pH Advantage - History & Mission
Dr. Cohen first became interested in skincare while he was a resident with the world-renowned Long Island Plastic Surgery Group in New York. At that time most plastic surgeons had not yet embraced the benefits of comprehensive skin rejuvenation and maintenance programs and, most importantly, how this could impact surgical results.
He feels the biggest trend in aesthetic medicine is the integration of organic ingredients with high tech treatments that have long-lasting significant benefits. His patients needed treatments that really work and have a lasting effect.
Based on this growing trend, he developed a special interest in certain ingredients and their concentrations, and how they positively affected the skin, especially before and after surgery. As an aesthetic plastic surgeon, he is trained to look at the skin in a very complex way. The quality of his patient’s skin is very important in determining what kind of surgical outcome he or she can expect.
He limits his recommendations to products that have the appropriate clinical documentation supporting their effectiveness and to those that show proven results in the long run.
With that in mind, he formulated the pH ADVANTAGE line of products.
What is the pH Advantage?
As one can tell from the name of our skin care line, pH plays an important role in determining how effective topical skin care ingredients are in improving one’s skin. If you look in all of the beauty shops around the world, you will literally find millions of products on the shelves. The real truth is that you can distill all of these products down to a small percentage of jars that meet the needs of EVERY person. In fact, there are only about two handfuls of clinically proven active ingredients, known to impact human skin quality.
All the differences among the myriad of products on the market come down to smell, texture, packaging, concentration of active ingredients, and the pH (or level of acidity) of the active ingredients. So where does bioavailability come in?
Let’s begin with a basic definition: bioavailability refers to the difference between the amounts of a substance, such as a drug, herb, or chemical, to which a person is exposed VERSUS the actual amount of the substance the body receives. Bioavailability accounts for the difference between exposure and dose.
Our skin lives healthily at a pH of around 4. Most soaps are quite alkaline (pH above 7), and should never be used on the face. Common therapeutic skin care treatments include Alpha-Hydroxy acids such as Glycolic, Salicylic, or Lactic acid. When using products such as these to help renew and refresh the skin, the ideal treatment pH is 3.0. So what does this all mean as a consumer?
Let’s take glycolic acid as a common example. Many glycolic acid products list the concentration or percent of Glycolic Acid in the ingredients on the box. This is only part of the formula determining its bioavailability. If you compare 3 products, each with a concentration of Glycolic Acid of 10%, and the first has a pH of 5, the second has a pH of 4, and the third has a pH of 3, the one at a 3 pH is 100 times more effective than the one with a pH of 5.
The pH scale, like the Decibel and Richter scale is logarithmic. This means that a movement of 1 point represents a tenfold change. Therefore, the same concentration of Glycolic Acid at a ph of 3 is 100 times more bio-available than one at a pH of 5!
Knowing the true bioavailability tells the whole story of the skin care’s expected efficacy, and why we at pH Advantage provide complete disclosure to our customers.
Our Management Team
Dr. Barry Cohen, Founder, and Principal: Dr. Cohen, M.D., P.C., Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, is a fully trained plastic and reconstructive surgeon. He practices all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery, with areas of greatest interest in cosmetic surgery.
Dr. Cohen's educational background is broad. He is a graduate of Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry. While at Cornell, Dr. Cohen was involved in the honors program in his major. He completed his medical school training at Georgetown University, graduating near the top of his class. He then served as a general surgery resident at a well-known trauma center, The Washington Hospital Center, where he won numerous awards for both his clinical and research skills.
He completed his plastic surgery training in New York with The Long Island Plastic Surgical Group, the largest group of plastic surgeons in the world. Here he was exposed to all facets of plastic surgery. In addition to his extensive clinical training, Dr. Cohen has published numerous articles in the field of plastic surgery. He is the founder and senior partner of the Washington Plastic Surgery Group, located in the D.C. metropolitan area.
Dr. Cohen is a member of the following Professional Societies:
Diplomate, American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive surgeons.
Member, The National Capital Area Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.
Member, American Lipoplasty Society.
Member, American Burn Association.
Michael Cipu: Chief Operating Officer: Shortly after graduating from the University of Maryland College Park, Mr. Cipu immediately jumped into the skincare industry by becoming the Chief Operating Officer of Dr. Cohen's shopping platform Total Skincare.
September 2006 he took on the role of COO of pH ADVANTAGE where he maintains and oversees all operations for the company. In September 2006 he oversaw the move from the company’s original Costa Mesa, California location to their office location that they now maintain in Silver Spring, Maryland.