The abbreviation pH comes from "potentia hydrogenii," literally "the power of hydrogen'. By this, pH refers to the concentration of hydrogen ions or acidity. It is expressed on a scale of 1 to 14.
When a product is pH neutral, it has a value of around 7. The higher the value, the more acidic the product. More specifically, anything with a pH value above 7 is acidic and anything with a pH value below 7 is basic or alkaline.
pH neutral vs. pH skin neutral.
By nature, the skin's pH is between 4 and 6. So the skin is slightly acidic. This is how the skin protects itself from infections, irritations, redness, dehydration, allergies,.... .
So it is important that cosmetics do not unbalance the skin's acidity and thus respect the skin's pH. Colloquially, we say that cosmetics should be pH neutral but actually we mean that cosmetics should be pH skin neutral. More specifically, it is recommended to avoid products with a pH higher than 9 and lower than 5.
The pH level of all Oh, Baby! products is around 5.5 and is therefore pH skin neutral. Thus, Oh, Baby! keeps baby's skin pH balanced and protects the skin from irritation.
