Your Questions Answered

Our skin can be assigned a pH value because the hydrolipid film on the skin’s surface contains water. It was discovered about a hundred years ago that the skin is slightly acidic. Modern measuring techniques produced an average pH value of 5.5, which is due to natural acidic substances in sweat, sebum and horny cells. The significance of the acidic nature of the skin’s surface is demonstrated in the “acid mantle." Its job: to repel harmful microorganisms and negative environmental influences and, in doing so, protect the skin from infections, irritation, allergies and drying out. An intact acid mantle also functions as a natural deodorant, because it minimizes the bacterial breakdown of sweat which causes body odor. It is therefore vital that you don’t do anything that could damage your acid mantle. You should for example, avoid cleansing your body with “normal” soap, because the soapy water will have a pH value of 8 to 12 and will destroy the acid mantle. Washing with “pH neutral” products, whose pH values of 7 differ considerably from the skin’s of 5.5, can harm the acid mantle as well.

Sebamed is a so-called Syndet, which is a combined word of "synthetic detergent." The main difference from a normal soap is the pH value of 5.5 in our products. A normal soap is made using fatty acids that are formulated with mostly caustic soda. The result is a soap with a pH value high in alkaline. However, this is not conducive to our skin's acid mantle and therefore disturbs it so it cannot perform its job to protect the skin from harmful environmental influences. Some of the cleansing agents in Sebamed are naturally derived, like Cocamidopropyl Betain, Sugar Tenside and Amino Acid Tenside. Others are synthetic, like Sodium Laureth Sulfate (not to be confused with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, which is not recommended). Sebamed is very mild and moisturizing. Our products don't interact with skin proteins and structure, or disrupt the protective lipid layer of the skin like traditional soaps. Sebamed rinses off clean and does not leave behind a film or residue.

We never give medical, skin-related advice, as we are not doctors. If you have extreme allergies, you should be in consultation with a licensed dermatologist. The fact is that we cannot say for sure how people will react to our products, although the likelihood of a negative allergic reaction is very small. However, we recommend sensitive users take the product home and try it in the following way: apply a small amount of the product to the inner side of the elbow for five consecutive days with careful observation for one week. If no reaction occurs during this time, problems with regular use are highly improbable. By using this method, you can also test two products at a time (one on each arm).