Skin is our first line of defense. For example, it is the only organ in the body likely to make direct contact with a public toilet seat.
Thankfully, our skin is designed to combat such threats.
One of the skin’s greatest weapons against our external environment is its pH. pH measures how acidic or alkaline something is, on a scale of 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral, less than 7 is acidic, and any number greater is alkaline, or “basic.” Adult skin pH ranges from around 4.1 to 5.9 (1), with slightly lower numbers for intimate areas of the body.
Tons of factors influence pH (2), including sun exposure, sweat, hydration, and sebum, your skin’s natural oil secretions. In the summer, hotter environments may increase production of sweat and sebum, hydrating the skin, and reducing the skin’s pH (pH stands for “potential of hydration”).
Your skin might also be thrown off by skincare products. Vitamin C serums are highly acidic, for example, falling below 4 pH on average, whereas sunscreens are usually more neutral to basic, averaging above 4.
These products can “unbalance” the skin, or move it outside of its normal range. Unbalanced skin encourages production of bacteria, leading to acne, dryness, redness, and other conditions you may be using these products to treat. Hence you may enter an expensive cycle, your bathroom cabinets stocked to the brim with caked-up, half-empty promises.
One should be wary of products that guarantee a miracle. You may have noticed that the skincare industry, especially in the realm of intimate skincare, is moving in the direction of minimalism, or “rebalancing.” But sometimes, in all this vaguery, it can be difficult to figure out how exactly a product manages to achieve this balance.
That’s why it’s helpful to understand how the skin takes care of itself, and how you can best support its functioning. As a general rule, look out for products, like maude's wash, that are low in preservatives and fall in or around the range of your skin’s natural pH.
The aim of balancing your skin’s pH is not to consistently achieve the perfect number, down to the decimal, and live immune to harmful pathogens forevermore; the goal is to allow your skin the freedom to function within its comfort zone, regardless of the hot and sweaty business you get up to in the summer.
(1) Mehlich, A., Doberenz, C., & Janssens-Böcker, C. (2021). Acidification of the skin and maintenance of the physiological skin pH value by buffered skin care products formulated around pH 4. Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 11(01), 44.
(2) Farage, M. A., Hood, W., Berardesca, E., & Maibach, H. (2018). Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting skin surface pH. In pH of the Skin: Issues and Challenges (Vol. 54, pp. 33-47). Karger Publishers.
