Research shows that American women spend an average of 15 seconds, once a day cleansing their skin. This all too brief regimen removes surface layers of makeup, at best. Skin cells build up, pores clog, skin becomes congested and blotchiness begins to occur. Unless the skin is cleansed correctly, this cellular waste prevents active anti-aging serums and treatment products from penetrating into the skin and bringing about changes you are trying to achieve.
Everyday beauty and skin care practices can unwittingly contribute to the development or acceleration of aging and problem skin conditions by using inappropriate cleansers, harsh topicals and aggressive skin treatments. In the attempt to correct skin damage or reverse the effects of aging, millions of well-intended people destroy the skins barrier function and protective acid mantle daily by using skin scrubbers, harsh cleansers and power tools of all sorts trying to correct skin problems. Navigating the aisles of beauty stores can be an overwhelming and often daunting journey when trying to choose the best cleanser for your skin. We are funny creatures – we will often spend hundreds of dollars on an anti-aging serum or firming cream, yet spend $8 on a drugstore cleanser for our face. Go figure…No big deal, right???? WRONG! So how can you tell what is good and what isn’t? You have to know your ingredients – and have at least a basic understanding of pH….
Stay with me here for a minute – what I am about to share with you will provide information to empower you to make healthier skin cleansing choices to quickly transform the look and feel of your skin. Here a few examples of what an impaired acid mantle skin condition can look like, which creates the proper environment for candida to develop and flourish:
pH: 101
The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is, with the pH scale ranging from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is considered acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is considered alkaline. The pH scale is logarithmic and as a result, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than pH 6. The same applies for pH values above 7, each of which is ten times more alkaline than the next lower whole value. For example, pH 10 is ten times more alkaline than pH 9 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 8.
FACT:
Most all commercially produced skin cleansers are highly alkaline, and at the very root of so many common skin problems and imbalances. The number of low pH cleansers and pH balanced formulas are surprisingly limited on the market today, regardless of whether the product is high end or a drugstore brand.
Most popular “soaps”, with a few exceptions, are in the pH of 9.5 to 10.5 range. This pH is inherent to the formula, which is usually a sodium soap of fatty acids. Many formulas that have a neutral pH are described as a “syndet,” and chemically these are not soaps, but a synthetic detergent in a bar form (as the acronym suggests).
Continued daily cleansing with alkaline substances can effectively strip the acid mantle for up to 16 hours or 2/3 of each day. Over extended periods, the skin pH is not able to return to normal for sufficient time, and this is where it can affect localized skin health. Any increase in skin surface pH will encourage abnormal bacterial growth, leading to symptoms that are often mistaken for other skin conditions.
Cleaning agents with slightly acidic or neutral pH, non-ionic surfactants are preferable for clients who are at increased risk for irritating skin reactions. Even minor differences in the pH of skin cleansing formulas can impact the integrity of the skin’s surface. This should be taken into account when determining the optimal cleanser for your skin.
Below are the test results of a selection of common, OTC cleansers currently available on the market. There are some household cleansers in the group for comparative purposes. Knowing what we know about pH and how it impacts a skin care product, these simple readings give us the exact information we need to determine whether or not it is a product that is best suited for our individual skin’s needs.
pH Brand/Product Type
3.2 J&J Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Cleanser Cleanser
4.6 Rodan & Fields Proactiv Solution Renewing cleanser
4.8 Nimue Youth Facial Wash Cleanser
5.6 ASAP Daily Facial Cleanser Cleanser
5.6 Ajax Spray & Wipe Household cleanser
5.8 Olay Daily Facials Cleanser
6.4 Soft as soap Liquid soap
6.6 Environ Interactive Gel Cleanser
6.7 Cetaphil Cleanser
6.7 Natures Organics Foaming Face Wash
6.8 Palmolive Softwash Liquid soap
6.9 Dove Beauty Bar Bar Soap
7.2 Bubble Magic Bubble Bath
8.0 Environ B Active Sebuwash Skin Cleanser
8.2 Clean & Clear Facial Wash
9.6 Palmolive Naturals Bar Soap
9.7 Johnson and Johnson Baby Soap Bar Soap
9.9 Honey Kids Soap Children’s Soap
10.0 Lux Supreme Cream Bar Soap
10.3 AMBR (Hotel brand) Oatmeal Bar Soap
10.5 Nivea Cream Bar Bar soap
“What are the pH readings of your amazing skin cleansers that you created for Sunshine Botanicals?”, Sophie asks Emily. “I am sooo happy you asked that question”, Emily says….here is a brief list:
6.5 Nourishing Algae Cleanser Cleanser
5.83 Dermal Detox Pre-Cleanse Cleanser
5 Mineral Rich Cleansing Milk Cleanser
6.54 Arctic Mint Cleanser Cleanser
6.6 Brightening Bar Cleansing Bar
6.2 Sensitive Bar Cleansing Bar