Hi, I’m Mia. Five years ago,  I learned that our skin has a protective barrier or acid mantle. As the name implies, it has a pH that is slightly acidic between 4.5 and 5.5.

I was surprised to learn our skin does better with a lower pH  and it is not a secret. Everyone from Dr Oz to Elle magazine to Women’s Health know and have written about this. I was left wondering why pH isn’t a point of marketing and differentiation for beauty products? A lot of beauty bloggers talk about this but still, very few products actually include their pH level on their packaging. In googling products, I couldn’t find many bloggers who included pH information in their reviews.

So I bought some pH strips and tested the four facial cleansers I had in my bathroom and found that two of them had a neutral pH. I was surprised that my go-to cleanser at the time had a pH of 7!

Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time looking for new products with the right pH. Sometimes a skincare brand advertises their products as “pH balanced”–I have no idea what this means. Does that mean the pH in general is neutral (i.e., 7) or does it mean that the product is pH balanced for the skin (i.e., 5.5)? So I had to buy  products myself and test them. If the pH was too high, I had to eat the cost or go through the hassle of returning the product.

I started this blog not so much as a review site about the products in general but to let people know the  pH before they buy it. Please note that because of the nature of the pH strips I use (basically eyeballing it to determine which color it most closely matches on the scale), you may get a different result than I do. I consider what I report to be general estimates to see if  products are on the acidic side of the pH scale. Eventually, I’ll create a list of the products I’ve tested that had a neutral or alkaline pH. But for the time being, you can find these on twitter. I tweet the pH level of every product I test. [Update January 2019: I recently purchased an Apera pH meter.]

I also include the ingredients list of the products I review because I typically do not use products with silicones in them and spend a good amount of time googling product ingredient lists as well. Note that the ingredients lists I include may not be accurate either because of the original source (e.g., another blog) or because the manufacturer has updated the ingredients.

Please note that any Amazon links included in the site are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Also, please be aware that I am not a medical professional in any way, nor do I work in the fields of chemistry or biology. This is my personal blog and my reviews are merely my opinion. I am not allergic to any ingredients that I know of and I do not have very sensitive skin. It is possible that you could have a different result using the exact same products that I do. This blog is not a substitute for medical advice so if you are in doubt, please ask your physician for product recommendations.

All the products reviewed on this site have been purchased by me. My opinions are not biased due to my receiving products as gifts or because I am being paid to review them. It is one thing to like a product because it was free (or because you are delighted to receive a gift) and another to like a product that you spent your hard-earned money to buy it.