Finding the ideal skincare products can be challenging when you have combination skin. Combination skin can be oily and dry, meaning you must find products to handle both those skin types. Fortunately, balancing creams can "even out" your skin, providing a better complexion. Here are the five best-balancing creams for combination skin.
The Basics of pH-Balancing Skincare
The skin should have an ideal pH level of 4 to 4.7. Skincare that is not pH-balanced can disrupt those ideal pH levels, causing redness, dryness, and irritation. With that, breakouts and acne can also appear. Thus, keeping your pH levels in check is essential for a beautiful complexion.
Balancing creams can help restore those healthy pH levels, and are especially beneficial for combination skin types. If you have “difficult” combination skin, using pH-balanced products can help you maintain regular moisture levels in the dry areas and regulate oil production in the oily areas.
What to Look for in a Balancing Cream
Many brands neglect pH when formulating their products, and even those that claim to be "pH balanced" are often formulated to the wrong pH.
We have carefully curated this list to include only products that are formulated to a healthy pH range, taking the guesswork out of the process for readers.
Historically, people believed that the healthy pH range was 5.5, but newer research shows that it is actually closer to 4.7
What is pH Buffer Capacity?
pH buffer capacity is the ability to hold and maintain a specific pH level. Skincare that does not have pH buffer capacity can temporarily correct pH, but will quickly shift back to unhealthy levels.
So it's not just about pH-balancing, it's also about pH buffering, to make sure your skincare is doing its job throughout the day.
The Five Best Balancing Creams to Know About
There are many options when choosing a suitable balancing cream. Here are five of the best balancing creams for your combination skin.
BALANCING ACT: Lightweight pH Balancing Cream
Soteri Skin's BALANCING ACT is specifically made for those with sensitive skin, including people with eczema and combination skin types. Soteri Skin’s exclusive pH/LOCK™ technology is not an individual ingredient, but a combination of fatty acids, amino acids, hydroxy acids, and carbohydrates, which provide strong pH buffering capacity to help reach optimal skin surface levels.
Our lightweight, gel-like texture that sits well under makeup! Soteri Skin’s pH/LOCK™ technology is special and innovative. It is the only product in the market that provides long term pH correction.
This cream helps heal, restore, and moisturize skin by correcting and locking in the perfect pH balance for 12+ hours without irritating skin, and the lightweight formula can be worn on a daily basis.
Related: The right pH level is everything
Drunk Elephant
This rescue cream is infused with six African oils, which visibly rejuvenate, moisturize, and nourish. It also uses plant-derived ceramides identical to the wax-like moisturizing ceramides naturally found in the skin. These ceramides help maintain the skin's moisture balance while soothing irritated areas.
You can use Drunk Elephant for normal, dry, oily, and combination skin types, and it will help with dryness and reduce fine lines and wrinkles. This balancing cream is cruelty-free and vegan. Plus, the cream has won several awards, including the 2019 Esquire Grooming Award and 2019 Allure Readers Choice.
However, the cream does have a pH of 5.2, which is higher than the optimal level of 4.7. Also, it cannot correct pH levels for those long-term issues and lacks any pH buffer capacity.
Do you need to find products to help correct your skin's pH levels? At Soteri Skin, we can help you unlock the power of pH/LOCK™!
Sebamed
Sebamed's Moisturizing Face Cream will keep your face feeling soft all day long and protects you from dryness and pollutants, yet is light enough to wear under your makeup, meaning it is ideal for daily use. With its rich, nourishing ingredients, this cream is suitable for all skin types, including combination skin.
This facial cream supports your skin's natural barrier, is soft and light to the touch, absorbs quickly, is fortified with Vitamin E to protect against free radicals, and deeply hydrates along with other benefits for noticeably softer and healthy skin. Sebamed is also a cruelty-free product.
Keep in mind that Sebamed does have a pH level of 5.5, which is safe for most skin, yet slightly higher than optimal. Along with that, it cannot correct pH for the long term and lacks pH buffer capacity.
Acwell
This balancing cream is part of the Acwell's Licorice Line of products. The dense cream melts into the skin for nourishing hydration throughout the day and strengthens the skin's surface layers for healthier, tighter, and smoother skin. Acwell's cream contains mugwort and
Centella to help balance, moisturize, and soothe the skin, and 60% licorice root water to brighten dark spots.
You can use this formula for all skin types, including combination skin, as it is formulated without artificial fragrances, colors, animal products, parabens, sulfates, essential oil, silicones, or mineral oils.
Related: The Basics: Skin 101
BABOR Skinovage Balancing Cream
This balancing cream is a good option for combination skin. It helps regulate the skin's moisture content and lipids while continuing to hydrate. The cream contains unique power peptides that act like royalactin, the peptide found in the Royal Jelly, which makes skin feel more resistant to all external factors and influences. BABOR’s cream also provides a matte effect without drying out the skin. As a result, your skin will appear healthier and smoother with a youthful glow.
Let Soteri Skin Give You Long-Lasting Skin pH Correction
Over the years, science has shown that the skin's surface needs a pH level of 4 - 4.5 to maintain proper functioning. With Soteri Skin, our products can help support the ideal pH levels for over 12+ hours per application. Everyone can use these products, even those with combination skin.
Are you ready to correct and maintain the ideal pH level for your combination skin? At Soteri Skin, we have various products to help you retain beautiful, youthful skin!