Facial Baking Soda - My Personal Review

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Yes, the best things in life do not have to be expensive. It can be free, but mostly it can be cheap. You will be pleasantly delighted when you find that the baking soda that is used for cooking purposes, can be used for your face. I have been thinking and procrastinating about posting a personal review on this great use of baking soda for the face, and I don't know why.

I think maybe I just want the best of baking soda for myself, but who knows. To tell you a bit about baking soda, I recommend that you go to the kitchen or bug your mother or whoever that holds the kitchen duty seriously. Trust me, that person will be able to direct you to the jar of baking soda before I even finish typing this sentence.

For those of you who have kitchens but don't really see the need to use them and don't really have private chefs working on them, you may not be so lucky. Let me grab a photo of the good old baking soda for your eyes only.

Try not to confuse baking soda with baking powder as the latter is acidic and drying. You do not want to be using baking powder for any facial treatment at all. Write that down. Baking soda is purely sodium bicarbonate or NaHCO3.

Since this is my personal review, I can't say that the use of baking soda will give the best positive effects for everybody. I have very oily T-zone and dry spots around my cheeks. When I say that my face is oily, it is really oily. It gets oily in a matter of seconds after I wash it. It is like an oil factory. I could make millions if the oil on my face has the same value as the oil in Saudi Arabia.

For the purpose of writing about my experience with baking soda, right before I started typing I have made a mixture of it and rubbed it gently all over my face. The mixture of the baking soda can be prepared easily. You do not need to so obsessive-compulsive about getting the right amount of baking soda or water to be mixed together. What you need is a practical brain.

Get some of the baking soda, say, a small spoon of it on the palm of your left hand and use your right hand to take some drops of water to turn the whole thing into a paste just nice to be put on your face.

So, right now, I am actually typing and looking like this but not as cute or half-dressed:

Though that's not really me, but that is basically how you will look like as the baking soda dries on your face. You must let the whole mask of baking soda dry properly on your face before you gently wash it off.

I have mine on, for already close to 15 minutes. You can touch your face and feel it when it is already dried. If this is your first time trying baking soda for your face, expect some amount of burning sensation when you first apply it on your face. As it dries, you will notice that the tingling sensation goes away. There is no need to call the paramedics for this.

Try not to talk or move your jaw during the process. Right now, I think mine has dried up just nicely, and so I will head to the bathroom to wash the baking soda off with cold water. You can exfoliate gently as you do this. Towel dry with a clean facial towel and ask yourself if you feel that the baking soda has done good to your skin.

For me, I immediately experience a nice pore-tightening effect. I have been blessed with large pores. My face looks brighter and the baking soda's cleansing and exfoliating effect on my skin is evident as I run my fingers on my face and feel that it is extremely free from oil (most importantly). This too is a blessing as I can't get my regular facial cleanser to give this mind-blowing similar result.

So, what are the positive effects we can hope to get from the regular use of baking soda on the face?

1. Since baking soda are tiny sand-like particles, it's great as an exfoliating agent. It helps to get rid of the layer of dead skin cell on your face that if left accumulated overtime gives you that dull, and less radiant look. Regular use will give you a much brighter complexion.

2. Baking soda is mildly alkaline which is most suitable for the skin of your face. I have pimple trouble just like many of you who are reading this. I can tell you confidently that it helps with my pimples. I don't have much break-outs anymore. This is not scientifically proven, though.

3. If you have redness due to acne problems, there is a fat chance that the use of baking soda regularly will help reduce the appearance of redness and make you look less like a clown.

4. Baking soda is environmental-friendly as it does not contain harsh chemicals that may be present in your soaps and facial cleansers. If you want to be actively protecting the environment from the lunacy of our species, the use of baking soda regularly will be a statement for that.

5. If you have facial oil overproduction capacity that makes a joke out of the global oil dilemma, you will benefit most through the regular use of baking soda. I am the living proof of that.

I hope you'll enjoy experimenting with baking soda and get the best results out of it. Come on, it is cheap. You don't need to be stingy.

Tell me how it works for your face. :)