Can the pH of your soaps damage my skin?Updated 10 days ago

While our soaps, like all other skin cleansers, can wash off your "natural skin barrier" or acid mantle, rest assured that they're safe for continued daily use. Regardless of whether the product is acidic or alkaline (like our soaps), all soaps and cleansers use the power of micelle formation to remove the acid mantle. Since everyone’s acid mantle is in a constant state of regeneration, it will always return to its natural state in 30 - 90 minutes. When using our soaps, this disruption to your acid mantle is very minor and won't cause damage to your skin.

Although our Organic Sugar Soaps and Pure-Castile Liquid Soaps are quite alkaline, with a pH of 8.0 - 10.0, no cleanser can change the pH of your skin, causing permanent damage to your acidic mantle. 

Beyond this, all of the base oils used in our soaps (coconut, palm/palm kernel, and olive oil) are refined, bleached, and deodorized. As these oils are completely saponified into soap during the soapmaking process, this treatment removes unwanted impurities and compounds from the oil that cannot be saponified. The organic refining treatment also makes a cleaner oil in color and smell, resulting in a more neutral soap.

Check out Lisa Bronner's blog post, Skin Health, pH, and Dr. Bronner’s Soap, where she dives deeper into this topic, discussing the various aspects of your skin's pH and how to ensure its health.

*Should you have any health concerns, Dr. Bronner's always recommends that you consult with a primary care doctor, as they can help determine the products that may be more suitable for you or your child's body.