5 Popular Natural Ingredients That Are Actually Hurting Your Skin

How many times have you seen baking soda in a DIY skincare recipe on Pinterest? Or lemon juice recommendation for fading acne scars?

They're everywhere!

If you were to listen to most of the skincare advice online, you would surely find some of the ingredients that I am about to advise against. However, bad skincare advice is bad no matter how many times people repeat it.

If you know me, you know how much I LOVE natural skincare (think manuka honey, oats, etc), but some natural ingredients should never come near your face!

Those ingredients are indeed all natural, non-toxic, and otherwise harmless, except that they seriously disrupt the delicate balance of your skin – its pH and skin barrier.

Why? Let's dive right in.

HEALTHY SKIN IS A SLIGHTLY ACIDIC SKIN

When our skin is healthy, it will have a slightly acidic pH (4.5 – 5.5). When we consistently disrupt its optimal pH, our skin will be unhealthy, and won't look its best, no matter what else we do to improve its appearance.

But what exactly is pH?

pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity of an aqueous solution. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 0 being the most acidic and 14 being the most alkaline. 7 is neutral, as is the pH of pure water.

pH scale is actually a logarithmic scale, which means that a unit is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times more acidic than pH 6.

When substances with a different pH level come into contact with your skin, they affect its pH. Unfortunately, our skin needs to endure many such assaults from the environment on a daily basis: sun exposure, wind, tap water (hard water is alkaline), harsh exfoliation and over cleansing.

Even mild soaps have a pH of 9-11, which is up to a million times more alkaline than your skin!

The skin's natural mechanisms can eventually bring back its pH into balance. However, we need to be sure we are treating our skin with products that support that balance so that it is able to do its job and look beautiful!

WHY YOUR SKIN NEEDS TO BE PH-BALANCED TO BE HEALTHY AND CLEAR

Skin Hydration

The water content in your skin and its pH are shown to be of prime importance in the regulation of the skin's natural exfoliation process and synthesis of lipids. Lipids are oily substances that lock the moisture into your skin, keeping it moisturized and smooth naturally. When your skin is too alkaline, it doesn't have sufficient lipids to keep it hydrated, which makes it look dryish and dull. 

Natural exfoliation process

The outer layer of your skin, the one you can touch, is called stratum corneum (SC). It consists of dead skin cells (corneocytes) and a lipid matrix that holds these cells like a glue. There are about 18-30 layers of those dead skin cells. Desquamation is an ongoing natural exfoliation process that happens all the time, without you having to do anything.

Dead skin cells that have served their purpose simply shed off your skin, exposing a new layer of cells. This keeps your skin naturally smooth. However, this process only happens correctly when your skin has the optimal pH and moisture levels!

Slowing down skin aging

Your skin's pH is vital to keeping it hydrated, which in turn impacts how well your skin ages. Our skin gets naturally more alkaline as we get older. Keeping the proper acidity of our skin, therefore, helps to prevent fine lines and wrinkles.

Protection against skin infections

Acidic pH creates an environment in which foreign microorganisms cannot survive, protecting your skin from bacterial and fungal infections. Additionally, various oily substances on your skin play a role in activating certain cells of the immune system, strengthening the local immune defenses against pathogens.

If the pH is disrupted, the skin becomes more permeable to the pathogens and other irritants, which can result in a skin infection or irritation. With a strong skin barrier, your skin will also be less prone to conditions like dermatitis and eczema.

Less prone to acne

When our pores get clogged, this is when the acne bacteria C. acnes can grow, resulting in red, swollen acne. However, alkaline skin makes it much easier for acne bacteria to grow and cause inflammation that results in acne.

Oily skin has a higher pH (due to the extra sebum) than normal skin and is more susceptible to infection since bacteria can grow and develop in an alkaline environment. Consistently disrupting the pH of oily skin can quickly turn into a vicious cycle of acne and even oilier skin.

Related: How To Get Rid Of Oily Skin Naturally

Less sensitive skin

With a strong skin barrier and the optimal pH level, your skin will also be less sensitive. When the skin barrier is disrupted, all of the irritants, pollutants, and pathogens can more easily get to your skin, causing inflammation and irritation!

But, can't your skin just bounce back to its normal pH and restore its skin barrier?

That's true, it can. Just how quickly, it depends on the state of your skin, where it is on the body, etc. It might take hours before your skin regains its balance, and then we usually go in with yet another product and stop this rebalancing in its tracks.

