The Secret to Eliminating Acne and Decreasing Skin Sensitivity: Part 1

You want the secret to eliminating acne and decreasing skin sensitivity? The answer: it’s all about how you treat your moisture barrier. Today I’m starting a series all about the moisture barrier and what we can do to improve it, in turn, helping to eliminate acne and decrease sensitivity.

What is the moisture barrier?

The outer most layer of the skin is the protective layer, also known as the moisture barrier. It is made up of cells which are continuously shed and replaced and acts as a waterproof barrier that keeps water in the skin. It also keeps bacteria, irritants, and allergens from penetrating the skin. 

When our moisture barrier is damaged we are susceptible to dryness, redness, flakiness, irritation, stinging, redness, and acne. A damaged moisture barrier may also over produce oil to try to repair itself. The moisture barrier can be damaged by over exfoliating, over cleansing, getting sunburned, or using skincare products with a pH that is too high. 

Why is the ph important?

Our moisture barrier has an acidic pH which ranges from 4.0-6.0. This low ph stops the growth of harmful bacteria and keeps our moisture barrier strong. When we use products with a high pH we are disrupting that. When we compromise our moisture barrier our skin becomes prone to infection, acne, roughness, flaking, irritation, and dehydration. 

The biggest culprit that compromises our low ph and disrupts our moisture barrier? A high pH cleanser! Our skin will feel it’s best when we use a cleaner with a pH of 6.0 or less. Hate to break it to you, but most rich, lathery, foamy facial cleansers have a pH of 8.0 or higher. I personally damaged my moisture barrier with overuse of a facial cleansing brush and have also caused harm by using too many new, strong acids in the same week. I have also heard a lot about people using baking soda as a facial scrub which makes me cringe. All of these examples are ways that you could be opening your skin up for some nasty infections.

My Picks for Low pH Cleansers

Hopefully you are still awake after reading all of that because now we are on to the good stuff. I think it’s important to understand why someone is recommending a product for you rather than it just being something they liked. So – here are 6 facial cleansers that I have personally used and love. I hope this helps you find one you like!

• Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser (My holy grail facial cleanser!) – pH 4.5-5.0 
• Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser – pH 5.0
• Cerave Foaming Facial Cleanser – pH 5.5
• Hada Labo Hydrating Facial Cleanser  – pH 5.5
• Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser – pH 5.0
• Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser – pH 5.5