Quick refresher to our high school chemistry class. pH is a scale that measures alkalinity-acidity with 0 being the most acidic, 14 the most alkaline and 7, the rating for water, is neutral.
Are you aware of the optimal pH, the alkaline-acid balance, of our skin? It should range between 4 and 5.5 with 5.5, slightly acidic, being the optimal rating. At a pH of 5.5, the “acid mantle” of the skin acts as a barrier to protect the skin from the growth of bacteria and fungi, and it helps prevent skin from breakouts, eczema, moisture loss, and sensitivity.
Are you aware of the pH of the skincare products that you use on your skin? One of the most knowledgable bloggers about skincare – Anastasia from Glamorable – uses litmus papers to measure the pH of the skincare products she uses. She opened my eyes to the importance of pH. I was quite shocked to discover that the pH of traditional soap is 9 – way too alkaline. Even a product like Dove is rated at 7, neutral, is still too alkaline. That’s why so many people use a toner after cleansing: to return skin to the optimal 5.5 pH.
About a month ago, I was introduced to SebaMed. In 1967, Dr. Heinz Maurer created the first soap-free commercially-produced cleansing bar with a pH of 5.5. SebaMed continues to take skin’s natural pH seriously, and has created a line of specialized skincare products all with a pH of 5.5. Sold in 85 countries around the world, SebaMed skincare products are targeted at those with sensitive skin including eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, dermatitis, aging skin, babies, and those undergoing radiation or chemotherapy. Nevertheless, SebaMed products are perfect for anyone who wants to maintain the proper pH to keep their skin healthy.
The SebaMed product line is extensive with some products coming in a variety of sizes as well as fragranced and fragrance-free versions. There are haircare, foot care, body care, facial skincare, anti-acne, and baby care products. They have “kits” made up of several related products for babies, Flawless Face, etc. SebaMed sent me their three core products:
- Liquid Face and Body Wash
- Moisturizing Face Cream
- Moisturizing Body Lotion.
SebaMed Liquid Face and Body Wash
I got a large size (13.5 fl. oz./400 ml) plastic pump bottle of Liquid Face and Body Wash. I have used it both as a face and as a body cleanser. It’s a green liqui-gel, and the version I got is fragranced. In fact, the scent reminds me of baby lotion scent.
The liqui-gel consistency is perfect for use alone or in conjunction with my Foreo Luna to wash my face or with my Michael Todd Soniclear to use in the shower as a body wash. It is low sudsing, very gentle and easy to rinse. Since it has a pH of 5.5, it doesn’t leave my skin feeling tight like other cleansers can. I definitely like this cleanser! Price: $14.99
Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Chloride, Laureth-2, Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Glycol Distearate, Fragrance (Parfum), Saccharide Isomerate, Allantoin, Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Pyridoxine HCI (Vitamin B6), Glycine, Magnesium Aspartate, Alanine, Lysine, Leucine, Biotin (Vitamin H), Glycerin, Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate, Sodium Citrate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sorbitan Laurate, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Yellow 10 (CI 47005), Blue 1 (CI 42090)
SebaMed Moisturizing Face Cream
The Moisturizing Face Cream is a very lightweight white cream that absorbs instantly to a matte finish, and it leaves my skin still feeling soft, velvety smooth and hydrated. It contains vitamin E for hydration and protection from antioxidants. It works very well under primer and foundation. The version I received is fragranced, and it has a fresh scent that disappears after about a minute. The plastic jar contains 2.6 oz. for $14.99, but I believe it’s available in other sizes.
Ingredients: Water (Aqua), petrolatum, myreth-3 myristate, glycerin, cetearyl alcohol, tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), ceteareth-20, dimethicone, sodium PCA, sodium citrate, sodium carbomer, Fragrance (parfum), benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol
For my super dry skin, SebaMed Moisturizing Face Cream does provide softness and moisture, and I know I will be reaching for a lot in the warmer weather. Right now in the dead of winter, I prefer a dewier finish on my skin. However, SebaMed has several other moisturizer options that I would choose for winter in Boston: Age Defense Q10 Protection Cream, Anti-Dry Day Defence Cream, Visio Hydrating Cream with HA.
