

Why Knowing Your Skin's pH is Important
With all of the magazines and TV commercials touting the latest skincare product, it's easy to believe that a jar of miracle cream will solve all of your skin issues. And like a true skincare and product junkie, I've definitely bought into my fair share of gimmick and hype. No doubt about it, products can definitely help, but for me, nothing is more important than knowing the science behind my skin, and using that knowledge to get my glow on, for real.
I've struggled on and off with adult onset acne since my mid-twenties, but by far my worst experience was when I moved to Vietnam almost two years ago. I had painful, cystic acne breakouts that would not go away. I had tried everything, and my skin just seemed to get worse. Around the time that I'd pretty much resigned myself to having awful skin again, I read a blog post by Kerry from Skin and Tonics. In her post, she discussed how she eliminated her acne and skin sensitivity by balancing her skin's pH. I researched, and decided I would give this whole balancing my pH thing a try.
We've all heard about pH in school, but as a refresher, the pH (or the potential of hydrogen) is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a solution is, on a scale from 0 to 14. Water has a pH of 7, so it's neutral. Anything below 7 is acidic, and anything above 7 is alkaline, or basic. The pH of your skin should be between 4.5-5.5, but really the goal is to have a skin pH of 5.5. This is important because a lot of us use products that completely raise the pH of our skin, which can result in irritated, hypersensitive, acne prone, or dry skin.
How do you know if your skin's pH is a mess? It's pretty easily determined just by looking. Skin with a balanced pH is smooth, plump, and slightly dewy, not oily. If your skin is too basic or alkaline, it'll look dry, oily (typically at the same time!), and you're more than likely to be suffering from some sort of breakout. If you want to be completely sure, please see a physician who can test your pH for you.
Our skin has a protective layer called the acid mantle. It's a thin, slightly acidic and protects you from bacteria, pollution, and other toxins that can penetrate the skin. When your acid mantle has a too high pH, it can cause major harm and damage to your skin. Like I said earlier, the best pH for your skin is a 5.5. Anything higher causes your skin to stop being effective at defending itself against bacteria, allowing them to penetrate the skin, causing breakouts.
Diet, the environment, smoking, and age can all contribute to your skin's unbalanced pH, but usually people have acid mantle disturbance because of their cleanser. Most commercial cleansers and soaps have a pH that is entirely too high. Ingredients such as sodium laurel sulfate (or SLS), a common foaming agent in most cleansers, have a pH of 9! When you wash your face, does it feel dry, stripped, and too clean? Not good. Your cleanser is likely too basic and is causing damage. Using a cleanser with a high pH basically washes off your acid mantle, leaving you wide open for a host of problems. Long-term use of damaging, high pH cleansers can prevent your skin from maintaining its ideal pH. This is how people can end up with perpetually dry, oily, acne-prone, or hypersensitive skin.
Armed with my new knowledge, I stopped using my problematic cleansers and switched to using low pH cleansers only. And as miracles would have it, my skin cleared up. Once my skin cleared, I started using acid treatments, and incorporating oils into my skincare routine. I haven't had a single major breakout since last year. I don't have skin sensitivity of any kind, and my skin is plump, dewy, and smooth!
So how can you balance your skin's pH?
Use the Right Cleanser
Ditch the harsh soaps and chose mild cleansers with a pH of 5.5. My favorites are the su:m37 miracle rose cleansing stick, acwell bubble free balancing pH cleanser, and the CeraVe hydrating cleanser.
Check the Ingredients
Ingredients like baking soda and lemon may seem to be helping your skin, but in reality, both are potentially damaging. Baking soda has a pH of 9, and lemons have a pH of 2. Frequent use of either can cause damage to your acid mantle, sometimes permanently changing your skin's pH. I used to be an avid baking soda fan, and I definitely don't use it anymore.
Get Tested
Test the pH of your current skincare products. You can find testing strips pretty much anywhere, but these on Amazon come highly recommended. If your products are above 6, it's probably wise to find other options.
Add A Little Acid
Incorporate mild acid treatments that can help make your skin more acidic. As I mentioned in my previous article, I'm a huge fan of AHA products. If you're into the natural skincare route, using diluted apple cider vinegar as a toner is a great option as well.
Keep It Greasy (With Natural Oils)
Use oils in your skincare routine. Oils are my life. I cleanse with them, add them to my existing moisturizers, or use them alone. My skin always looks super radiant the day after I use oils!
Balancing my skin's pH has been absolutely crucial in eliminating my acne and keeping me acne free. I'm so glad I made the switch! Now go forth, and get your glow on!
As a disclaimer, I am not a doctor or a medical professional. I'm just a woman who loves skincare, and wants to share my tips and tricks on what has worked for me personally. Please see your physician or dermatologist before beginning any new skincare regimen.
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Why Do Millennials & Gen-Zers Still Feel Like Teenagers? The Pandemic Might Be The Reason.
There’s nothing quite as humbling as navigating adulthood with no instruction manual. Since the turn of the decade, it seems like everything in our society that could go wrong has, inevitably, gone wrong. From the global pandemic, our crippling student debt problem, the loneliness crisis, layoffs, global warming, recession, and not to mention figuring out what to eat for dinner every night. This constant state of uncertainty has many of us wondering, when are the grown-ups coming to fix all of this?
But the catch is, we are the new grown-ups.
As if it happened without our permission, we became the new adults. We are the members of society who are paying taxes, having children, getting married, and keeping our communities afloat, one iced latte at a time. Still, there’s something about doing all these grown-up duties that feel unnaturally grown-up. Enter the #teenagegirlinher20s.
If there’s one hashtag to give you the state of the next cohort of adults, it’s this one. Of the videos that have garnered over 3.9M views, you’ll find a collection of users who are overwhelmed by life’s pressing existential responsibilities, clung to nostalgia, and reminiscent of the days when their mom and dad took care of their insurance plans.
@charlies444ngel no like i cant explain to her why i had to buy multiple tank air dupes from aritzia #teenagegirlinher20s #fyp
The concept of being a 20-something or 30-something teenager is linked to the sentiment of not feeling “grown up enough” to do grown-up things while feeling underprepared and even nihilistic about whether that preparation even matters.
It’s our generation’s version of when we ask our grandmothers how old they are and they simply reply with, “I still feel 45,” all while being every bit of 76 years old. In this, we share a warped concept of time while clinging to a desire for infantilization.
Granted, the pandemic did a number on our concept of time. Many of us who started the pandemic in our early or mid-20s missed out on three fundamental years of socialization, career development, and personal milestones that traditionally help to mark our growth.
Our time to figure out and plan our next steps through fumbling yet active participation was put on pause indefinitely and then resumed provisionally. This in turn has left many of us hanging in the balance of uncertainty as we try to make sense of the disconnect between our minds and bodies in this missing gap of time.
Because we’re all still figuring out what the ramifications of being locked away and frozen in time by a global pandemic will have on us as a society, there really is no “right” way of making up for lost time. Feeling unprepared for any new chapter of life is a natural rite of passage, pandemic or not. However, it’s important to not stay stuck in the last age or period of life that made sense to us because self-growth is the truest evidence of personal progress.
So whether you’re leaning on your inner child, teenager, or 20-something for guidance as you fill the gap between your real age and pandemic age, know that it’s okay to grieve the person you thought you would be and the milestones you thought you’d hit before you ever knew what a pandemic was. If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we have the power to reimagine a better world and life for ourselves. And if we tap into our inner teenager as a compass, we can piece together our next chapter with a fresh outlook.
Sure, we’ve lost a couple of years, but there are still some really amazing ones ahead.
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