In the pursuit of sanity and consistency, we strive to maintain balance in life. Whether it’s finding stability between our personal life or our family and friends, we always try to balance everything to live a joyful and peaceful life. But have you ever thought about the balance of your skin?
That’s right! Your skin goes through a balancing act called “pH” that needs to be juggled to maintain happy, healthy skin. If you are also wondering what exactly skin pH is, you have come to the right place! Keep reading to find out why you need to think and act on the importance of pH balance in skin care and what you can do for optimal skin health and beauty.
The Science of pH Balanced Skin Care
Before we share the science behind pH-balanced skincare, we need to dive into the science — more specifically, the chemistry — and a quick step back in time. Do you remember dipping these color-changing strips into liquids to see where they fall on a pH scale of 1-14?
In case you need a reminder, the term ‘pH’ stands for ‘potential of hydrogen’. In other words, it is the measurement of the concentration of hydrogen ions in any substance. On the pH scale, anything below 7 is acidic, while anything above 7 is alkaline. It turns out that learning these acids and bases has a lot more to do with skincare than matter and energy.
Whether you realize it or not, the pH level of your favorite skincare products affects your skin. Yes, even our largest organ, which seems to have one main function, which is to contain everything, is quite finicky, delicate and complex.
For this mini lesson in skin-istry, our dermis lands in the middle or neutral levels of the pH scale, between 5.4 and 5.9. Chances are that if you use traditional skin care products, your skin pH is no longer one uh, Oh.
The Importance of pH Balanced Skin Care
Since our skin is right at the sweet spot or in the middle of the pH scale, there is little room to deviate from these magic numbers without facing sour skin effects. This range also means that the skin barrier is slightly acidic, and that’s to keep moisture in and bacteria out.
If your pH is out of balance and too alkaline, your skin will look dry, sensitive, and red. Chronic dry skin can accelerate your skin’s aging process, such as fine lines and wrinkles. If it’s too acidic, you’ll increase your risk of inflammatory skin conditions like acne and rosacea. Higher skin pH levels also affect skin permeability. If the skin is compromised, it becomes vulnerable to irritants and bacteria.
Before you ditch skincare products altogether for fear of waking up the pH beast, there are ways to regain or maintain even-toned skin. High pH products (8-14) can strip your face’s natural oils, while extremely low pH products (below 4.5) can irritate the skin.
There are common ingredients in conventional products that cause many of our skin problems. These ingredients include fragrances, drying alcohols, preservatives and harsh cleaning agents, which can cause inflammation and disrupt the acid mantle. When you opt for natural care products, you have no coat dysfunction.
Tips for Choosing pH Balanced Skin Care Products
So how do you choose the pH-balanced skincare products that are right for you? We’re assuming you don’t have litmus paper or a lab handy. But a few simple skincare changes and a few habit changes will be the best thing. In order to keep your skin’s barrier function healthy and healthy, it must first eliminate the elements that can disturb its hydration level.
Some skincare habits can upset the coat, so it’s important to drop them quickly like a bar of soap. Yes, avoid bar soaps, harsh cleansers and conventional skincare products, which contain ingredients that strip and disrupt your skin’s pH or worse, contain toxic ingredients that affect your health and that of your skin. . We’ll cover safe and natural alternatives in a moment.
But while we have cleansing habits, avoid using hot water to wash your face, scrubbing too hard, or taking long showers, which can disrupt the skin’s coat and natural oils. On that note, as you age, your skin’s ability to produce natural oils and sebum decreases. As a result, the acid mantle is damaged, affecting the pH balance of the skin.
It’s important not to use traditional moisturizers that often contain sulfates, dyes or dyes, and PEGs or polyethylene glycols, which are compounds used in formulas as thickeners and softeners. Using alpha and beta hydroxy acids incorrectly can damage your skin’s natural defenses. Excessive sun exposure can also upset its balance. As in life, we also have to find a skin balance.