SebaMed Moisturizing Body Lotion
I haven’t used a real body lotion in a long time, and I must say it’s a breeze to apply. It comes in a flip-top plastic bottle, and the lotion comes out easily. The gets absorbed into my skin easily, and has no dreaded white cast that would need to be worked in. It feels rich and hydrating on my dry skin.
Again, I received a fragranced lotion, and it is a fresh but somewhat strong scent that fades pretty quickly.
The 6.8 fl. oz./200 ml flip-top bottle is priced at $14.99. Larger sizes comes in pump bottles, and they are much more economical. You can get 400 ml, twice as much, for $19.99.
Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sorbitol, Hexyldecanol, Hexyldecyl Laurate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Allantoin, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Sodium Citrate, Xanthan Gum, Dimethicone, Fragrance (Parfum), Alcohol Denat, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate
Final Thoughts
SebaMed is a cruelty free, affordable, no nonsense skincare brand that’s made in Germany and sold around the world. In my area, SebaMed is sold at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. It is perfect for cleansing and hydrating sensitive skin and skin conditions. And it’s great for maintaining skin’s acid mantle at the proper pH for anyone.
I like all three products that I received though I would prefer fragrance-free. If I weren’t testing out skincare products all the time for my blog, I would buy the affordable gigantic (1000 ml!!!) Fragrance-free Gentle Hydrating Cleanser and Gentle Hydrating Lotion and be set for life, lol! Nevertheless, I am enjoying using the scented supremely gentle skincare products that I received. I really like the idea and the practice of using a cleanser and moisturizer on my face that are the proper pH for skin health.
Are you familiar with SebaMed? Have you tried any of their products yet?
Now this is a brand that I haven’t seen for a long time! It’s very popular back in Malaysia too but personally i have never tried anything from them. I have been really loving the affordable Cerave Moisturizing Cream as well, I’ve been using it every night and I wake up to the smoothest, softest skin every morning!
How interesting that SebaMed is a big brand in Malaysia! I’m really liking the products: simple but super gentle. And speaking of Cerave, I got a sample of the eye cream in an Ipsy bag a few months ago, and fell in love with it. I bought a full size, and it’s waiting in the wings for me to finish up some eye cream that I’ve been using lately.
I love using the the wash as a body wash in the shower. I also really love their lip balm! I will have to try the wash on my face with my FOREO Luna!
I like the Liquid as body wash too, but I got tired of bringing it back and forth between the shower and bathroom vanity so now I mostly use it on my face since I am most concerned with the pH there. Curious to hear what you think about using it with the Luna!
I’ve used them in the past!
I’ve never tried this brand before and will have to check it out. pH is definitely important with skincare. Several products are made at the wrong pH so they don’t actually work properly in spite of containing key ingredients.
Yes, that can be true. I’m surprised that most skincare manufacturers don’t take pH into consideration.
I tried Sebamed once but just couldn’t get past the weird medicinal smell — I just didn’t love it. 🙁
I received scented SebaMed products, and fortunately, the scents faded. But they do have fragrance-free products now, and I would have preferred to try those.
I used their face wash and shampoo for years as a teen. The anti-dandruff shampoo in particular was very good to my scalp.
That’s good to know, Renu. In fact, I am surprised at how many non-Americans have known SebaMed for years!
I’ve heard of SebaMed, it’s such a solid brand. The prices are great, too, for what you get!
I can’t believe that I had never heard of it. Though the products are “no-frills”, they are really nice to use!
you had me at 5.5
LOL. It is interesting to know especially if you have sensitive skin or other skin issues.
I never really thought about the pH of my skin. But it sounds like I need to give it some thought. Great educational read!
Thanks, Kristi! Yes, give it some thought and read some more about it. If your skin is not sensitive, it may not be as big an issue for you. One of these days, I need to get some litmus strips and take a reading of my skin after using a variety of facial skincare products and see if it changes the reading.
Nice to know this old brand resurfaced again. I’m surprised though that they still use petrolatum, while it’s considered a standard in keeping skin hydrated and somewhat “safe”, this is one of the ingredients I avoid especially for my face.
