Why skin pH is so important

What is the big deal with skin pH?  I’ll tell you why skin pH is so important so you can put your best face forward and always look great!

What is pH?

Potential of hydrogen, or pH for short, is a range that shows the acidity or alkalinity of a water solution.  You may not want to know anything about chemistry but understanding why skin pH is so important can actually help your skin to look and actually feel better.

The pH scale ranges from 0-14 where 14 is alkaline, 7 is neutral, and 0 is acidic.

Why skin pH is so important

The best skin pH is 5.5 – slightly acidic.  If your skin is too acidic, you’ll have breakouts, oily skin and possibly redness.  If it’s too alkaline, it will be dry and dull.  You’ll probably get flakes of skin coming off your face because your skin has been stripped of the natural oils it needs.  When this happens, your body may actually respond to it by producing more oil – causing a vicious cycle of dryness and oiliness and it will be hard to manage.

Soaps

Many soaps are alkaline and this is why they cause the redness and irritation.  Why skin pH is so important is especially so when you have acne prone or sensitive skin.  The skin on your face is thinner than the skin on the rest of your body so where some soap is fine for your body, it just won’t work on your face.

For me, my skin is both acne prone and sensitive.  My face and hands are especially sensitive.  If I use anything that is too alkaline on my face, drying it out, my face gets so oily.  If it’s too acidic, here comes the pimples.  With my hands, they get so dry and I have to be really careful of the kinds of cleansers I use.  When I finally figured this out, I knew what I could use to cleanse my skin so that it didn’t break out, turn bright red, or get flaky.

It’s a balance and once you realize that you can’t just use anything on your skin, you’ll start to use the right products.