Home made skin care
June 3, 2011 7:11 PM Subscribe
If you're using baking soda as a face scrub, what do you do next?
Inspired by this discussion I've started using baking soda as a face scrub. I like it a lot and I'm wondering where I go from here. When I used to buy scrubs from the store, I'd use a toner and then a moisturizing cream after, but is there a solution similar to the baking soda one? Do I even need to? Assume I don't know the basics of how to take care of my skin, since unfortunately I don't. I'm a guy if it helps.
Inspired by this discussion I've started using baking soda as a face scrub. I like it a lot and I'm wondering where I go from here. When I used to buy scrubs from the store, I'd use a toner and then a moisturizing cream after, but is there a solution similar to the baking soda one? Do I even need to? Assume I don't know the basics of how to take care of my skin, since unfortunately I don't. I'm a guy if it helps.
This is a tough question because it really depends how the new scrub routine is leaving the skin on your face feeling, compared to how it did under your previous routine. If your skin feels great, clean, not dried out, and smooth but not uncomfortably tight, then a tiny bit of SPF is really all you need.
The reason to use a toner is to dissolve excess oil and tighten things up a bit. If you feel you still need that step, you can use witch hazel as xingcat said (I kinda like the smell myself!) or rose water. Fancy toners are a scam in a bottle.
Unless your skin is super dry go with the lightest weight moisturizer you can find. It really depends upon how sensitive your skin is but even something like Lubriderm with SPF (applied sparingly) is fine.
Unfortunately the aesthetics industrial complex wants us to believe skin care has a jillion steps or ur doin it wrong, but seriously - clean your face, if it's oily tone it, if it's dry moisturize it, and in all cases don't overdo it.
posted by contessa at 8:04 PM on June 3, 2011
The reason to use a toner is to dissolve excess oil and tighten things up a bit. If you feel you still need that step, you can use witch hazel as xingcat said (I kinda like the smell myself!) or rose water. Fancy toners are a scam in a bottle.
Unless your skin is super dry go with the lightest weight moisturizer you can find. It really depends upon how sensitive your skin is but even something like Lubriderm with SPF (applied sparingly) is fine.
Unfortunately the aesthetics industrial complex wants us to believe skin care has a jillion steps or ur doin it wrong, but seriously - clean your face, if it's oily tone it, if it's dry moisturize it, and in all cases don't overdo it.
posted by contessa at 8:04 PM on June 3, 2011
I use it occasionally. It can be too much to do it daily if your skin is sensitive. You don't want your skin to feel tight when you're done. Olive oil, organic coconut oil, sweet almond oil, glycerine, and pure aloe are just some things to play with to see if a few drops of one or more of these on a wet face helps your skin feel good.
posted by MidSouthern Mouth at 8:12 PM on June 3, 2011
posted by MidSouthern Mouth at 8:12 PM on June 3, 2011
I follow the baking soda scrub with jojoba oil and sometimes I use witch hazel in between those two. I only do the baking soda scrub a few days a week and use just the witch hazel and jojoba on the in between days.
posted by des at 8:50 PM on June 3, 2011
posted by des at 8:50 PM on June 3, 2011
"Inspired by this discussion I've started using baking soda as a face scrub."
Baking soda can be excessively abrasive and some people's skin reacts poorly to the alkalinity. A plain wash cloth soaked in lukewarm water is far gentler and won't cause pH problems.
Re: suggestions to use witch hazel: don't do that.
As rewarding as it may feel to scrub and tone your skin until it feels tingly, that tingling sensation is actually a signal that you are irritating the crap out of your skin. Irritated skin tends to overreact and produce a lot of oil, so then you think you gotta scrub/tone more, so then your skin gets irritated and overreacts again, so you scrub harder, etc. Don't get trapped in that cycle.
Wear sunscreen. They are available in different consistencies, so you should be able to find with the right consistency for your skin so that it doubles as a moisturizer.
posted by Jacqueline at 11:48 PM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Baking soda can be excessively abrasive and some people's skin reacts poorly to the alkalinity. A plain wash cloth soaked in lukewarm water is far gentler and won't cause pH problems.
Re: suggestions to use witch hazel: don't do that.
As rewarding as it may feel to scrub and tone your skin until it feels tingly, that tingling sensation is actually a signal that you are irritating the crap out of your skin. Irritated skin tends to overreact and produce a lot of oil, so then you think you gotta scrub/tone more, so then your skin gets irritated and overreacts again, so you scrub harder, etc. Don't get trapped in that cycle.
Wear sunscreen. They are available in different consistencies, so you should be able to find with the right consistency for your skin so that it doubles as a moisturizer.
posted by Jacqueline at 11:48 PM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far.
I'm mostly looking to avoid the brand driven skin care aisle that leaves my head spinning. I figured if I hadn't ever heard of the baking soda, there probably were some other neat tricks I might have missed.
The soda scrub leaves my face very clean feeling, just a little bit more red and raw. I don't have particularly oily or dry skin naturally, so it sounds like a simple moisturizer might be all I need. I might try scrubbing a few times a week and then just using a moisturizer w/ SPF in the morning?
posted by fruit sandwich at 11:55 PM on June 3, 2011
I'm mostly looking to avoid the brand driven skin care aisle that leaves my head spinning. I figured if I hadn't ever heard of the baking soda, there probably were some other neat tricks I might have missed.
The soda scrub leaves my face very clean feeling, just a little bit more red and raw. I don't have particularly oily or dry skin naturally, so it sounds like a simple moisturizer might be all I need. I might try scrubbing a few times a week and then just using a moisturizer w/ SPF in the morning?
posted by fruit sandwich at 11:55 PM on June 3, 2011
Start over with the fewest, least irritating steps possible and add stuff only if you NEED to. I would try just washing your face with just a washcloth for a while and wearing sunscreen and see how your skin reacts.
That there is a whole aisle of skin care products is a marketing thing, and often time people are buying products to treat problems that are actually just reactions to other irritating skin care products.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:08 AM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
That there is a whole aisle of skin care products is a marketing thing, and often time people are buying products to treat problems that are actually just reactions to other irritating skin care products.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:08 AM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
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I've heard that most moisturizers do just about the same thing, but I would definitely use a moisturizer with some form of sunblock, to keep your unprotected face from skin cancer.
posted by xingcat at 7:55 PM on June 3, 2011