Why does skin ph matter?
Are skin cleanser bad?
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So you probably do not think about Ph when you think about your skin. To put it simply every aqueous solution (anything with liquid or water in it) has a ph. This is a measurement from 1-14 of how Acidic or alkaline something is, 1 being very acidic & 14 being very alkaline the neutral ph is 7. This is the basic understanding of Ph, but how does that effect your skin? Well, your skin has a protective barrier also called the skin mantle which is a layer of oily liquids which is produced by your body also known as sebum to help protect your skin. The ph of this skin mantle is meant to be 5.5 this is a slightly acidic ph. The skin mantle protects the skin from bacteria which can other wise cause havoc on the skin. Have you noticed every-time you wash your face your skin feels dry? This is because what the cleanser has essentially done is disturbed this protective barrier on your skin. Now try washing your face with only water, you'll find that the effects of dryness is not so bad because there are no harsh surfactant in water itself.
Why skin Ph matters?
A slight movement in skin Ph can cause inflammation which comes in the form of a rash, inflammation, seborrheic dermatitis & eczema. An alteration in the Ph can also cause dry skin & greasy skin due to the sebaceous glands not either producing enough sebum or too much of it.
What causes an imbalance in ph level?
As the beauty industry has progressed more and more products are now readily available to us. Many of them use a cheap substance called sodium Laurel sulphate which is a substance that is common in laundry detergents, Yes!!! Laundry detergents. This substance and many other surfactants are used. These substances strip the skin of sebum & oil which is needed for a healthy skin mantle, surfactants are made to absorb oil.
Is it possible to restore skin Ph?
If you’ve been using skin cleansers then you may have disrupted this delicate skin barrier. So what do you do? Is It possible to repair? The short answer is yes. Because your skin produced sebum on a daily basis this barrier is replenished & repaired but constant disruption causes the sebaceous glands to go overdrive which can either cause them to produce too little sebum or too less. This can be fixed just follow the instructions below.
1 - Stop using cleansers - In order to get your sebaceous glands back in working order you need to reset them if you like. Stop using cleansers completely. After you stop using cleaner for the first few days you will find that your skin is producing a lot of oil. Do not be tempted to use a cleanser. Your sebaceous gland need time
2- Use water only - using water actually washes away excessive oil build up very effectively without stripping the skin. We recommend you do this once in the morning, evening & night.
3 - go easy on the moisturiser - Washing with only water can leave the skin dry especially if you already have dry skin. Using too much moisturiser can block pores eventually leading to acne & spots, use little to no moisturiser because you want your sebaceous glands to be doing the moisturising for you, you may help it here & there
4 - Drink water - We know your probably bored of hearing this but believe it or not this is a very common issue people simply do not drink enough water. Drinking water will help keep the skins elasticity & will help combat the feeling of dry skin.
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Follow the steps for a minimum of 1 week the best practise would be to use this method as your beauty routine. Doing a skin cleanse once in a blue moon wouldn’t hurt but make sure you use product without SLS or parabens. Try our range of oil cleansers for all types of skin, normal, dry or greasy. We use zero parabens, SLS, or preservative. Oil cleansing helps rebalance the skins sebaceous glands as well as rebalancing the skins ph. We also have a skin cleanser that uses Castile soap which is SLS free without drying out skin. Give it a try.