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Healthy skin is slightly acidic. This acid mantle helps form a protective barrier, and it’s important for overall skin health. Washing with baking soda can remove the skin’s protective oil barrier, alter its pH, and disrupt the natural bacteria on the surface that help to prevent infection and acne. This can leave you with stripped skin that’s prone to infection and breakouts.
While it’s generally not harmful, baking soda can irritate the skin. Most people don’t know they are sensitive to baking soda until they start applying it directly to their skin. It’s notorious for causing rashes, redness, and burning for some people when used in homemade or natural deodorants.
Dermatologists sometimes use baking soda to neutralize a chemical peel in the office, however, in general, baking soda should not be used on the skin on its own.
Pores are itsy-bitsy openings in the skin—and there are millions covering every millimeter of skin. There are two types of pores with different functions: sweat pores and oil pores. The sweat pore allows moisture, produced by sweat glands, to exude out to the surface of the skin, where it helps to cool the body in response to heat, exertion or fever. Sweat pores are so tiny, they are mostly invisible to the human eye.
The oil pore, on the other hand, is a bit larger. Oil pores are also known as hair follicles because these pores produce oil from the sebaceous glands, but they are also the openings from which hair emerges. The oils help to keep our skin and hair healthy. It is the oil pores that can get clogged with sweat, debris and other gunk, causing acne, blackheads and whiteheads. Sweat pores rarely get clogged, as they are so tiny.
Benzoyl peroxide is a topical agent for fighting bacteria and unclogging pores. It is one of the longest-used medications to keep pores clean and healthy. Jojoba oil and rosehip oil are also good for reducing inflammation, fighting bacteria, and keeping in moisture for healthier skin. Ingredients that help exfoliate dead skin cells and increase new skin cell production, such as Vitamin A/Retinol, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid, are good for keeping pores unclogged as well.
baking soda may be effective for clogged pores, but there are many other factors that may affect whether this ingredient would work on your skin or if there are better ingredients that may work for you. Take this skin quiz to find the best ingredients for your skin and build your skincare routine.
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