Best Practices for Incorporating pH-Balanced Skincare into Your Routine
When your skin’s pH balance is out of balance, it’s all too easy (literally) to feel “off” or uncomfortable in your skin. Luckily, there are ways to help your skin’s pH balance, and it all starts with moisturizing, nourishing, and keeping things safe and gentle on skin.
#1: Use Skin Barrier Repair Ingredients and Cleansers
There are products on the market that can help repair the skin barrier, and they are identifiable by the ingredients they contain.
When shopping for a barrier repair product, check for ingredients that can help restore the skin barrier like niacinamide, ceramides, and fatty acids. Soothing ingredients like aloe vera and rose hydrosol can also help reduce redness and inflammation that can occur with a damaged skin barrier.
Our Calendula Flower Cleansing Milk contains these soothers and the nourishing properties of Calendula to deeply nourish and soften dry, sensitive skin.
#2. Use a cleansing balm for very sensitive skin
Over-cleansing is one of the most common causes of disruption in the skin’s pH level, especially when using harsh ingredients like alcohol and artificial fragrances in many consumer products.
If you have ultra-sensitive skin, cleanse it with products that moisturize and nourish your skin as it cleanses it. Opt for cleansing oils and cleansing balms. Our Blood Orange Cleansing Balm, for example, hydrates skin while melting away makeup and dirt with the help of avocado, coconut and olive leaf extracts.
And cleansing balms work best when paired with a non-stripping gel, like our rosewater cleansing gel, or for even more hydration, a cleansing milk.
#3. Embed a toner
One of the amazing benefits of toner is that it helps to hit the pH reset button on your skin. Toners shouldn’t replace your cleanser or makeup remover, but are a perfect pH-priming step before applying your other skincare.
Restorative Sea Culture Vegan, Alcohol-Free Hydrating Toner incorporates one of nature’s best anti-inflammatory ingredients: witch hazel. Hydrating mega components like chia seed water and hyaluronic acid promote gentle, soothing hydration.
#4. Use a serum for antioxidants and barrier repair
Antioxidants strengthen your skin cells to function properly. They protect your skin from environmental damage and stress. You can use vitamin C, which is known to balance the pH of your skin.
Adding a vitamin C serum to your routine will not only support your acid mantle, but it’s one of the most youth-friendly vitamins. It brightens skin, can help fade age and dark spots, and supports collagen for smoother, plumper skin.
For other super-serum options, our Restorative Marine Culture Replenishing Serum contains sea kelp, seaweed extract and chia seeds to help restore the skin barrier for a healthier microbiome and restored radiance . There’s also our Rose Hyaluronic Acid Serum, which can soothe irritated skin and replenish moisture.
#5: Up Your Humidity Game
Perhaps above all else, moisturizers are going to be especially helpful. Those with a thick, occlusive consistency are especially beneficial for preventing transepidermal water loss as your skin barrier heals.
Although a daily moisturizer is always essential, try to end your night with a rich, gentle moisturizer that will lock in water while you sleep. Our Intensive Nourishing Balm and our Multi-Vitamin + Antioxidant PM Ultra Rich Treatment are excellent options!
#6: Re-examine your SPF policy
When the skin is not protected, the sun will cause damage, both short and long term. Excessive sun exposure without proper and adequate protection can negatively affect your skin’s pH level. Make SPF a priority with physical sunscreen that uses minerals to protect your skin from the sun.
Our Green Tea SPF 30 shields skin from harmful UV rays while rehydrating with Green Tea and Aloe Vera. Alternatively, our Tomato Lycopene SPF Moisturizer protects skin from the sun with minerals, which are boosted by lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes.
Could the secret to unlocking your dream skin lie in your acid mantle and maintaining your skin’s ideal pH level? We don’t need color-changing paper to determine that our acid mantle needs support to stay in the ideal pH range for overall healthy skin.
With a few tweaks to your skincare products and a few lifestyle changes, you can adjust your skincare routine to maintain optimal pH balance. A balanced life And skin – we’re all in it! Now it’s true skin-istry!
