How often do you pose in front of the mirror, focusing on the ugly marks on your face when acne breaks out? Or how frequently do you find yourself obsessed with useless remedies for a swift cure for pimples?
Keep aside the cosmetic concerns that haunts your sense of beauty, and try baking soda for acne. Because it is a homemade remedy that will help you deal with acne-trouble. Before you opt for commercial treatment, just try it out.
Sodium bicarbonate, what we popularly call baking soda, has a vast potential in treating mild acne. When you are concerned with your personal hygiene, baking soda has a great plethora of uses.
From deodorant to skin exfoliation and from teeth whitening to removal of chlorine from hair, there’s a multiplicity of applications of this kitchen compound.
Is Baking Soda for Acne? Good or Not
Baking soda is amphoteric, as it possesses the ability to act either as an acid or a base. As a pH neutralizing chemical compound, it is effective enough. You must be aware that pH imbalance in the skin leads to acne.
This imbalance is corrected by sodium bicarbonate. Baking soda has some anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties, which does away with the discomfiture caused by acne.
The granules of baking soda make a good skin exfoliate, as they are fine, rounded and hard.
Benefits Of Using Baking Soda for Acne Care
In some corners of the world, critics state the long term use of sodium bicarbonate cause pH imbalances in the skin. This further fuels the growth of bacteria.
It is evident that baking soda treatment is not equally personalized for all the people, as the amount of oil in the skin, the dryness of the skin and other conditions of the body are subjected to variation.
It is recommended that the patients should first test the compatibility of baking soda with their skin. If they gain any positive results, it is fine and well.
However, if the results turn out to be negative and threaten to degrade the skin, the ideal option is to consult a dermatologist and stop using the compound. However, it has been successfully used in most acne cases.
Baking Soda can be Used to Fight the Following Skin Problems
- Removal of Blackheads: Blackheads are some of the most common skin eruptions associated with acne. Blackheads have bacteria, which entertains the growth of acne. Excess oil s trapped in the pores of the skin, thus clogging them. Baking soda can be used to get rid of the blackheads, which, in turn, will reduce the possibilities of acne problems.
- Remove oil from your skin: Using baking soda mask will definitely do away with the over oil-secretion of the skin. This is a common problem for people who have exceptionally oily skin. Baking soda helps to cut down upon the level of oil secretion from the cells, thereby preventing blockade of pores.
One can use an oil-free moisturizing cream to keep the skin soft, and apply it twice a day, preferably in the morning and night.
How And Why You Got Acne?
- Acne is a common skin eruption that occurs primarily during puberty, when the sudden influx of hormones alters the nature of the sebaceous gland. This degrades the nature of the skin and makes it oily.
- Oily skin mixes with the dead cells and produces the ideal breeding ground of acne-causing bacteria, such as Propionibacterium acne.
- Acne results in clogging of the pores of the skin, cutting off the external supply of air, leading to skin inflammation.
- The upper crust of the acne turn hard, and various appearances of acne include comedowns, pimples and papules.
- The hard crusts or nodules, called cysts, lead to the formation of new pimples, and the skin is marked by ugly, red scar-marks.
How To Use Baking Soda for Acne?
The next time you have the sensation of irritation the next time you have pimples, worry not and try out the homemade treatment. The process, besides being cost effective, yields fast results. However, avoid using it regularly, as it may cause burning sensation in the skin.
All you need is baking soda and clean water, so that you can treat the pimples in the easiest way.
Here are a few steps you need to follow:
- Use peanut butter or water to clean the face and then dry it with a clean towel.
- Put eight tablespoons of baking soda in a cup.
- Fill half of the cup with water.
- Stir the mixture to make a paste; it should not be too watery or too dry.
- Apply the paste on the pimples with clean hands.
- The paste will be hardened, and after about 15 minutes, you need to rinse it off.
- There may be a loss of moisture in your skin, so apply oil free moisturizer on your face after some time.
