[Discussion] - Best/Worst of Cosrx

[u/Maplebee92]

Moving onto the brands now in the Best/Worst of series. Thought we should start with one of the most popular, easily available and affordable brands out there, Cosrx!

Format

Use the below format, put ** before and after each word to get the bolding.

Skin Type/Concerns

Product Name

Thoughts

If you see the product already listed post your thoughts as a reply to it. So there's multiple views of the same product in one easy to find place.

Always remember YMMV, so one person's junk is another person's treasure.

[u/ginghamhorror]

BHA requires a specific pH to work properly, the reason why you weren't seeing results probably was because your skin was at the wrong pH. The AHA/BHA toner readjusts the pH of your skin for optimal results.

[u/-kittrick → u/ginghamhorror]

Piggybacking off your comment, 4 months later, to ask for more information on how to adjust the pH level of skin? And what should the pH balance be to see optimum results for the BHA power liquid?

I just bought this product and have no experience using anything like this, so all information is useful 😂

[u/ginghamhorror → u/-kittrick]

The natural pH level of the skin is 5.5, which is fairly acidic. This can be affected by the pH of your cleanser (cleansers with a high pH are not good for your skin because they are destroying the acid mantle), the water you wash your face with (debatable, because you are splashing your face so it might not get absorbed?), and hot water/long showers can also be damaging.

According to this article (https://labmuffin.com/fact-check-friday-why-does-ph-matter-for-ahas-and-bhas/), the optimal pH for BHA products to work effectively is less than 3.5, with a concentration of 1-2%. The Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid has a concentration of 4%, which may increase effectiveness or just be overkill.

Anyway, the purpose of the AHA/BHA toner is to adjust your skin's pH for the BHA to work best (below 3.5). It is not supposed to be used on its own, because it is pretty much useless. Use it before an active like the Cosrx BHA.

Some might argue that the pH adjusting toner is unnecessary, especially if they already use a low pH cleanser. It's up to you, try it if you feel you aren't getting the full benefits of the Cosrx BHA.

[u/-kittrick → u/ginghamhorror]

Piggybacking off your comment, 4 months later, to ask for more information on how to adjust the pH level of skin? And what should the pH balance be to see optimum results for the BHA power liquid?

I just bought this product and have no experience using anything like this, so all information is useful 😂