This is really interesting. Does having properly pH balanced skin help to keep it healthy? Or is it really not an 'issue' (as it were) for the skin to re-balance on it's own. What I mean is, are there any adverse affects to just letting the skin re-balance in its own time (for example after showering or washing your face)?
HI Anna-Vera - Properly balanced skin is obviously going to 'feel better' than imbalanced skin, but I am loathe to claim that it is measurably healthier.
Allowing the skin to return to it's natural state on its own is pretty much what we have been doing for the past many years. Adverse effects can be things like: drying, itchiness, scaliness.
People who experience their skin feeling taut after washing are categorized as having dry skin. I used to be one of these people (and probably still am), but because I always end my bath and face washing with a skin tonic or skin drench, I don't get that taut feeling.
Rebalancing my skin helps me completely avoid that 'dry-feeling'. I guess you could call that healthier in some respects. Does this answer your question?
I have always been a bit vague about whether pH is even a meaningful concept when it comes to the skin. Given that a lot of it is in the form of liquid crystals which vary in their polarity depending on where you look, presumably hydrogen ion concentration varies from place to place as well.
Hi Colin - I must admit my focus on the pH of the skin has grown out of the research I have been doing on the effects of sodium bicarbonate on the skin in DIY deodorants. The study I mention in this particular post did open a door or 2 as to my own personal experience though. The pH of a product that is compatible with the skin's own pH must certainly make for a better, more 'skin-readily acceptable' product. Wouldn't you agree?
alicyn said…
thanks for another informative post! did any of the articles have a theory/reason for why men's and women's acid mantles have different pH levels?
also, what are the skin's mechanisms for re-balancing pH? could leaving the skin too far from normal be analogous to the problem of stripping skin of its natural oils and then being hit with excess oil production?
Hi Alicyn - you always ask the best questions! The articles didn't offer any theories as to why mens and womens pH's differ - only that it was an interesting discovery. I'm guessing someone will pick up on this and continue studies.
As to the skins mechanisms for rebalancing the pH - this is something I will need to look into in order to answer you properly. I will try not to take as long as I have taken before!
Comments
What I mean is, are there any adverse affects to just letting the skin re-balance in its own time (for example after showering or washing your face)?
Allowing the skin to return to it's natural state on its own is pretty much what we have been doing for the past many years. Adverse effects can be things like: drying, itchiness, scaliness.
People who experience their skin feeling taut after washing are categorized as having dry skin. I used to be one of these people (and probably still am), but because I always end my bath and face washing with a skin tonic or skin drench, I don't get that taut feeling.
Rebalancing my skin helps me completely avoid that 'dry-feeling'. I guess you could call that healthier in some respects. Does this answer your question?
also, what are the skin's mechanisms for re-balancing pH? could leaving the skin too far from normal be analogous to the problem of stripping skin of its natural oils and then being hit with excess oil production?
As to the skins mechanisms for rebalancing the pH - this is something I will need to look into in order to answer you properly. I will try not to take as long as I have taken before!