Skin care is more than cosmetics because it not only maintains or improves the beautiful appearance of the skin but also supports and reinforces the protective functions of the skin. Health care begins on the skin – with medicinal skin care. This means care which is specially suited to the special features of the skin, strengthens its protective mechanisms and helps it to cope with stress.
Our skin has a special feature: its surface is slightly acidic. On average the pH value of skin is 5.5.
Maintaining the balanced skin pH can help to retain the skin’s health. The outermost layer of the skin which is known as the natural protective acid mantle, protects the skin from environmental stresses and also plays the major role in determining the skin pH level.
Acid mantle is made up of sebum excreted from the skin’s sebaceous glands, which mixes with sweat, cornification (dead skin cells) and by-products of micro-ogranisms friendly to the skin to create the skin’s mildly acidic pH.
Everything that comes in contact with our skin can disrupt the function of our natural protective acid mantle function. Did you know in healthy adults, it takes up to 3 hours after washing with a soap-based cleanser to restore the skin’s healthy pH level? The longer this process takes, the greater the risk of skin damage, especially in children or elderly.
Therefore, choosing the right skin care product helps in keeping the pH of the skin at its healthy pH. This is to prevent skin conditions such as dermatitis, eczema and acne to develop. Failure to maintain the pH levels can cause further distress to your skin.