Things to Consider while Choosing Soaps

To keep your skin clean & healthy, cleaning is the most important step to be taken; cleansing removes dirt, sweat, sebum, microorganisms, dead cells and cosmetics too from your skin surface. For the skin to look healthy and glowing, its uppermost layer (called stratum corneum )should contain more than 10 % of the total water content of the body. But due to several reasons the water content will be reduced from this layer. And we already know that Soaps and cleansers are the most used essentials for skin hygiene. But while choosing one, have you ever thought if it provides you the benefits that it’s actually supposed to?

There are three factors to be considered in soaps; the pH content, tallow content and the irritable score of the soap.

Most of soaps are alkaline in nature; however, lesser the alkalinity , milder the soap . Normal pH of the skin is 4.5 to 5.5. This acidic pH changes to alkaline due to application of soap if their ph is above 7.Many a times to make the soaps neutral, certain emulsifiers are added, which cleanse and do little damage to the skin. Deodorant or anti-microbicidal bars have added anti-bacterial agent to eradicate bacteria. These soaps have a pH range of 9 to 10 and may cause skin irritation. Soaps with a moisturizing base contains agents like lanolin or glycerine. Their pH range is five to seven, thus they are non-irritant and good for dry skin. Soap free soaps have synthetic detergent as their base and are preferred for sensitive skin. An important point is that no soap is safe for the skin throughout one’s life. As one keeps growing older, the skin also changes its texture. Hence you must also keep changing the soap used to keep pace with the changing nature of the skin.

Lipid free cleansers or face washes contain water, glycerine and acetyl alcohol and do not contain any fat. They clean without soap formation and leave a thin moisturizing film. They are good for sensitive and photo aged skin. Cleansing creams are oil-based products, which remove grease and cosmetics from your outer skin by dissolving it in more oil; preferably good for dry skin. Cleansing lotions are water-based products that are good for normal and dry skin. Since it’s water based, it can be easily rinsed with water and is commonly sold as pore cleanser. Abrasive scrubs aid in removing dead cells and control excess sebum secretion. They are mechanical exfoliates made of granules in form of aluminium oxide, ground fruit pits etc.