Baking Soda

Okay, this might sound pretty weird to some of you but I wanted to get this out there.

I am really weird about my feet, not in a bad way but I am very meticulous and picky about my pedicures, etc. I am also diabetic, so I am pretty extreme when it comes to my hygiene and health, especially my feet and hands. As some of you have read in my other reviews, I work in O&G, usually spending a LOT of time in refineries, as I work in business development for a major company that performs industrial construction, turnaround services, maintenance and repair work, etc. so I am deeply involved in an industry where there are only a handful of women that are successful, as it is deemed "a man's world". I spend a lot of time wearing PPE, that consists of FRC clothing (usually coveralls), steel toed boots, hard hat, safety glasses or goggles, hearing protection and such. I don't do the fancy manicures and keep my fingernails trimmed pretty short with a square shape, cuticles meticulously trimmed and oiled multiple times daily and usually buffed or clear polish...my toes are a different matter altogether, this is where I can secretly go a bit wild and love having them painted usually very dark, bright or unusual colors with cute designs and embellishments. It's my fun little secret that allows me keep my femininity despite working in a man's world. Usually when in the field, I keep my make-up toned down and my hair is in a messy bun or pony tail, up under my hard hat.

So when I am traveling heavily, as I cover a huge territory called North America, and don't have time to get my nails done between trips, I will remove the polish and go "naked" on my toes rather than have to look at chipped polish. But my nails get stained from the dark/bright colors that I prefer to wear. I decided to try a whitening toothpaste on a nail brush to see if that helped reduce or bleach the discoloration, amazingly it totally bleached the color off my nails within seconds. Well since the main ingredient in whitening toothpaste is baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, I decided to mix my own concoction and it works just as well, with little to no scrubbing with the nail brush necessary.

In the past, I would be too embarrassed to go without polish, as the discoloration looked horrible and I never wanted people to think I had nail fungus or something, but this little trick quickly takes care of this problem and only cost pennies to make. It is also a lot easier to use an old toothbrush since the smaller head allows me to get the sides of my nails and tighter area along the cuticles. Not only does this remove discoloration, but it also bleaches the whites of my nails and makes it look as if I have a fresh French Manicure, works for the hands too.

When it comes to skin care baking soda is a fantastic natural ingredient that can be used to soften skin (add to bath water and take a relaxing soak), exfoliate (add to gentle cleanser or lotion and massage on skin then rinse to remove), or remove stains from teeth when used as toothpaste, not to mention so many more uses (just google it). Use a light hand when exfoliating, it is a fine powder but still abrasive and you don't want to cause unnecessary microdermabrasion. Skin will feel soft and smooth after and you won't believe how inexpensive this wonder product is.

I used Baking Soda as a gentle exfoliator for a while, and it did a decent job for cheap. BUT I STOPPED AND HERE'S WHY:
I've read in multiple places online that baking soda disrupts the skin's natural barrier function. It's too alkaline and even more so when mixed with water. A damaged acid mantle (barrier) can lead to all sorts of skin issues and acne. Not trying to put down anyone's routine or suggest that I know better, I just wanted to share. My dermatologist in the States recommended I stop using it when I mentioned to her that I exfoliated a few times a week with it. I thought she was probably just trying to sell me something from her office, but she didn't. Then I looked into it for myself, and decided I'd better quit, especially since I'm on tretinoin.

There's plenty of science behind it, I suggest researching if you're curious.

I still use it for cleaning my tubs and sinks though, and occasionally in laundry.

I am a simple skincare girl - basically I only use Ivory Soap, Ponds Cold Cream to remove my mascara and a moisturizer on my face... and usually my skin is OK. But for the last 2 years I have been getting clogged pours (sebaceous filaments) and blackheads around my mouth and on my chin. When I try to extract them (Bad, I know!) if I don't get the little suckers well then they flare up and I get a full blown nasty zit. Since they have gotten so bad I decided to start using some scrubs to see if they would help my situation. After using a few from the drug store with little to no results I started googling. Isn't google amazing?! After searching remedies for blackheads I noticed that baking soda scrub kept popping up... So I decided to grab the baking soda out of my cupboard at home and give it a whirl. Well I am so glad that I did because within two weeks of using this simple water and baking soda mixture about 5 times (each use spaced a few days apart) the clogged pours have cleared up and I was able to extract the existing blackheads much easier. Like I said it has only been two weeks, so we will see if these results last but I am currently very pleased with this CHEAP and EASY solution for now!

Be careful with this. It works pretty good as a peel, mix it with a lot of water tho, and use only once a month (I use it seasonally). Follow with a heavy moisturizer, your skin is gonna be thirsty for days after. I use it in the shower for my body every 10 days, it's great for brightening and exfoliating.

I mix honey with baking soda for my exfoliate. I love it and have used it for years. It is gentle, smells beautiful, tastes like honey comb and leaves my skin soft and never dry

There are so many uses for baking soda but favourites are:

HAIR:
Fill a bottle of water with 1 tablespoon of baking soda, wet hair, pour baking soda solution over hair and scalp, shampoo and condition as usual. It deep cleanses and conditions at the same time.

BLACKHEADS:
Use CURE Aqua Gel on cleansed skin, exfoliate with a Clarisonic and baking soda paste (baking soda mixed with water), followed by Aesop Primrose Cleansing Masque. Effectively removes the majority of blackheads and makes extraction a lot easier after. Might not be suitable for sensitive skins.

DENTAL HYGIENE:
Rinse and gargle with baking soda water, do your dental routine as usual. Takes away bad breath more effectively than without.

I don't use this for my skin but I use it for my teeth with activated charcoal and raw coconut oil and it makes my teeth feel so clean and white!! Would recommend!

I have sensitive and acne prone skin and this product made my skin worse. It also made my skin really dry and it was really irritating.

Used this as a clarifying wash along with a acidic rinse after. Made my hair really dry and ridiculously coarse even weeks after using it. I have also used this as a face mask which I won't ever do again as I felt burning on my face.