pH Levels: What Should I Know?
Because of the ways soaps are made, they inherently have high pH-levels. Usually, the harder the soap, the higher the pH level. This can be irritating and denaturing to skin, causing redness, itching, and excessive dryness.
Why are pH-levels important? Your skin’s natural pH is slightly acidic, at about 5.5 to 6.5. Ideally, anything you use on your skin should be close to that range to keep your skin comfortable.
Cream or liquid cleansers can be made to have more neutral pH levels and are best for facial cleansing in general. When you use advanced treatment products with active ingredients, your skin easily adjusts to the lower pH-range with proper use over time. However, if you use a cleanser (especially a hard soap) with a very high pH, your skin can be stressed by having to adjust between the two extremes (low-pH treatment and high-pH soap). Irritations such as redness, stinging, or itching can occur...which can set back your treatment quite a bit.
