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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Proper pH & your skin care products

Hello, I just bought your book, Timeless Skin, and love it! I took your advice in Chapter One about testing the pH balance of my facial products. I bought pH strips with a 0-14 range. [This is the range of all pH papers.] I tested all 7 of my facial products. Three of my cleansing supplies matched 8, my toner was a 4, my sunblock was around 5, and my warming mask was an 8. Is this OK?? I am a bit confused about this process.

Your skin is naturally acidic on the pH scale. pH (defined as the percentage of hydrogen) refers to how acid or alkaline a substance is. The scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Your skin has a pH of 5 or 6; soaps usually come in around 10. In order to maintain the natural acidic state of your skin, you always want to use acidic or non-alkaline products. If you are unsure about the pH of your cleanser (or any product), you can purchase nitrazine papers at your local pharmacy.

If your research finds a product you’re using is alkaline, I would toss it. Don’t bother trying to make it work for your skin. It won’t. Although the department stores abhor people testing their products, take your pH papers whenever you plan to purchase products. And at the very least, be sure to know what the return policy is for skin care products wherever you buy them. You may find they will have to be returned due to a high pH and you certainly don’t want to pay for any of these experiments.

Looking at this emailer’s products specifically, anything above a five or six is, in my opinion, too alkaline to use on the skin. Her toner and sunscreen sound like they are the correct pH, all the others are alkaline and therefore I don’t recommend using them.

Simply put, using any products that are alkaline on your face is not a good idea if you are looking to create a balanced skin care regime and therefore healthy, balanced skin.

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