Repeat this process twice a week to get the desired results. This is the most common way to use baking soda. There are several other applications of baking soda and you can check out the different procedures of baking soda treatment here:
1. Baking Soda For Spot Treatment
Baking soda is enriched with great anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties, which makes it an ideal compound of spot treatment. This is especially applicable in sensitive skins, as the compound remains restricted only to a few specific spots of the body.
Unlike the previous process, it does not require to be applied all over the skin. This will help to bring the pimple cyst to come to a head, besides reducing inflammation to an appreciable extent.
2. Baking Soda for Acne Scars
You can use baking soda with the normal cleanser as well.
- Just pour the normal amounts of cleanser in your palm.
- Take half a tea spoon of baking soda and add it to contents in your palm.
- Mix them well until they form a paste. With circular motions of your palm, apply them on your face.
- Apply it well in particularly oily areas of the face and apply it over acne scars and pimples.
- Wash off your face after a minute and apply moisturizer to keep the skin soft.
In case you have oily skin, you need to repeat the process on daily basis. Otherwise, you can repeat the process once in two or three days.
3. Hydrogen Peroxide And Baking Soda Acne Spot Treatment
Although hydrogen peroxide is noted for its bacteria fighting properties, it becomes more effective in fighting acne when it is applied in addition to baking soda.
- Take a bowl and add one or two table spoons of baking soda.
- Add a table spoon of hydrogen peroxide and add it to the baking soda. Wait until the foaming process is completed.
- Apply the mixture to the eruptions in the skin and rub for five minutes.
- After that, wash off the mixture with water and dry the skin using a towel.
- Apply a moisturizing cream to avoid roughness of skin.
You can gain the best results by repeating the process twice a week.
4. Olive Oil And Baking Soda For Acne Treatment
Olive oil, with properties of multiple benefits, acts as a powerful skin softener, moisturizer, anti-inflammatory compound and anti-oxidant.
It makes your skin look young forever, healing scars and removing the spots. For a better skin exfoliation, you would like to use it along with baking soda. The process of applying the compound can be simplified in the following steps.
- Pour a tablespoon of baking soda and olive oil each, in a bowl.
- Mix them and apply them on the spots of the skin affected by acne, pimples or scars.
- Using your fingers, gently massage it in circular motion so that it is completely absorbed by the skin.
- After 5 to 10 minutes, wash off the area using water.
You need to repeat this process thrice a week to get rid of spots that refuse to fade away easily.
5. Overnight Treatment Using Baking Soda And Baking Powder for Acne
There may be some stubborn spots and scars on your face that refuse to fade off in the above processes. For these spots, there is even a more robust compound-a combination of baking soda and baking powder. Scroll down to read the process of application.
- Take three tablespoons of baking soda and one tablespoon of baking powder and mix them in a bowl
- Add proportionate water to make a fine paste
- Apply it on different parts of the body affected by acne and leave it overnight
- Use lukewarm water to wash it off on the next morning.
Repeat this process regularly until the spots are gone altogether.
6. Baking Soda And Apple Cider Vinegar Remedy
Being natural products, both baking soda and apple cider vinegar can be mixed together and applied as a strong healing compound for scars and pimples.
However, this treatment has to be alternately be followed up with the olive oil treatment.
- Make a fine paste using one tablespoon of baking soda and equivalent amount of water
- Apply it on the spot and allow it to dry up
- Use water to remove the dried-up paste from your skin
- On the next day, apply apple cider vinegar on the skin by dipping a clean washcloth in it. You need to follow one precaution here. In case you are having sensitive skin, do use a little water to dilute the vinegar.
- Keep it for 15 minutes and wash it off.
To achieve the desired results, repeat it every day until you are cured.
And yes, start drinking apple cider vinegar to reap its health benefits. Oh, you don’t know anything about them? Then read my previous article.
Face Mask – Baking Soda For Acne Treatment And Spots
If your skin is resistant enough, it is safe to take the baking soda remedies for acne to a higher stage. You can use it as a face mask and leave it for a longer time.
