What Soap Does To Your Skin?

Depending on the types of cleaners you use, washing your face can often cause more harm than good.

Soaps and facial cleansers are designed to remove dirt, sweat sebum, and oils from the skin. They do so with the use of surfactants, chemical agents that surround dirt and oil, dissolving them and making it easier for water to wash them away.

They also aid in the skin’s natural exfoliating process by removing dead cells from the epidermis.

Surfactants have many different functions,they act as :

-detergents, 

-wetting agents,

-foaming agents, 

-conditioning agents, 

-emulsifiers, 

-solubilizers. 

In addition to soaps and facial cleansers, surfactants can also be found in :

-lotions, 

-perfume, 

-shampoo, 

-multitude of other hair and body products.

While the surfactants found in soap are meant to leave the skin feeling fresh and clean, it’s not always the case. Some surfactants have an adverse effect on the outermost layer of the epidermis called the stratum corneum, not only causing the three signs of damage (dryness, redness, irritation) but undermining the skin’s natural barrier function.

By doing so, toxins, bacteria, and other unhealthy substances are able to penetrate deeper into the skin where they can do long-term harm.

How Soaps Affects the Biology of Our Skin

The stratum corneum is made up of layers of dead keratinocytes, or protein cells, that are constantly being shed. Once a single layer of keratinocytes reaches the outermost layer, they become corneocytes.

When this happens, the cell loses its nucleus and cytoplasm and becomes hard and dry. Surfactants bind to these proteins and over-hydrate them, causing them to swell. The swelling allows the cleanser ingredients to more easily penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin, where they can interact with nerve endings and the immune system itself, leading to itching and irritation.

Moreover, as the water evaporates from the skin, the corneocytes become even drier than ever as the surfactants effectively strip the skin of its natural moisturizing factor (NMF).

The Effects of Surfactants on Lipids

The stratum corneum also contains lipids that help skin retain moisture. While the exact effect of cleansers on these fat cells is still not fully understood, it is believed that surfactants are able to get in between and disrupt the lipid bilayers. These are the fat cells that surround and provide a protective barrier for all cells.

When this happens, the cells can become more permeable and vulnerable to damage. Surfactants can also damage the lipid structures themselves, causing a reduction in the fats within the external skin layers

Soaps and pH Levels

Surfactants are broadly divided into two categories: soap-based surfactants and synthetic, detergent-based surfactants (also known as syndets).

Soap-based cleansers tend to have a pH level of around 10, making them much more alkaline than syndets, which typically have pH of 7 or lower. By their very nature, higher pH levels lead to irritation by causing an imbalance with skin’s own natural pH of 5.5.

Soap

Advice

Liquid facial cleansers and body washes are usually better choices since they tend to have a lower pH and often include moisturizers called emollients that can counteract any dryness traditional soaps can cause.

When washing, avoid hot, scalding water and try not to soak the skin for prolonged periods of time. This only increases dryness by stripping even more of the skin’s NMF. When finished, always pat your skin dry as opposed to rubbing it vigorously.


What kind of soap do you use for your skin?Comment below.

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