What "pH Balanced" Actually Means for Your Hair (Test It for $5) | Ask Obia, Episode 2

Water is a 7. Your hair is a 5. That gap is where frizz lives.

“pH balanced” is on half the bottles in the aisle, and almost nobody knows what it means. So in Episode 2 of Ask Obia I show you the number, what it does to your hair, and the $5 test I’ve run on every batch since my kitchen in 2012.

It’s a ladder, not a ruler

pH runs from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral. Every step is ten times stronger than the last. Your hair and scalp live around 4.5 to 5.5, slightly acidic, on purpose: it keeps the cuticle closed and bacteria out.

What alkaline does to your hair

Push the pH up and the shingles on the cuticle lift. The strand swells, gets rough, and grabs the strand next to it. Tangles. Frizz. Color washing out faster. Baking soda is a 9: four steps up, ten thousand times more alkaline than your scalp asked for.

Back to 5

Bring it back down to 5 and the shingles lie flat. Flat shingles are shine. Flat shingles are slip. Flat shingles hold water in and color in. It’s not magic. It’s a number.

The $5 test

Buy universal pH strips, the 0 to 14 kind. Squeeze a little product onto a plate, press the strip in, and match the color to the chart on the pack.

• Green, around 5: your hair’s zone. The cuticle lies flat.
• Yellow-green, around 7: tap water. Not bad, just not yours.
• Blue or purple, 9 and up: alkaline. The cuticle lifts. That’s squeaky.

In 2012, in my kitchen, every batch got a strip. Not in the zone? No lid. It still works that way: every bottle and jar we make is formulated in that zone, and tested.

Which jar is which

The one in the demo: the Twist Whip Butter. It tests at 5, the same zone as your hair, so the cuticle stays closed while your twists set. Water-based, so it absorbs instead of coating the strand.

The one that closes the door: the Curl Moisture Cream. A leave-in at 4.5 to 5.5. After a soap bar, a clarifier or color, this is the acidic step that lays the cuticle back down.

Three things to do with this

• Rinse cool. It settles the cuticle.
• After anything alkaline (a clarifier, a soap bar, color), follow with a conditioner or a leave-in to close the door.
• If a product leaves your hair squeaky and rough, check its pH before you blame your hair.

Tell me: squeaky or slip?

After your last wash, was your hair squeaky, or did it have slip? Tell me in the YouTube comments. I read these myself, and the most-asked questions become episodes.

Chapters

• 0:00 Water is a 7, your hair is a 5
• 0:22 The pH ladder
• 0:46 What alkaline does to the cuticle
• 1:06 Back to 5: flat shingles
• 1:22 My 2012 kitchen: every batch gets a strip
• 1:41 The strip test: water, Twist Whip Butter, baking soda
• 1:58 Three things to do
• 2:19 Squeaky or slip?

Start here

New to Ask Obia? Watch Episode 0, my whole story in 3½ minutes. Then Episode 1: Protein, yes or no?

Next up: lather lies.