UNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014
Skincare Discovery: Why the pH of Your Cleanser Matters
So, in an earlier Randomness post (click here if you are curious) I mentioned I had purchased the Su:m37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick, despite it's expensive and difficulty in purchasing it, because I was becoming more and more engrossed in what role pH can have in your skincare.
This topic is too huge to be addressed in a single blog post, so I will be doing an ongoing series that will address different aspects of it as I collect research and form my admittedly hoi polloi understanding of it.
I will warn you before I start that this rabbit hole has no end, and therefore I will be glossing over certain terms and topics as well as reducing some explanations down to such a simplistic, generalized form as to trigger fits in any chemist wandering by my blog. (If that happens, O Chemist, please drop me a line because I have a million questions for you!)
There's a lot of misinformation out there from popular sources like the beauty 'experts' on Oprah's website, who makes claims such as: "Cleansers and toners are alkaline—hand soap typically has a pH of around 9 or 10, for example—because alkaline molecules bind to dirt and accumulated oils you want to wash off." and "Bottom Line: A claim that a product is pH balanced is more marketing tool than useful information." I admit I used to think this way, until reading a post from Skinandtonics on the acid mantle, which blew my mind.
So, I started to research and test it for myself, and hence me sharing the fruits of my labour with you today.
Included in this post:
- What is pH, I need a refresher?
- The pH of your skin, and does it matter?
- The pH of your cleanser, and does it matter?
- The claim that alkaline pH = efficacy, is it true?
Before we get into the pH details of cleansers, let's do a quick overview of pH in case your pre-high school science recollection is as spotty as mine.
