Baking Soda Exfoliator
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free skin care · Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:15 am

From thebeautybrains.com:
http://thebeautybrains.com/2008/03/2...al-exfolliant/

"...
Baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate) falls under the category of physical exfoliants, and what makes it especially effective is that it is a fine, yet hard powder, making it highly effective at removing the dead skin cells without causing excessive irritation. Chemically speaking, baking soda is acid neutral, and acts a mild buffer which means that it has the ability to neutralize other substances it comes in contact with that are acidic (like vinegar) or basic (like soap). Many people also believe that baking soda has cleaning properties; however, scientific evidence has shown that this is due to baking soda’s physically abrasive nature, and it is not an effective anti-microbial agent.
Exfoliating with baking soda

To reap the benefits of exfoliating with baking soda, add a teaspoon of the powder to your facial cleanser, mix well, and massage into skin like you would with a commercial exfoliant. Do this 2-3 times a week or as per your regular exfoliation routine. If you notice that your skin is red or irritated afterwards, try putting in less baking soda and use the treatment at night so that your skin has a chance to get back to normal while you sleep. Remember to always moisturize afterwards!
Baking soda as an acne treatment

While there are numerous testimonials in which people claim that baking soda cleared up their acne when nothing else helped, please remember to take these statements with a grain of salt. We don’t know what else that person had changed in their skin regimen; it’s possible that besides using baking soda they also started drinking more water, switched their cleanser or moisturizer, or maybe even changed the number of times they cleanse their skin per day. Seasonal changes and stress levels also have a very strong impact on how much and how noticeable your acne may be. However, there is some evidence that baking soda may be beneficial in treating acne since just the exfoliating properties of baking soda alone lead to an increased skin cell turnover rate making your acne look less noticeable. Plus, baking soda’s neutralizing properties maybe reduce redness of the skin also reducing the appearance of acne. If you want to try using baking soda as an acne treatment, my recommendation is to use one teaspoon of it in your cleanser at night to exfoliate your skin, as well as make a thicker paste of just baking soda and water and apply it to the acne as a mask for 5-10 minutes or overnight (beware, when it dries the mixture will crumble so you might up wake up to a messy pillow).

In summary, all signs point to baking soda being an excellent and cheap physical exfoliant. It is ph neutral and a fine powder, which means that it will be gentle on your skin. "

free skin care · Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:39 am

Yes, good post. Zenbiotics advises mixing baking soda with their cleanser.

free skin care · Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:23 am

I used baking soda for quite awhile in my cleanser, and I like it alot. I posted it here but many ladies said that it ruins the PH levels in your skin. So I stopped. Ummm, maybe I will start using it again.

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:42 am

Yobi, the article was not there. Anyway the practice of exfoliating with baking soda had originated with the cosmeticcop website. They suggested that idea in the early 80s. This is nothing new. Works just as good as any.

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:38 am

My acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner swears by it.

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:01 am

Paula Begoun (Cosmetics Cop) has revised her advice...she is recommending NOT to use baking soda, because of it's high alkalinity

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:25 pm

edenfield wrote:

Paula Begoun (Cosmetics Cop) has revised her advice...she is recommending NOT to use baking soda, because of it's high alkalinity

Could you post the article regarding your comments? I let my daughter try baking sode for her acne skin but if it is not worth to try, I don't want her to waist her time and effort.

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:50 pm

azumma wrote:

edenfield wrote:

Paula Begoun (Cosmetics Cop) has revised her advice...she is recommending NOT to use baking soda, because of it's high alkalinity

Could you post the article regarding your comments? I let my daughter try baking sode for her acne skin but if it is not worth to try, I don't want her to waist her time and effort.

It's in her newsletter and her new edition of the book (7th)

It's simple really. Skin is ideally slightly acidic (helps ward off infection)..around 5.5, baking soda has a pH of 8...remember that the scale is logarithmic as well

Meaning ph 5 and ph 6, is a 10 fold increase

So a pH 5.5 to pH of 8 is around 10x10x10 1000 times increase.

This is CareKate's opinion on it as well (ie don't use it because it is too alkaline..)

carekate wrote:

The Hidden Evils of Baking Soda

Okay, the time has come for Dr. CareKate to assume her schoolmarm expression and step up to her lectern to give a stern lecture to all of her DIY fans and disciples:

It has come to my attention that many MUAers looking for an inexpensive/homemade exfoliant for the face have latched upon the idea of using baking soda to exfoliate one’s face, as an alternative to using an aspirin mask or something similar.

