On soap, pH, irritants and synthetic detergents:

Do not use soap, made from "saponified" vegetable/animal fats. They are generally far too alkaline for your skin, and dries your skin out and irritates it.

Synthetic detergents can also dry your skin out, but they are generally much lower in pH than your ordinary soap - and therefore doesn't disrupt the naturally low pH of the skin. It's generally better for the healthy bacterial flora of your skin.

Maintaining the low pH of your skin can help prevent various kinds of dermatitis/eczema, as well as acne.

You should use a cleanser that is not soap, that is non-irritating and with a somewhat skin-neutral pH. Use a cleanser based on only synthetic detergents ("syndet"). Not all of these synthetic cleansers are good, but most of them are.

Based on "Irritant effect of cleansers - Correlation between pH and irritant effect of cleansers marketed for dry skin" (Baranda, et al), and some other derma literature, I've found that some of the most non-drying, non-irritating and recommendable cleansers are:

- Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar
- Avene Cold Cream Emollient soap-free cleansing bar
- Dove: White Dove (bar), Dove Baby (bar), Dove Pink (bar), Dove Liquid Cleanser for Hands.

The above works for all parts of the skin, way better than most other things you've put on your skin. CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser (for the face) as well as Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser are two great options.

As for moisturizers, here's two I can recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/CeraVe-Moisturizing-Lotion-12-oz/dp/B000YJ2SLG

http://www.amazon.com/Cetaphil-Daily-Advance-Lotion-Hydrating/dp/B00352MHE2

Articles:

"The pH of the skin surface and its impact on the barrier function."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16864974

"The skin surface pH and its different influence on the development of acne lesion according to gender and age."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23279122

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