The importance of using pH balanced products

[SopphireGem]

Hey everyone!

I've found these pages which have very interesting information about using pH balanced shampoo/conditioner if you're interested :)

http://www.thankyourbody.com/ph-balanced-shampoo-recipe/

http://www.wikihow.com/Balance-pH-in-Hair-Naturally

http://www.curlynikki.com/2012/03/importance-of-ph-balance-in-beauty.html

[rach]

Thanks , very interesting and explains rather allot in more of an understanding way.

[ladyfey]

Someone else posted something about this and it was wonderfully helpful for me. I changed to a pH 4.5 shampoo and no longer need to use medicated shampoo for seborrheic dermatitis. My skin loves it too!

[Wisé]

Thanks for the helpful info!
What I really found interesting was the part about rinsing last in the shower being actually on the alkaline side for hair (I was always feeling comfortable about it, because "of course it's neutral") and as such maybe not the best choice for some hair types.
Off to check the pH of my LI-conditioner

[Tini'sNewHair]

(I havent yet checked the links but i will as soon as i have free time! so thank you!) --- I dont understand, how do i check the ph level on my shampoo? It says no mention of it anywhere on the bottle, no numbers to say how high it is. Im having huge problems with flakey/dandruf/oily scalp which forces me to wash every second day at least. Im desspretly looking for SOMETHING to ease this problem already :(

[biogirl87]

(I havent yet checked the links but i will as soon as i have free time! so thank you!) --- I dont understand, how do i check the ph level on my shampoo? It says no mention of it anywhere on the bottle, no numbers to say how high it is. Im having huge problems with flakey/dandruf/oily scalp which forces me to wash every second day at least. Im desspretly looking for SOMETHING to ease this problem already :(Tini, on Natural Haven blog there is a post about the pH level of shampoos, and similar posts about conditioners and leave-ins/stylers. If I remember correctly, many brands of drugstore shampoos that are listed there have the pH or around 5, which is pretty close to being pH balanced for your scalp. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Interestingly enough, when people say that water has a pH of 7, I think they have to be talking about super hard water that has a lot of calcium and hydroxide salts dissolved in it. When I was in college as an undergrad, we did an experiment where we measured the pH level of distilled water. In lab conditions, the distilled water has a pH of about 5, which is pretty acidic. Since soft water does not have many minerals dissolved in it or has no minerals dissolved in it, it would not surprise me if soft water is acidic as well. Just wanted to let everyone know since I think we cannot generalise that all water has a neutral pH (pH of 7).

[sofo]

In Sweden where I live drinking water has to have a pH in the range of 7.5 - 9 to be considered safe. So I think its fairly ok to assume the water has a pH above 7. If the pH is too low the water will taste metallic and be corrosive on piping.

[SopphireGem]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for checking out the links I posted and thanks for all your comments :) They are very interesting :D

Here's a link to a video about the pH of 4 products some people use on their hair undiluted and diluted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBP7CzoiLbQ&list=FL99EHt1suYgo1L_kkDqBwuA&index=1
It's amazing how you can use a tiny amount of each of them diluted in water and they still have strong pHs!

Check out the other videos on her channel about pH balancing: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5532B6CD987E1D88

[night owl]

I went to the Natural Haven blog to see the lists, so I thought I might as well post the links to the info here:

Shampoo: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/02/ph-of-shampoo-ultimate-list.html

Conditioners: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/02/ph-of-conditioners.html

Leave-ins and styling aids: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/03/ph-of-leave-in-conditioners-and-styling.html

[Anje]

Interestingly enough, when people say that water has a pH of 7, I think they have to be talking about super hard water that has a lot of calcium and hydroxide salts dissolved in it. When I was in college as an undergrad, we did an experiment where we measured the pH level of distilled water. In lab conditions, the distilled water has a pH of about 5, which is pretty acidic. Since soft water does not have many minerals dissolved in it or has no minerals dissolved in it, it would not surprise me if soft water is acidic as well. Just wanted to let everyone know since I think we cannot generalise that all water has a neutral pH (pH of 7).
I've noticed this myself, and I can give you 2 reasons for it.