As you can tell from this notepad, I am an avid DIYer myself and am, therefore, always open to new ideas and recipes, but I have to say that the thought of anyone using baking soda on their face absolutely scares the bejesus out of me.

Lest you all think that I am making much ado about nothing, let me say that my own mother received the same misguided advice from a well-meaning “modeling teacher” back in the 1950s who instructed all of her pupils to cleanse their faces with a mixture of “salt and soda.” My mother often parroted this same advice to me when growing up but I am thankful that this was one occasion when I was quite right in ignoring my dear old mom’s words. Now, let me tell you why:

My mom is in her late 60s, and was quite a sun-worshipper back when we lived in SoCal in the mid-1970s. Today, my mother’s skin is not in very good shape. I know the lion’s share of the damage is a result of all that indiscriminate sunbathing back then, but I believe part of it can also be attributed to her faithful adherence to that faulty advice from that modeling instructor who exhorted the wonders of cleansing one’s face with baking soda.

Why am I so certain that it was so detrimental to her skin’s health? Because baking soda is extremely alkaline, and as such, when applied to one’s skin – especially the delicate skin on one’s face – it completely and utterly destroys the natural acid mantle of one’s skin.

Big deal, you say?! This acid mantle helps to maintain the delicate PH-balance of the skin. When this acid mantle has been disturbed or removed, it raises the risk of bacteria and infection getting into the flesh that you inadvertently rubbed raw by cleansing/exfoliating your face with baking soda!!

For those of you that HAVE used baking soda on your face in the past, you will recall that your skin smartly stung afterwards. Now, some of you might have dismissed this reaction by simply assuming that you had scrubbed your face too vigorously with the baking soda, but you would be wrong. The reason it stung like the dickens afterwards is because you tore away the protective layer of your skin! Please, please, for the love of your face, if you don't want to take my word about this, do a little research of your own regarding the dangers of using baking soda on your face.

Here is a little excerpt from my *own* research, when I was first seeking validation for my beliefs regarding the dangers of baking soda in skincare. I found this particular statement from a forum devoted to long hair (note: it might have been “The Long Hair Community,” but at this point I no longer remember):

Baking soda's alkalinity is as high as that of haircoloring products although I realize that the amount or application method makes if more or less harsh depending on how baking soda is used.

I say, leave the baking soda for household cleaning. I apologize if I sound put off by the baking soda on hair thing, it's just that there are so many wonderful cosmetics out there, ones that smell lovely and are pleasant to use, that I have difficulty understanding how something like baking soda could appeal to anyone for use in their haircare routine.

Here is a link for the pH of BSoda (I think it's the same one I posted yesterday in the vinegar thread): http://www.kernsite.com/uwp/modules/pH/pH.htm)

The first sentence is the one that gets me: baking soda is as alkaline as hair dye? I don’t know about the rest of you ladies, but I sure as hell wouldn’t knowingly apply any product that strong to my face!!!

So use that box of baking soda to kill the odors in your cat’s litterbox or keep your refrigerator/freezer smelling fresh and/or to dissolve the gunk in pipes of your kitchen sink, but – FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY – please don’t use it anywhere near your skin!!

Hmmm, I wonder if I should seize this opportunity to also cluck over the dangers of St. Ive’s Apricot Scrub?! That stuff should come with a warning label and everyone who suffered microscopic tears to the skin on their faces (like me, when I was a wee young pollywag and didn’t know any better) should ban together in a class-lawsuit and sue those Swiss for every last watch, cuckoo clock and bit of chocolate in their entire country!!

Seriously, though: avoid apricot scrubs the same way as you should baking soda when it comes to caring for your precious, beautiful faces. Please

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:28 pm

Wow,really good information,thanks!!

free skin care · Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:53 pm

thank you for firming up what I did learn here on this site at one time. That is why I stopped so long ago. I thought about picking it up again. BUT that article made me say NO

again. Thanks

*I have never used apricot scrub, so I am fine there.

Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:27 am

I used baking soda on my face and broke out horribley! Big cystic acne. I think it's b/c my PH was thrown off. Never ever again.

free skin care · Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:59 am

edenfield wrote:

carekate wrote:

Here is a link for the pH of BSoda (I think it's the same one I posted yesterday in the vinegar thread): http://www.kernsite.com/uwp/modules/pH/pH.htm )

edenfield,When I click the attached website I cna't find anything...

Also What is wrong with Swiss Apricot scrub? That is what my daughter has been used for 2 years already?? Oh!! Please let me know why the product is not good?? I should let her stop using this product right now..anyway.

I really appreciated your info which is really really good and helpful. Thanks again and please add the Swiss Apricot scrub info too.. Wink

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