Monday, June 4, 2012

Natural Body Care Series: Baking Soda Face Scrub


It's been a few days since our last installment of Natural Body Care Products-
I've been slowly replacing our store-bought toiletries with homemade ones and am having fun sharing them with you!

First, I made Homemade Body Wash out of bar soap, castile soap and water. It works great!

Then, I made Avocado Lemon Hair Conditioner last week and am enjoying it thoroughly.

The first time I used it, I used WAY too much and my hair ended up being super oily. Like, 'hair that just came from a photo shoot at the beach, messy, wet look even though it's dry' oily. Ick. Not what I was goin' for at all. ;)
I figured out that if you just use a small scoop, it works much better. And if I use it before I shampoo, it seems to work better for my hair because my shampoo gets out any extra oil that would weigh down my hair.

On to my next natural body care experiment:

Baking Soda Face Scrub






I've been having problems lately with clogged pores on my forehead- I made the mistake of using body lotion on my face while we were on vacation instead of facial lotion.
(Don't EVER do that! You will break out and get bumpy clogged pores. Trust me. I should've just went and gotten some facial lotion.)

Anyway, I was asking a friend what she does for clogged pores, and she told me about just using baking soda as an exfoliator. (Is exfoliator a word? My computer doesn't think it is. If not, it is now!)

I tried using baking soda and it's really nice!
My pores are looking a little bit better too, although they're not totally clear. But they look overall a bit smoother and my face feels so much cleaner!

Here's what you do:
(it's so easy I almost feel silly writing a whole post about it!)

~Start with a make-up free face.

~Get some baking soda out of your cabinet.



~Open up your pores by splashing your face with really warm/hot water or by holding your face over a pot full of steaming water.

~Then, pour a bit of baking soda into your hand and scrub it around on your wet face for about 30-45 seconds.
Make sure you really concentrate on your problem areas- for me, that's my forehead, chin and nose.



~Rinse with slightly warm water, then follow with your regular moisturizer.

That's it.

Try it!
It feels so nice; the baking soda is a gentle yet effective exfoliant because the little particles just rub away dead skin and get the dirt out of your pores without any of the synthetic additives that you'd get in a store bought exfoliating scrub.
If you wanted, you could add a bit of essential oil to your baking soda for an aromatherapy-like scrub. (I'm imagining lavender, mint or eucalyptus, or whatever your favorite herbal scent is.)
I just used plain baking soda because that's what I have, but I'm looking forward to playing around with it and seeing if there are any combinations that I like.

Have you ever used baking soda as an face scrub? How did it work for you? I'd love to hear about it! :)

If you want to know some more uses for baking soda, check back soon because I'm in the process of writing a post about all the ways I can think of that baking soda can be used for. There are so many!


I'm also linking up to The Prairie Homestead's Homestead Barn Hop and Like a Mustard Seed's
Living Green Link-Up.  There are SO many other talented people out there sharing a wealth of knowledge about all things frugal, homesteading and natural; go check them out!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love baking soda as an exfoliant! My face is much smoother now that I use it + a natural oil blend as a moisturizer.

Pretty picture!

thistlewoodfarm said...

What a great idea! I love natural beauty solutions. Thanks for sharing!

Have a blessed and wonderful day!
karianne

Becca Swan said...

Thanks!
Jenny, what oils do you use as a moisturizer?
One of the next things I want to try is making my own moisturizer or lotion and I'm not sure where to start.
I've heard almond is good?

Lorissa Kearbey said...

wow never thought to use it on my face! Thanks for the tip! I do use it to wash my hair though! Works great!

Emily Brotherton said...

Bec, I love this! I have been having somewhat of a "quarter-life crisis" with my skin lately...I feel like I'm in high school again. I have been searching for something to try, but it feels daunting to find a natural alternative.

How often do you use this? Is it your daily cleanser or just an every few days type thing?

Becca Swan said...

Em, I'd use it like three or four times a week and alternate another cleanser on the other days, just so that my skin doesn't get TOO exfoliated. My skin's been going through a quarter life crisis lately too, it's crazy! Who knew we'd still be having problems with zits when we're close to 30?!
Hopefully this helps at least a little bit!