This process, apart from treating acne, has additional benefits like softening the skin. You can use baking soda with the following compounds to make a mask:
1. Baking Soda And Water for Acne
This is the simplest among the baking soda mask treatments.
- Take two teaspoon of baking soda and the same quantity of water.
- Mix them well to make a paste.
- Apply it on the skin for 15 minutes and rinse it off with warm water.
- You can use a towel to wash off the paste and use a moisturizer to soften your skin.
Repeating the process two to three times a week, you can get rid of the problems, although you may feel a stinging sensation in the skin.
2. Baking Soda And Lemon Juice for Acne
The presence of citric acid in lemon makes it an ideal drying compound, sucking the excess oil off your skin. You can use this powerful combination to boost skin exfoliation and dirt cleaning processes.
- Take one tablespoon of baking soda and add it with one table spoon of lemon juice
- Apply it on your face using circular motions, keep it for 10 minutes and wash it off with cool water.
- Clean the face with a towel and apply a water-based moisturizer.
You will start reaping the benefits after repeating the process for 2-3 days. You’ll definitely add warm lemon water to your diet, when you got to know what it can do to your system.
3. Baking Soda, Cinnamon And Honey Face Mask
Honey and cinnamon, being both natural anti-bacterial agents, combine to form one of the strongest enemies of acne. The process is as simple as the one given below.
- You have to mix one tablespoon of honey and cinnamon each with half tablespoon of cinnamon to make a paste
- Apply the mixture gently on your face
- Keep it for 15-20 minutes before wiping your face off, then apply a moisturizer.
- Repeat the process twice a week.
4. Baking Soda, Tea Tree Oil And Lemon Face Mask
Tea tree oil and baking soda have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, and these two combine to make a powerful compound. The former helps to remove the extra sebum from your skin.
- Take one teaspoon of baking soda and mix it with half teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Add three drops of tea tree oil and one tea spoon of water to it.
- Clean the face with water after 15 minutes and apply a moisturizer.
- Repeat the process 2-3 times a week.
5. Baking Soda And Aloe Vera Acne Mask
Aloe Vera, being a natural and powerful anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory compound, can be combined with baking soda to create a powerful healing agent for your face.
- In a bowl take a tablespoon of baking soda and add commercial aloe Vera gel to it. You can also use aloe Vera leaves and squeeze off the juice.
- Blend them to create a paste and use it as a mask for better results
- Wash them off with water.
- Repeat the process thrice a week.
Baking Soda For Acne on Body
The acne not only appear on your face but also on your chest and back. Hello bachacne! Here is a remedy for acne in such areas.
- In the bathtub, pour half cup baking soda and mix it thoroughly,
- Sit in the water and stay there for 15 minutes, before turning the shower on.
- Use an oil free moisturizer to end the process.
Baking Soda For Baby Care
No, you’re not supposed to use baking soda to treat acne of your baby. Because your baby’s skin is too gentle and it can be too haerk for him.
However, according to WebMD, you can use it to treat of diaper rash by following these simple steps:
- For babies and young children, add 2 30 mL of baking soda and warm water to a baby tub or a bathtub.
- Let the baby sit there for 10 minutes.
- Warning: Don’t bathe the baby until the umbilical cord has fallen off and never ever leave the child alone while he/she is in the bath.
- Remember to use the moisturizer in the end.
Baking Soda-Compatibility With Skin
The scar-marks, caused as a result of acne, can fade away with time. However, the sense of aesthetic value triggers urgency in removing the spots.
As a cost-effective household product, one can definitely derive the masked potentialities of baking soda. However, the compound may vary in its effectiveness from person to person.
In the end, skin turns out to be one of the basic external features of an individual, and you can fancy the possibilities of having a gleaming skin.
There are hundreds of commercial remedies in the market today, but when the natural doctor for your skin is at home, why count on expensive solutions?
Yes, using baking soda for acne is an unmatched natural remedy for your skin, mooting acne concerns from the very roots. Now, having known the solution yourself, wouldn’t you like to pamper your skin the most effective remedy?