I don’t have any trouble using petrolatum, and I happen to be using it straight right now for an itchy eye due to blepharitis. But like you, I was surprised to see petrolatum in the moisturizer ingredient list. The Moisturizing Face Cream is so lightweight, I was surprised that petrolatum is in it and toward the front of the list. Because I was so surprised at the “old school” ingredient, I actually went through the ingredient lists of a number of the other, more specialized skincare products, and none of them have petrolatum in them. I’m thinking that Moisturizing Face Cream is one of their older products. I still like it, and I think I’ll like it even more in the summer because it feels like a souffle on my skin.
My mom swears by this brand. Glad to see it’s making a come back. I’ve never tried it personally.
Thanks for weighing in, Natoya! I’m glad to know that your mom has had good results with SebaMed. Although it is a “no-frills” brand, more of their newer products are made with great anti-aging ingredients yet they’re still pH 5.5 and perfect for keeping skin healthy. Sometime, try it! You may surprise yourself!
Sounds nice, I love that more companies have options for sensitive skin!
I agree! Plus the importance of pH 5.5 for skin lacks awareness. I hope I managed to get that point across too.
I’ve heard so many people really love this product line and its one that I always mean to look into! When Summer hits here, I think this will be a great product line to try for once!
If you have sensitive skin or rosacea, it’s definitely a brand that should be on your radar!
I used to use these all the time!
That’s good that you know about SebaMed too. I think the whole pH 5.5 thing is something that not enough people know about.
I have a bar cleanser from Sebamed that I use for traveling!
I should pick one up for my upcoming trip! Good idea
Yay! It’s nice to finally see someone mention pH in skincare. I currently use CosRx Good Morning cleanser (or something like that). It has a pH of 3, which is a great prep step before acids.
Courtney, you are clearly more advanced than I in terms of knowing how to use and layer skincare products with different pH in order to maintain skin’s proper pH. I need to do more research on this!
I used SebaMed a long time ago when I was living in Turkey. In fact the bar cleanser had been recommended to me by a doctor! It’s the kind of no-nonsense brand that I really like for basics such as cleansers and lotions.
I wonder what my skins ph balance is! I had no idea about it
I’m tempted to try that cleanser!
I was actually just at Walgreens today and did not see this product. I wish that I had because I would have picked one of the moisturizers up to try. I’m about to run out of my Paula’s Choice and I don’t want to place another order yet until I need another product as well. So I want to try out a few other moisturizers while I’m waiting. The litmus paper test is an amazing idea and one that I had no idea you could even do and I went to Cosmetology School!
Oh, boo, that they didn’t have SebaMed at the Walgreen’s store. There’s a 20% off sale at walgreens.com going on now with the code SITEWIDE, but I’m not sure what the deal is with shipping costs. I also have a couple of things, or at least one, that I must buy from Paula’s Choice, but I’m either waiting for a sale on paulaschoice.com or on dermstore.com. I haven’t done the litmus paper test myself yet, but Anastasia does it all the time. I wish there was a store where I could buy some litmus paper or a chemistry lab I could raid!!
Glad to know the face wash is baby lotion scented, no thank you! The other items sound nice with their fresh scent though so I will have to check those out.
I once received a sample sized sebamed lotion. It was great having it in my purse when I was traveling to a colder climate.
Sounds like nice products!
I appreciate that Sebamed knows the importance of low pH for cleansers. Disturbing the acid mantle is one of the worst things people unknowingly do to their skin.
This is a really interesting brand, I will have to look into them.
Especially for the cleanser, it is so worth while to keep your skin’s acid mantle where it should be!
Sounds like some good face products.
The pH balanced part makes the SebaMed skincare products outstanding in my book!
This isn’t something that I’ve ever thought about before but will have to look into.
It’s worthwhile to consider maintaining the correct pH on your face. I think the cleanser is the most important.
This is such an informative post! I know that skin needs a good pH balance but I don’t follow it. It seems like using this line is a fool proof way to keep skin in check!
I wish every company would put the pH of the product on the label like this! It would make life so much easier.
I agree, Stacie. Without it, it’s almost impossible to know the pH and the effect it’s having on our skin