As with any exfoliant, do not use every day, or you may dry out or irritate your skin. One to two times per week will help slough off your dull skin cells and leave your face feeling fresher and looking brighter. Follow your baking soda facial with your moisturizer to hydrate your skin.
Owing to its bleaching properties, baking soda can help fade away black marks and spots on the skin. However, it's important that you mix baking soda with other natural ingredients as it can be harsh on your skin if used topically.
"Contrary to popular belief, baking Soda can do more harm than good to your skin. This is because of its high alkaline properties. It strips your skin of its natural oils, results in dry, itchy and irritated skin. Dry skin in turn can lead to early skin wrinkling," says Dr Shetty.
Baking soda does not have any direct skin whitening effect. But, it does a lot of other things to keep the skin bright and beautiful. It exfoliates dead cells, unclogs pores, keeps bacterial infections away, removes blemishes which all together gives a skin whitening effect.
Baking Soda And Apple Cider Vinegar:
Apply the paste on the dark spots and leave it for 15 minutes. Allow it to dry and then wash off with cold water. If you have extra sensitive skin, you can add diluted apple cider vinegar to it.
Although some people simply mix water and baking soda to make a mask, we love the addition of honey and lemon. Lemon is antibacterial, honey is naturally hydrating and baking soda is anti-inflammatory. In other words, this trio of ingredients can help to cleanse, soothe, moisturize and take away redness.
"Baking soda can help remove excess oil from the skin, which may contribute to prominent pores and shine," says Zeichner. "Any real benefits for undereye bags will likely be only modest."
Before you can use a baking soda facial, you will need to make sure that your face is clean and free of any oil or dirt. Clean your face using warm water and your usual face wash. Make a paste with baking soda and water.
Baking soda to the rescue. It can relieve minor irritation, pain, itching, and redness. Mix up a paste of 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water. Smear it on your skin and leave for 20 minutes before you wash it off.
Vitamin C (or ascorbic acid) is especially fantastic at treating age spots on the face because it depigments or reduces melanin on the skin—thereby removing dark spots.
Combine 1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide and 1 teaspoon of milk in a glass bowl. Dip cotton pad or Q-tip in the bowl and apply to dark spots. Leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water and finish off with your favorite serum and moisturizer.
Mix 3 parts of baking soda with 1 part of water. Massage it on using circular movements to remove dead skin cells, leave for a couple of minutes and then rinse off. Easy-peasy! An exfoliating baking soda mask not only gets rid of dead skin cells, but also unclogs pores, leaving our skin squeaky clean.
Similarly, Dasgupta said, “When baking soda is combined with turmeric, the resulting mixture will turn red in colour. This is due to the alkaline properties of baking soda, which causes the turmeric paste to undergo a chemical reaction and change its colour.”