In fact, daily use of alkaline products over time can impact your skin's ability to re-establish the correct pH. This makes your skin chronically alkaline, disrupting all the beneficial processes that depend upon the acidic pH.

The key to having a healthy, glowing skin is to keep your skin's pH in balance.

5 NATURAL INGREDIENTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY BAD FOR YOUR SKIN 

1. LEMON JUICE

You often hear that you should use lemon juice because vitamin C is good for the skin, right? That might be very tempting, but lemons do NOT equal pure vitamin C!

Lemons are made up of thousands of different substances (just like any other fruit), some of which can be very irritating to the skin. For example, they contain furocoumarins (psoralens), chemicals with photo-mutagen properties. When exposed to UV light, psoralens react in a way that causes DNA damage in the skin cells, leaving permanent damage and can even burn the skin. Lemon juice also contains some other potentially irritating substances, such as limonene and citral.

Lemon juice is also highly acidic! It has a ph of just 2, which is about a thousand times more acidic than your skin. Because of this, lemon juice is disruptive of the skin's protective barrier, leaving your skin dehydrated and more prone to irritations, acne, and aging.

2. UNDILUTED APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Apple cider vinegar has some amazing properties that can benefit the skin, like rebalancing of its pH when the skin is too alkaline. However, bear in mind that its pH is just below 3, so using it undiluted will disrupt your skin barrier and might be doing more damage than good.

If you are inclined to trying it out, I suggest diluting 1tbsp of ACV with 1/2 of water. Also, make sure to use only raw and unfiltered ACV.

3. BAKING SODA

While lemon juice and pure apple cider vinegar break down your skin barrier and disrupt your skin's pH because of their extreme acidity, baking soda will do that because it is ten thousand times more alkaline than your skin's normal pH level!

Washing or exfoliating your skin with baking soda can also disrupt the natural bacteria on the surface of your skin that helps to prevent the infections and acne.

Furthermore, baking soda is a mechanical exfoliant, and its alkalinity breaks down your skin barrier even more once the protective dead skin cells are removed upon exfoliation.

Related: 5 Reasons Why I Don't Wash My Face In The Morning

4. OLIVE OIL

Olive oil can also disrupt your skin's protective barrier, leaving your skin exposed to irritation. One study, which examined the impact of topical oils on the skin barrier, discovered that olive oil slowed down the healing of the skin. The research was carried out on mice, which have very similar skin barriers as humans. The results showed that olive oil “significantly delayed recovery of barrier function compared with untreated skin”.

Another study from 2013 involved adult volunteers who were asked to apply six drops of olive oil to their forearms twice a day for five weeks. When the experiment was over, the results showed a weakening of the skin barrier function and mild skin irritation.

The research team concluded that “topical treatment with olive oil significantly damages the skin barrier”. I love using oils in my skincare, but it has to be said that some should definitely be avoided!

5. SUGAR AND SALT (AND OTHER HARSH ABRASIVES)

This one could actually include all of the harsh mechanical exfoliants, including sugar, salt, nut kernels, etc.

While some might say that sugar isn't too bad and that its crystals are much gentler than those of salt, it is still too harsh to be used regularly on your face. Remember, anything harsh will disrupt your skin barrier!

When it comes to the skin on your body, you can normally be a little more abrasive with your treatments, and use salt and sugar in your DIY scrubs. However, I would definitely keep them away from your face.

FINAL THOUGHTS

When choosing natural skincare, we need to be extra careful, because some of the substances are simply too harsh for our delicate skin. There are plenty of wonderful natural ingredients to choose from, so there is no need to reach for the ones that are highly disruptive of your skin's pH and its protective barrier.

Remember, the skin's optimal pH and robust skin barrier are what keeps your skin looking smooth and beautiful – effortlessly.

In radiant skin health,

Sara

Are you in your 20s or 30s, and tired of still struggling with acne and breakouts? There is so much misinformation about the right skincare for getting clear skin, and caring for sensitive acne-prone skin. This is why I made a FREE online course where you will find little-known skin healing secrets you won't usually hear from the skincare industry or dermatologists. And yet, they WORK.

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About Sara

Hi there! My name is Sara. I am a molecular biologist who has spent 15 years figuring out the perfect skin care for sensitive, acne-prone skin and now I want to teach you all about it!