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SKINCARE DECODED • 34 CLEANSERS • 35

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Mr. Micelle vs. Stratum Corneum

While the science is relatively straightforward (we hope!), creating the perfect

cleanser is a bit of an art. The ideal cleanser would only interact with the

dirt and leave your stratum corneum alone. Unfortunately, some surfactants

aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. Some great-seeming surfactants can

actually attach to your SC proteins and lipids, causing you skin to have that

“stripped” dryness postcleansing. There are some folks that end up confusing

“super clean” as “stripped bare,” that’s definitely not the goal!

In addition to SC interaction, your cleanser can disrupt your SC’s acid

mantle. This isn’t an actual, physical mantle. The term refers to the lightly

acidic environment of your SC and this acidity plays a role in SC’s overall

health. In fact, higher skin pH has been linked to the disruption of bacteria

on skin and is a characteristic of skin problems such as eczema and atopic

dermatitis. Unfortunately, many cleansers, including good ol’ soap, have very

high pH that can be irritating to those with compromised skin.

This is where the chemists come in! Each cleanser you see on the market

is the hundredth trial of a chemist carefully balancing stability, support

ingredients, cleansing power, irritation potential, and user experience, so

read on! We will introduce some key ingredients to look for so you, too, can

hack your cleanser game.

I see—so cleansing is all about that

delicate balance of gentleness and

cleansing power. That squeaky,

tight feeling is

not

a good thing!