Got a nasty flare-up on the lower half of my face. Read my experience using coconut oil and baking soda as gentle exfoliant for the bumpy sad face of mine.


I’m a fan of home-made remedies for my face when the flare-up returns. My very first review on turmeric/chickpea facial mask was ages ago so I’m giving the update on what I’ve been slapping on my face lately. I report that it’s not in its best state for about a week plus now (it was flawless before, so I’m weeping!). I’ve been visited by that darn adult hormonal acne that spreads itself as annoying bumpy zit-prone pimples on the jaw line and the lower part of my cheek. It’s not pretty because the bumpy things clutter closely and are prone to scarring.

My night treatment is the old trusty Nixoderm my mom introduced way back when I had a flare-up after using her alcohol-based toner because I used to think of my face as a canvas for any type of beauty products even when they clearly are enemies of my skin type.

I’m not really very sure as what exactly was the trigger or trigger combination for the current flare-up. I blamed hormones because it came days before my period. And days before that, I had a craving for salt which displayed itself in a very unbecoming behavior of stuffing my face with those instant packet of noodles, which I usually effortlessly avoided. To compound the situation, I had been eating out at a place not worth the money spent because I swear I could taste the aftertaste of MSG every single time I made the mistake of stuffing my face there.

All factors combined to give rise to millions of itchy pimples and a couple of deep-seated ones at the jawline which are the worst. So, after nightly application of Nixoderm (which is great, by the way), I found the state of my facial skin pretty pitiful in comparison to how smooth and acne free it was before (I miss my old skin and can’t keep calm). It was flaky and in a serious need of exfoliation but because there were still bumps and inflammation, I was hesitant to use anything harsh. I went to bug Mr Google and after eyeballing various gentle facial exfoliation solution options for my acne-bombarded lower face, I found comfort in the mixture of coconut oil and baking soda. Both are available in my repertoire, so why not?

My Homemade Coconut Oil & Baking Soda Facial Exfoliator Review

What are the proportions, you ask?

One tablespoon of coconut oil plus half a tablespoon of baking soda was the approximation of my recipe but I think you can definitely lessen the oil because when I mixed my dead-skin-sloughing potion, the oil was in excess.

How to apply on the face?

I scooped it out using my fingers and applied directly onto the face, taking care to be extra gentle. My skin was in a sorry state so the gentler I went about my application, the better it was because like I said, some parts are still sore. The coconut oil quickly soaked itself into my skin and acted as a nice layer so that the baking soda isn’t directly scratching my very unhappy skin. I used my fingers to softly massage the skin, and applied even gentler pressure when I exfoliated the lower bit of my face, especially at the jawline.

How to get rid of the oily mess?

I used my Simple gentle gel cleanser that works pretty well but I don’t mind a little coco oil left to sit on my skin. If you’re not familiar with using coconut oil/baking soda and afraid that your skin might throw a tantrum, please err on the side of caution and do a test on a small patch of your skin that’s not your face first and see how your skin reacts to it for a day.

How did my skin feel after?

I quickly slathered moisturizer to seal in the goodness because I really needed to remedy the poor parched skin of mine. I felt that my skin looked a little bit better and experienced no burning sensation or tightness. It was just what my skin needed because the decaying layer of dead skin was so not cute.

After the moisturizing session, I used Nixoderm to spot-treat focusing the lower half of my face and where there were pimples or pimples-to-be.

Extra tips:

Do not exfoliate every single day. It’s a gentle exfoliator for sure, but please do give your skin a break. Give it a one-day break at least before you start exfoliating again.

If you’re in Malaysia, the baking soda I’m referring to is the one labelled Natrium bikarbonat/Bicarbonate of soda. Not the other baking soda your mom uses to bake cakes or cookies. I use the Kings brand.

The coconut oil I use is from the little Indian stores. I even eat it, blend in with my coffee, treat my hair and parched patches of skin and also share it generously with my fluffy cats – they love the nutty oil!

If you’re allergic to both baking soda and coconut oil, please refrain from using this natural exfoliator.

My skin color/type: Brown. Combination skin that is supremely oily on the T-zone and dry at the outer part of the cheeks and chin.

So peeps, have you tried the combo of coco oil and baking soda as a gentle natural exfoliating treatment for your face before? Let me know your experience whether it's good, bad or neutral. What other homemade facial exfoliant do you use that you think can benefit a face with an acne flare-up? Help a pimply girl out, please!