Being self aware of our skin health is extremely important for all of us who wish to look and feel good. In order to maintain our healthy and beautiful skin, we reach out to millions of products available on the market today.
However, recently, there’s been a massive hype and its moving towards to replacing conventional beauty products with more “natural” solutions.
But, do we really know what we’re doing?
Are these “natural” products safe to use?
Or are we doing more damage than good?
One of the best examples of “natural” and homemade skin remedies is baking soda. I placed natural in quotations because baking soda isn’t really all natural.
Yes, that’s right!
Yet, we still think that a baking soda exfoliate or a baking soda mask is an appropriate skin care.
Here, I bust this myth so that you avoid further skin complications in the future.
Comparison Chart
Neutralyze Moderate To Severe Acne Treatment Kit 2.0 – Maximum Strength Acne Treatment System with 2% Salicylic Acid + 1% Mandelic Acid + Nitrogen Boost Skincare Technology
Proactiv 3 Step Acne Treatment – Benzoyl Peroxide Face Wash, Repairing Acne Spot Treatment for Face And Body, Exfoliating Toner – 60 Day Complete Acne Skin Care Kit
Baking Soda and PH Levels
The PH level scale goes from 0 to 14, 0 being the most acidic and 14 the most alkaline. The middle of it, the number 7 – represents a neutral PH. So, this means that anything below 7 will be acidic and anything up from 7 will be alkaline.
Our skin’s natural and normal PH level usually falls somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5. This means that the PH level of our skin leans toward the acidic side.
However, the PH level of baking soda is about 8 or 9. So, this is way more alkaline than the skin’s normal PH.
Why does baking soda negatively affect our skin?
As I’ve explained above, the PH level of baking soda is alkaline while the PH level of the skin is more acidic. When you hear acidic PH levels, it doesn’t necessarily mean bad. In fact, the upper skin layer which has an acidic PH level (otherwise known as acid mantle or barrier) is there to protect you from damage and other outside influences and elements.
So, it’s there for a reason, and it’s acidic for a reason – this is not something that you should try to change.
When you apply baking soda on your skin, you do much more than just clean the skin. You basically disrupt your skin’s PH levels, and you remove its protective layer.
Even if you see some temporary improvements from using baking soda, you will do more damage in the long run.
Soda is double trouble for your skin. Not only does it disrupts your skin’s PH levels, but it also serves as an exfoliator which damages your skin even further.
The same principle goes for things that are more acidic than your skin’s PH, such as white vinegar. Even though professional salons might use chemical peels and acids to exfoliate your skin, it’s never a good idea to try to do this at home.
Baking soda, as well as white vinegar (two things exactly at the opposite side of the PH scale), will both disturb your skin balance, cause dryness, and even burns or scars. Both of these products also make your skin sensitive to the sun’s UV rays. As you can see, the risks are much bigger than the benefits when it comes to using baking soda as a beauty hack.
Side Effects of Baking Soda on Your Skin
Even though baking soda might have a positive effect temporarily, it might cause some hidden damage. Some of the most common side effects of regular use of baking soda are:
These are some of the many side effects that baking soda can cause on your skin. So, it’s not nearly as harmless and natural as we think it is. Playing around with our skin’s PH balance is not a smart idea. After all, cosmetic products are prepared by experienced chemists so that they fit our skin and are not too acidic or too alkaline.
Baking Soda Effect on Acne
The beauty world is flooded with baking soda acne “remedies” in the form of face masks or exfoliators. The principle in which baking soda “treats” acne is by absorbing excess oil from the pores and exfoliating dead skin cells. This is reported to help with oily skin and prevent acne breakouts. However, it sounds a bit too good to be true.
Even after you see great results after your first baking soda application, with regular use, the condition of your skin will likely worsen. Soda will disrupt your skin’s PH levels which means that it will become too dry.
This, in turn, will make your body respond in a way that it will produce even more sebum (oil) to moisturize your skin. So, instead of helping your acne, you might actually make them worse.
Another reason why baking soda is not a great option for acne is that the physical exfoliation might be too much for skin that has active acne breakouts.
And finally, regular use of baking soda on your skin will cause a lot of stress, irritation, and dryness, which will eventually contribute to early onset of wrinkles and premature skin aging.
This is why I recommend sticking to scientifically tested products, especially when it comes to something as sensitive as our skin as the product go through trial and errors to give us the best.
Conclusion
After everything that I explained above, you can see that baking soda and other similar “home remedies” can sometimes be even more dangerous than conventional ones. If you wish to preserve the health and beauty of your skin, keep soda for baking and cleaning bathrooms.
After all, the chemical that can help you clean your bathroom and get rid of bad smells seems too harsh to be used on your skin, right?
Make sure that you do your research before putting any other “homemade remedy” on your skin. When you’re not sure about something, better to skip it and use something that’s been proven instead or ask your dermatologist.
If you’re using baking soda for your acne problems, why not try out these 3 proven products instead? These 3 product I mentioned has helped numerous people with acne issues like you. Take a look, it might actually help you with your acne issue.
1. Neutralyze Moderate To Severe Acne Treatment Kit
2. Proactiv 3 Step Acne Treatment System
3. AcneFree 3 Step Acne Treatment Kit
