That means that the product can fall above or below the skin’s natural pH sweet spot to achieve a desired action (for example some peels drop to a pH of 2.0 with the purpose of breaking the skin balance and cause a massive skin-shed).
Ok enough with the science. Let’s get to the nuts and bolts of what is happening in our skin:
Dry and sensitive skin is generally too alkaline. The more alkaline your skin is the more likely you are to show signs of premature aging. Be cautious of soap bars that claim to moisturize as they wash (I’m looking at you, Dove!) because they can raise the skin’s pH above optimum levels and lower the acid mantles ability to protect.
Oily or breakout prone skin tends to be too acidic. Acidic skin can react by getting angry, red and sore. Over exfoliating is often a culprit in causing overly acidic skin. Watch out for old fashioned toners, once formulated to correct pH for alkaline cleansers, because they are often an easy fix for a pH that is too low.
So what pH are most products?
Cleansers: pH 4.5–7
Toners: pH 5–7
Sunscreens: pH 5–7.5
AHA and BHA Exfoliants: pH 3.2–3.9, with any reading between 3 and 4 considered most effective.
Moisturizers: pH 5–7
Serums: pH 4–6
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) products: pH 2.6–3.2
Retinol products: pH 3.7–5
As you can see the range of pH in products is so vast, and each one needs to be specifically formulated to be the correct pH to be effective. This is why it is so important that a medical grade skincare is used to ensure the guesswork is removed for you.
Do you want to chat to an expert about your skin?
Contact Sam for a Virtual Skin Consultation on 0161 2462482
