I didn’t have a clue what I was doing with my skin when I was a teen. Back then, I’d just buy the cheapest cleanser I could find. They were usually the foaming kind that left my skin squeaky clean. I thought that tight feeling I always got afterwards was proof the cleanser was doing its job well. No chance the tiniest speck of grime was still on my skin. Ah!
So what if my skin was oilier than usual and pimples made a frequent appearance on my face? I was a teen. Ever heard of hormones? I blamed them for everything. But my skin didn’t get any better when puberty ended (and not a moment too soon, if you ask me!). My skin was still an oily, pimply mess. Was I cursed or something? *sighs*
I felt like that until I heard about the low pH life. Switching to an acidic cleanser (that’s a cleanser with a low pH, FYI) was a game changer. Now my skin finally behaves. It’s stopped pumping out so much oil. It doesn’t feel tight and sensitive as it used to. I don’t even get pimples that often anymore.
Think of it like this: your cleanser sets the mood for your whole routine. If it’s too harsh, you’re already starting on the wrong foot and nothing else you put on is gonna work like it should. But when you get it right? Suddenly your skin chills out. Less drama, fewer breakouts, no more feeling like your moisturizer is useless. Stop chasing that squeaky-clean feeling – it’s not helping. Go low pH and your skin will finally calm the hell down. Intrigued? Here’s why you should commit to the low pH life too:
What Is Ph?
pH stands for “power of hydrogen” and measures the acidity vs alkalinity of a solution of water + something. If science class made your eyes glaze over, here’s the quick and dirty version: pH is basically a scale from sour lemon juice (acidic) to chalky baking soda (alkaline). Your skin is supposed to sit closer to the lemon side than the baking soda side – not extreme, but gently acidic. That’s the sweet spot where it can protect itself.
pH 7 is the neutral point. Anything below it is an “acid” and anything above it a “base” (or alkaline). The pH of your skin’s protective barrier (a.k.a. “acid mantle”) is between 4.5 and 5.5 (I know, the name gave it away 😉 ). This barrier does two very important jobs:
- It keeps water into your skin, so that it stays soft and hydrated
- It keeps germs, bacteria and pollutants out of the skin, preventing infections and irritations
Think of it like clingfilm wrapped over leftovers in the fridge. If it’s intact, nothing nasty gets in and the food stays fresh. If you poke holes in it, suddenly the food dries out, smells get in, and it spoils faster. Your acid mantle works the same way – holes equal chaos. When your acid mantle is intact, your skin is moisturised and healthy. But when it starts to crack, your skin becomes dry, sensitive and more prone to irritations.
So you just need to make sure it stays intact, right? It’s not so easy. Anything you put on your skin has its own pH and so affects the pH of your skin. Put another way, what you use on your face can destroy this protective barrier. Here’s the kicker: even products that scream “gentle” or “for sensitive skin” can have a pH completely wrong for you. That’s why some people swear a cleanser works wonders, while on you it feels like sandpaper. It’s not always about the ingredients list – sometimes it’s the chemistry. Cleansing is one of the biggest culprits.
WARNING!
If you’re into DIY, you can adjust the pH of a substance and make it more acidic or more alkaline. But depending on what you use, you could create new and unwanted chemicals in the solutions. In other words, study some basic chemistry to know what you’re doing or leave the job to the professionals. Don’t follow random recipes online, especially those that use baking soda or lemon. Their high pH will destroy your skin’s acid mantle.
Related: Acid Mantle: What It Is And How To Repair It
Struggling to put together a skincare routine that banishes excess shine, blackheads, and acne? Download your FREE “Best Skincare Routine For Oily Skin” to get started (it features product recommendations + right application order):
Why The pH Of Your Cleanser Matters
Cleansing changes the pH of your skin. Even normal tap water alone is enough to do the trick. A 1999 study compared the cleansing powers of tap water, liquid soaps and bar soaps and found that: “Each cleansing agent, even normal tap water, influences the skin surface. The increase of the skin pH irritates the physiological protective ‘acid mantle’, changes the composition of the cutaneous bacterial flora and the activity of enzymes in the upper epidermis, which have an acid pH optimum.”
In other words, every time you wash your face, you’re raising the pH of your skin and disrupting the acid mantle. You’re removing too much oil, making holes in the shield and weakening its natural defences. When you disrupt the acid mantle, bad things happen:
- Moisture evaporates, drying out the skin
- Skin feels tight
- Skin can’t protect itself from the environment and becomes more sensitive
- Germs and pollutants get in, irritating skin
- Bacteria proliferate, causing acne and breakouts
This is why people think their moisturizer “stopped working.” It’s not the cream’s fault – it’s that you’ve trashed your skin’s shield before you even put it on. Scary huh? If you’re prone to acne, you have one more reason to switch to a low pH cleanser.
Higher PH = Acne Galore
There’s a reason why your skin’s acid mantle is acidic. An acidic pH is NOT bacteria-friendly. But when you raise the pH up several notches, bacteria suddenly find the perfect environment to proliferate and thrive.
A study tested the impact of cleansing on acne-prone skin. Scientists asked patients with inflammatory acne lesions to use either soap or an acidic cleanser for three months. The results? Only one month later, the group using soap had way more lesions than before. The group using an acidic cleanser had the opposite result: they had fewer lesions than before! In other words: high pH soaps make acne worse while acidic cleansers help clear acne up.
The reason? As this study shows, when you wash your face with soap, P. Acnes (the bacteria that causes acne) proliferates. You have a lot of those nasty buggers on your skin. But when you switch to an acidic cleanser, the amount of P. Acnes bacteria on your skin falls down significantly. In other words, an acidic cleanser makes your skin inhospitable to P. Acnes and other bacteria.
