Expert tip: Love your acid mantle

Everyone who struggles with oily skin is aware of one thing: most of us have been fighting an almost hopeless battle against evil personified in the form of our skin's natural acid mantle since we were young. The advertising industry is fuelling the mania for perfect, clean skin even further and advises the use of harsh cleansers.

However, as is so often the case, the misconception that the acid mantle is something evil and impure has been hyped up and developed into a comprehensive advertising campaign that has lasted for decades. War was declared on natural and perfectly healthy skin and the battle was fought tooth and nail. The fact that this also combats a natural defence mechanism against bacteria and viruses of all kinds has been wrongly forgotten.

If you look at this supposedly dirty vice of mankind from a scientific point of view, you quickly realise that the "dirty oil film" is a perfectly protective layer made from the lipids of your own sebaceous glands and actually forms the top layer of your skin.

So what happens when we cleanse the skin with all the miracle products, deep-cleansing and sebum-dissolving agents? We interfere with a perfectly harmonised, functioning yet sensitive ecosystem. Even the best protection that Mother Nature has given us from a cocktail of living cells, ceramides and lipids is of no help if we treat our skin daily with washing lotions that are supposed to get rid of "oily skin".

After all, thanks to continued advertising, after interfering with the body's ecosystem, people buy enough ointments and creams to rebalance it and restore some of the skin's natural functions. A strange logic, to be sure, but that's how it works in the advertising industry.

So it's high time to confront the prevailing ignorance about the acid mantle with facts:

As the name acid mantle suggests, the pH value of this uppermost skin layer is in the acidic range between 4 and 6.5. This pH value serves to fight viruses, bacteria and other inflammation triggers on the one hand, and on the other hand prevents the skin from constantly losing water. The skin's protective acid mantle therefore fulfils important functions - reason enough to cherish and care for it!

By using alkaline products, such as most soaps, we disrupt the skin's natural functions and ensure that our protective shield is slowly but surely broken down.
The pH value of the skin then becomes too alkaline, which can result in a whole range of skin diseases: From dry skin, which sounds harmless but should not be underestimated, to chronic acne. Dry or acne-ridden skin causes the sebaceous glands to go completely crazy, leading to excessive production of the body's own sebum. The vicious circle of alkaline, harsh cleansing - increased sebum production by the skin - even harsher cleansing continues.
Fun fact: I personally estimate that 99.9999998% of conventional cleaning products in shops have the effect described.

The alternative I wouldn't be the proud founder of Stark Skincare if I couldn't recommend our products without reservation: The optimising tonic "White willow bark" is slightly acidic with a pH value of 5 to 5.5. This not only helps to maintain the body's natural protective shield and subsequently prevent diseases, but also promotes a beautiful and healthy complexion.

In general, oil-based cleansing products are ideal for daily use. Plant-based oils in particular are highly recommended as their structure is very similar to the lipid layer on human skin and are therefore very well absorbed by the body. In ancient times, olive oil was applied to the body after bathing to protect the skin from drying out and keep it supple.

We particularly recommend pure coconut oil or shea butter for cleansing, or an oil-based cleansing balm, such as our Cleansing and moisturising grapefruit balm.

You can find more information on the topics of facial oil and acne here.

The expert: Jessica LaFleur, founder of Stark Skincare

The clever and funny tree-hugger and wild child Jessica Lafleur is the founder of Stark Skincare. Her approach to plants, medicine and skincare is characterised by profound knowledge and strong intuition. The fact that all the products she develops are vegan, gluten-free, organic, fair trade and 100% biodegradable is also testament to Jessica's belief that we need to treat the earth gently and wisely. In her column, we learn about her world and always find out something new and exciting from the world of skincare.

Here you will find all Stark Skincare products.