Maybe you’ve heard that baking soda is a great natural product to use in household cleaning. But you can also use this inexpensive household item for a variety of uses in your beauty regime. Reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals and lighten your monthly expenditures on beauty products with these easy at-home treatments.
1. Teeth Whitener
A trip to the cosmetic dentist or home whitening kits are simply not in the budget for a lot of people, and both treatments use a variety of chemicals. You can whiten your teeth naturally by incorporating this treatment into your oral hygiene routine.
2-4 tsp baking soda
Lemon juice (enough to form a paste)
Baking soda is mildly abrasive; and will gently scrub away at surface stains on teeth. Because it’s alkaline it will also reduce the acidity of the lemon juice, which is a natural bleach.
Wipe your teeth clean and dry with a paper towel
Apply the paste directly to your toothbrush and brush onto your teeth
Let it sit for 1 minute
Rinse promptly, you don’t want the acid to damage tooth enamel
*Caution: Baking soda should not completely replace toothpaste, because unlike toothpaste, it doesn’t contain fluoride, which helps prevent cavities*
2. Dry Shampoo
Hands up if you can say dry shampoo has saved your life many a morning! It’s actually good for your hair to skip an occasional wash in order to retain some of its natural hydration. So when you want to breathe some life into hair that’s verging on too greasy to go out in public, dry shampoo does the trick. Or when your hair is a tad greasy and flat by evening, and you don’t have time to wash it before going out. Avoid buying an expensive, chemical laden dry shampoo and just use baking soda.
Sprinkle lightly onto your roots, and run your fingers through your hair to tousle. Style and go!
3. Deodorant
Store-bought deodorant can be expensive and contain potentially harmful chemicals that our body absorbs through the skin. But you can use baking soda as a natural deodorant! This handy household item eliminates odors by neutralizing acids and bases. You may have used it in your fridge for this purpose. Try using a dusting of baking soda on underarms instead of regular deodorant. This won’t irritate sensitive skin or leave stains on clothes.
4. Body Exfoliant
Eliminating dead, dry skin will reinvigorate your boy to give it an all over glow. You can make your own body scrub with a paste of baking soda. You could add an essential oil of your choice for a desired smell.
Mix: 1 part water with 2 parts baking soda, rub all over body, and rinse
5. Acne Treatment
If you’re looking for something new to clear up persistent acne, try this easy, natural treatment.
Mix a few tablespoons of baking soda with enough honey to form a paste.
Leave on skin for 15 minutes and rinse.
6. Hair Volumizing Shampoo
Baking soda will help remove impurities, leaving your hair lighter and springier.
Simply mix in a dollop (about the size of a quarter) to your normal amount of shampoo, and rinse as usual. Your hair will be bouncing with volume!
7. Hair Clarifying Treatment
When sprays and serums (or countless other products) build up in your hair, it appears dirty, heavy, and lifeless. You need something to gently strip and clarify the hair of this residue. And why won’t regular shampoos suffice? They can contain a lot of destructive chemical ingredients such as: sodium lauryl, laureth sulfate, DEA/Diethanolamine, parabens and fragrance. “Fragrance” on a label can indicate the presence of over 4,000 separate chemical ingredients. Yikes! Baking soda to the rescue…
Mix 1 part baking soda with 3 parts water. (For shoulder length hair, use 3 tbsp of baking soda with 9 tbsp of water)
Massage the mixture into wet hair by starting at the roots and working to the ends
Leave on for 3 minutes then rinse with warm water
Apply conditioner and rinse as usual
**this works especially well to remove chlorine from hair**
8. Face Scrub
Facial scrubs that contain exfoliating micro-beads can work wonders to clean and energize skin. But did you know those microbeads go down the drain and pass through the water filtration systems into our lakes, rivers, and oceans, harming aquatic wildlife? Help reduce the negative impact on our environment by making your own facial scrub at home.
Mix 1 part water with 3 parts baking soda to form a paste.
Rub onto face (avoiding eyes) in gentle circles.
Rinse with warm water and follow up with an SPF moisturizer.
9. Hairbrush cleaner
Ever been horrified upon close inspection of your hairbrush or comb? No need to run to the drug store for a new brush. That gunk is a buildup of hair product and dirt that looks gross, but can easily be removed.
Mix 1 part baking soda with 3 parts water. (For shoulder length hair, use 3 tbsp of baking soda with 9 tbsp of water)
Massage the mixture to wet hair by starting at the roots and working to the ends
Leave on for 3 minutes then rinse with warm water
Apply conditioner and rinse as usual
**this works especially well to remove chlorine from hair**
10. Razor Burn Relief
The skin in your bikini area is extremely sensitive. If you’ve ever used a razor on your bikini line, you’ve experienced the painful and unattractive barrage of red bumps that follow this practice. Soothe your irritated skin with a paste of baking soda and water.
Mix 1 cup water with 1 tbsp baking soda
Rub the paste onto your skin, and let dry for 5 minutes
Rinse with cool water
P.S. This one’s not just for the ladies! This can be used as a pre-shave or after-shave treatment for men (being careful to avoid the eye area)
11. Nail & Cuticle Scrub
Leaving nail polish on too long can yellow your nails. You can eliminate stains by mixing baking soda and peroxide into a paste and scrubbing it on your nails.
Cutting off cuticles after cutting them back can lead to infection and painful ingrown nails. To gently trim cuticles, dip a nail brush into a paste of baking soda and water (3:1)
Massage into your hands, nails, and fingers
Rinse with warm water.
12. Foot Soak
Give yourself a home pedicure with nothing this easy treatment
Mix 3 parts baking soda, 1 part WARM water in a basin
Let feet soak for 10 minutes
Rinse, and massage moisturizing lotion into feet and legs wrapped in a warm towel and wait another 10 minutes
This will leave your feet and legs feeling like you had a salon quality pedicure!
13. Dry, Itchy Skin Soother
Especially in those cold winter months, dry, itchy skin can be really irritating and uncomfortable. This treatment also alleviates discomfort from bug bites and sunburn! It will leave your skin soft and soothed.
Take a warm (not hot) bath with ½ a cup of baking soda.