And here’s the cruel irony: the harsher the cleanser, the worse the breakouts, which makes you want to cleanse even more. It’s a cycle that feeds itself. The fix isn’t scrubbing harder – it’s using something gentler that doesn’t invite acne bacteria to throw a rave on your skin. So if you’re washing your face a lot in the hope of getting rid of shine and pimples, you’re only making things worse. 🙁
Related: Adult Acne: Why It Happens And How To Treat It
Is Raising The pH For Only A Few Hours Really That Bad?
You’ve probably heard the pH of your skin eventually goes back to normal after cleansing. That’s true. But it takes its sweet time to do so. More than 90 minutes, sometimes. In the meantime, your skin will be overly oily or overly dry. *sighs* And let’s be honest: nobody’s only washing once a week. Twice a day is the norm. That means your skin is spending most of its life recovering from being stripped – not actually thriving.
And that’s just the short term effects. Studies show that washing your face with a high pH cleanser regularly (and you do wash your face every day, don’t you?) has a cumulative effect and increases the time your skin takes to recover. You’ve probably noticed this first hand, especially in winter. The more you wash your hands (or face, for that matter), the drier they get. It’s the same for your skin. That tight feeling you get after washing is a tell-tale sign your acid mantle is compromised.
This may also be why the rest of your skincare routine isn’t working anymore. If you’re using hyaluronic acid serums, moisturising oils and co and you find your dry skin isn’t getting any better, chances are your cleansing habits have badly disrupted your acid mantle. Until you fix that, your skin will never go back to normal.
Here’s a quick gut-check: if you always feel desperate to slap moisturizer on immediately after cleansing, your skin barrier is screaming at you. Healthy skin shouldn’t feel like it’s dying of thirst the second you towel off.
Related: Are Foaming Cleansers Bad For Skin?
How Can You Tell The pH Of A Cleanser?
Bad news: you can’t tell the pH of a cleanser just by looking at it. The packaging doesn’t tell you. *sighs* The best you can do is:
- Avoid bar soaps. They only work at a high pH (yes, even natural ones).
- Buy a bunch of pH strips and test your cleanser yourself (I know, a pain!).
- Check out this handy spreadsheet with popular cleansers and their pH (thanks to the Asian Beauty community on Reddit).
- Use milky and oil-based cleansers: Unlike foaming cleansers, they’re already pH-friendly.
Or you can save yourself the hassle and check out my fave low pH cleansers below:
- Corsx low PH Good Morning Gel Cleanser ($14.00): pH 5.5. A gentle, pH-balanced cleanser that removes impurities without drying out skin. Available at Sokoglam and YesStyle.
- Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser ($7.99): pH 6.2. A no-frills, daily foaming cleanser. Available at Target.
- Paula’s Choice Skin Balancing Oil-Reducing Cleanser ($24.00): pH 5.5. A foaming cleaner with a drop of oil to remove impurities and makeup. Available at Paula’s Choice.
FAQs About Low pH Cleansers
Do I need a low pH cleanser if I have dry skin but no acne?
Yes. Dry skin still has a barrier. Strip it with a high pH cleanser and you’ll just make the flakes and redness worse. A lot of people with dry skin think the fix is heavier creams, but if you’re cleansing with the wrong pH, you’re undoing all that moisture the second you wash. Low pH cleansers help your skin hold onto hydration instead of fighting against it. That’s why people often notice their moisturizer finally “working” once they make the switch.
Can I use bar cleansers that say “pH balanced”?
Most of the time, no. Unless they publish lab results, assume it’s too alkaline. Brands love throwing “pH balanced” on the label because it sounds science-y, but unless you see actual numbers (like pH 5.5), don’t trust it. Bar soaps need to stay alkaline to hold their shape, which means they’ll almost always wreck your barrier no matter how natural or organic they claim to be.
Do low pH cleansers foam at all?
Some do – they just won’t give you a face full of bubbles. Expect more of a soft, creamy lather. And honestly, that’s a good thing. Big, fluffy foam usually means harsher surfactants that strip more oil. A gentle low pH lather might feel underwhelming at first, but your skin will thank you when it’s not squeaky, itchy, or tight ten minutes later.
If my skin feels oily, doesn’t that mean I need something stronger?
Nope. Over-cleansing makes skin pump out more oil. Stick with low pH and your oil will actually calm down. This is why people with oily skin often feel “addicted” to foaming cleansers – they strip hard, get oily again faster, and think they need to wash even more. It’s a cycle. Once you break it and use a low pH option, your oil production actually levels out because your skin isn’t in panic mode anymore.
Can low pH cleansers remove makeup?
Yes, but with limits. If you’re wearing heavy foundation or waterproof mascara, you’ll want to double cleanse with an oil-based cleanser first. Low pH cleansers are great for keeping your barrier intact, but they’re not always built to break down layers of long-wear makeup. Think of them as step two of a tag team.
Are low pH cleansers only for the face?
Not at all. If you deal with body acne (like on your chest or back), swapping your body wash for a low pH option can help calm breakouts there too. Same goes for anyone who constantly gets itchy, tight skin after showering – chances are your body wash is way too alkaline.
The Bottom Line
The pH of your cleanser matters. Opt for acidic cleansers that don’t compromise your skin’s acid mantle and watch your skin say goodbye to dryness, sensitivity and pimples.
About Gio
Hi, I’m Gio. I’m a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever – every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what’s worth the splurge and what’s best left on the shelf – using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.
