What is the pH of CULT+KING products?

First of all, what is pH?

EPA.gov has a great description: "The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic. Pure water is neutral, with a pH of 7.0. When chemicals are mixed with water, the mixture can become some level of either acidic or alkaline. Vinegar and lemon juice are acidic substances, while laundry detergents and ammonia are alkaline." They also have a really cool chart with real-world examples of substances at every level of pH HERE.

Here are some average pH values of some substances that you regularly come in contact with:

Tap water: 7.5 - 8

Hard tap water: 8.5

Swimming pool water: 7.4

Ocean water: 8.1

Hot tub water: 7.2 - 7.8

What is the natural skin surface pH of your skin and scalp?

There are many articles online on this topic. Based on our research, we put the ideal at just below 5.

Here's a link from the NIH (National Institute of Health) PubMed database of a 2006 study about the impact of water and other substances have on the skin's pH, and how long it takes the skin to return to its natural pH after exposure.

Why does it matter what the pH is of the products and substances we put on our skin and scalp?

The study cited above concludes that "It is demonstrated that skin with pH values below 5.0 is in a better condition than skin with pH values above 5.0, as shown by measuring the biophysical parameters of barrier function, moisturization, and scaling."

This is why Jared always says that the worst thing we all regularly do to our hair is wash it in water, which dramatically changes its pH, and why TONIK and SUPERWATER are such popular products to spray on damp hair and scalp after cleansing -- because they are a speedy route to balancing your pH back to your body's natural pH levels.

We have target pH ranges for all the products we produce. "Range" is the operative word here because the actual pH level varies from batch to batch, and hitting an exact number every time is a virtual impossibility due to a wide variety of factors. All CULT+KING formulations and individual batches are extensively tested prior to release.

Some recent pH results from individual batches are as follows:

BALM target range: 4 - 5

4.63 (batch tested 4/10/23)
4.79 (batch tested 3/11/24)
4.73 (batch tested 1/29/25)

CREAMPOP target range: 4.41 - 4.91

4.66 (batch tested 3/1/24)
4.52 (batch tested 5/17/24)
4.55 (batch tested 2/20/25)

JELLY target range: 3.81 - 4.31

3.91 (batch tested 6/26/24)
4.13 (batch tested 6/28/24)
4.15 (batch tested 1/7/25)

SETSPRAY target range: 5.13 - 5.63

5.38 (batch tested 4/18/24)
5.31 (batch tested 9/3/24)
5.38 (batch tested 11/11/24)

STYLE target range: 4.20 - 4.72

4.47 (batch tested 8/30/23)
4.67 (batch tested 1/24/24)

SUPERWATER target range: 4.5 - 5.5

5.12 (batch tested 5/22/23)
5.32 (batch tested 7/3/24)
4.6 (batch tested 12/10/24)

TONIK target range: 4.25 - 5.25

4.79 (batch tested 3/21/23)
4.8 (batch tested 10/20/23)
4.87 (batch tested 2/1/24)
5.01 (batch tested 2/17/25)

VEGAN BALM target range: 4.61 - 5.11

4.73 (batch tested 11/10/23)
4.9 (batch tested 7/9/24)
5.0 (batch tested 10/3/24)

Now when it comes to pH, WASH is another story.

The pH of WASH is around 9.

That’s because it's a real soponified soap, which means that like all real soaps, it is highly alkaline.

But WASH is also superfatted through a special soap-making technique, so it's highly moisturizing too.

Apply TONIK to damp, towel-dried hair after cleansing with WASH to return hair to its optimal, natural pH level of around 4.5 - 5.

And because of its high pH, WASH is not recommended for color-treated hair.

Let us know if you have any other questions. We LOVE all the hair nerd stuff.