First, CO2 is fairly soluble in water and unlike other gasses, it reacts with the water to form a small amount of carbonic acid. Since pure water is pathetic at buffering, even a very tiny amount will drive down the pH. You'll find that if you leave distilled water sitting out and exposed to air, it gets more acidic over time after the distillation process.

Second and very practically, when you distill water (less if you deionize it, as most universities actually do, though one small one of mine did distill it) it leaves a mess of previously dissolved substances like lime behind on your distillation equipment. Easiest way to clean all that of your expensive glass distillation setup is to periodically wash it in acid. Even with many rinses, even the tiniest amount of acid left can skew how the water reads to a pH meter, again owing to the lack of all buffering in distilled water.

[Firefox7275]

Hey everyone!

I've found these pages which have very interesting information about using pH balanced shampoo/conditioner if you're interested :)

http://www.thankyourbody.com/ph-balanced-shampoo-recipe/

http://www.wikihow.com/Balance-pH-in-Hair-Naturally

http://www.curlynikki.com/2012/03/importance-of-ph-balance-in-beauty.html

'pH balanced' doesn't necessarily have any meaning, AFAIK it's not a regulated term and I've seen it on those which are pH 7 or neutral. You actually want pH appropriate products: roughly 4.5 for hair and 5.5 for skin which is fairly acidic.

[stardust lady]

I've decided to resurrect this incredibly old thread since I've been on a little pH adventure these past couple of weeks, discussing it mainly in the "questions that don't deserve their own thread" thread, and realized this topic does deserve it's own thread (which already exists). I had been searching for a while for credible sources for pH ranges of products. I kind of got started on this when I switched my face cleanser from one with pH 6-7 to one at 5.5 and noticed an improvement in irritation. I then started to wonder if the reason my scalp often felt irritated could be related. My interest was further piqued when I realized that it also affects the hair itself quite a bit by having an effect on the friction between hair fibers (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4158629/) and the opening/closing of the cuticle(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387693/ - also noteworthy section on oils that states: "Oils play an important role in protecting hair from damage. Some oils can penetrate the hair and reduce the amount of water absorbed in the hair, leading to a lowering of swelling.[26] This can result in lower hygral fatigue (repeated swelling and drying), a factor that can damage hair. The oil can fill the gap between the cuticle cells and prevent the penetration of the aggressive substances such as surfactants into the follicle. Applying oil on a regular basis can enhance lubrication of the shaft and help prevent hair breakage. Rele and Mohile in 2003, studied the properties of mineral oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil on hair.[27] Among three oils, coconut oil was the only oil found to reduce the protein loss for both undamaged and damaged hair when used as a prewash and postwash grooming product.")

I had reached out to various companies to find out the pH ranges for their products and this is what I have collected so far:

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo:
6.0-7.0
Ion Hard Water Shampoo:
4.0-7.0
Malibu C Hard Water Wellness Shampoo:
4.5-5.5
Neutrogena T/Sal Shampoo:
3.6-4.3
As I Am Classic Leave-in Conditioner:
5.5
SebaMed Everyday Shampoo:
5.5
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Triple Detox Shampoo:
5.5-6.5

I was looking for a shampoo with a pH of exactly 5.5 (I purchased the SebaMed, which is advertised as being exactly 5.5) since that will be the friendliest for my scalp, and I'm continuing to use my 3.0-3.5 pH conditioner (Paul Mitchell - The Detangler). I was also trying to find a leave-in that was more acidic to lay down the cuticle, but I've decided to not use any leave-in products, but that is why I have the As I Am leave-in product in that list above. I'm curious if anybody has any more information or factors to consider as far as more acidic products, like for instance ACV rinses are considered helpful but many people report that they are drying - why is that? Are people not diluting it enough?

I found this source for material safety data sheets (which list the pH in the documents themselves if you scroll down a few pages) which covers many brands and products. I have been poking around the internet for this information and just stumbled upon this (mods, I hope that this is OK for me to post?): http://msds.fssalons.com/MSDS/ Hopefully someone else here finds this useful.


Anyways, I'd love to discuss this more with anyone who is more educated on the topic, since I've only recently started researching it, but I just find it really interesting.