Its funny I only thought of this recently, and I’m not sure if its ever been brought up here before.
Skin pH, such a simple thought when it comes to skin and scalp/hair health.
"Your skin is protected by a thin layer known as the acid mantle. It is film of amino and lactic acids that are responsible for keeping in lipids and moisture while blocking germs, pollution, toxins, and bacteria.
Science has demonstrated that the acid mantle should be slightly acidic, at a 5.5 pH balance. When it’s too alkaline, skin becomes dry and sensitive. You can suffer from dry and sensitive skin and may even get eczema. When your skin is alkaline it inhibits the ability to fight off matrix metalloproteinases (MMP’s). These enzymes destroy collagen and causing wrinkles and sagging."
About Skin pH and Why It Matters
You might be surprised to learn that a healthy skin pH is more on the acidic side. With more acidity, your skin can combat harmful microbes and damaging free radicals that might increase the aging process.
Skin pH varies depending on the area of your body. Lesser exposed areas, such as the buttocks, armpitsTrusted Source, and genital area, tend to maintain their natural acidity
Natural skin surface pH is on average below 5, which is beneficial for its resident flora
It is demonstrated that skin with pH values below 5.0 is in a better condition than skin with pH values above 5.0, as shown by measuring the biophysical parameters of barrier function, moisturization and scaling. The effect of pH on adhesion of resident skin microflora was also assessed; an acid skin pH (4-4.5) keeps the resident bacterial flora attached to the skin, whereas an alkaline pH (8-9) promotes the dispersal from the skin
Looking at a possible link here,
Specific metabolic features allow P. acnes/C. acnes to colonise the hostile lipid‐rich sebaceous follicle environment and protect skin from other harmful pathogens to preserve the stability of resident skin microbiota.3, 4 In particular, it can degrade triglycerides present in sebum to generate short‐chain fatty acids, including propionic acid, which accumulation participates in the maintenance of an acid skin pH.
Another possible joke coming from Accutane, kill off or greatly decrease the very thing protecting us.