In Part 1 this past Wednesday, we discussed that your skin has an optimal pH, and that maintaining a balanced pH is essential to a vibrant complexion. Today, let’s explore the role of pH in your skincare.

As you learned, the acidic pH of the skin’s outer layer – its acid mantel – keeps microbes out and nutrients and moisture in. At Silk Therapeutics, we formulate with pH in mind. It is one way we design products for skin’s care ­­– products that support skin health and skin integrity.

Silk Therapeutics formulas are designed to be slightly acidic, with ingredients that are active within this specific range of pH values. By optimizing product pH, our products are designed to work with the skin’s naturally low pH. A slightly acidic product works to gently loosen the surface layers of acid mantel. Then, the infusion of surplus hydrogen ions load onto proteins, much like the weight belts scuba divers use, helping the actives descend deeply into the skin.

Acidic peels act similarly to release exterior skin cells and proteins, revealing the deeper layers that support collagen production (for more on pH and exfoliation, see post on the clean chemistry behind our Renewing Peel here).

But there is a third benefit, which speaks to how we can achieve formulas that are clean and formulated with as few ingredients as necessary.

Slightly acidic pH limits the growth of bacteria in the bottle much as it does on the skin’s acid mantel. In this way, the pH serves as a natural preservative system, preventing spoilage and further stabilizing the formulation. Many classes of conventional skincare ingredients, however, break down under acidic conditions, which then necessitate formulators to add in additional chemicals, like parabens, to preserve the final formula.

By combining science and silk, our formulas are designed with only natural ingredients to open the skin and to deliver actives that penetrate to levels where they can be of the most value.