Little-Known Skin Care Qualities of Baking Soda

I had sensitive skin when I was a kid. In allergy season I would go outside to play and take a shower before doing anything else. Now that I’m older and a mother, I don’t have time to take showers or do long beauty routines, so opt for shorts whenever I can. Especially with such sensitive skin, I am often on the lookout for appropriate ways to keep my skin healthy. It’s important to me. I am a mother and a full time scientist so while I love looking for my best, most days I don’t have that time.
Baking soda has a really high pH. I know this because I read about it when I was curious about the chemistry behind why cakes rise without yeast. And who doesn’t remember vinegar and soda mixing adventures from childhood? One thing I never knew until recently, however, is how baking soda can be used as a regular skin cleansing agent. I’ve heard people recommend daily use but with sensitive skin, I find a baking soda face scrub once a week in the shower works best for me.
Soap is only fatty chains that are exposed to bleach, which, being sodium hydroxide, has a special pH. Baking soda is also basic, but not as strong as bleach. When baking soda or other basic ingredients are mixed with natural skin oil, it becomes a weak, mild soap. Dead skin cells are composed of large amounts of oil and fatty chains that make up cell membranes, like bi-lipid layers. The point is, when we put something with a basic pH on the skin, a lot of natural residues are converted to a weak, gentle, sensitive skin-seed. Our skin oil becomes skin cleaner. How cool is that?
I know some baking soda can be used in face scrubs every day, but my sensitive skin couldn’t take it. I tried it for a while and found my skin too raw after two days. What I need most is to mix as little water as possible with baking soda in the palm of my hand while I’m in the shower. Finally, the natural baking soda acts as an exfoliating agent and I can feel my skin tingling. Using it in the shower gives the added benefit of allowing it to purely open the pores and wash it off quickly which is important because , if it is too long on my face, it stings.
Another great thing about using it in the shower is the perfect lotion. When I tried to submerge this standing in the bath, I didn’t wash it off completely because the baking soda didn’t have a chance to wear so it didn’t feel like soap. It is absolutely difficult to say. But for me, even a small amount, skin”>my eyes will survive all day to aggravate the dryness. That, and when wet It’s hard to see, but when it dries, it looks very thin.