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LPT: The amazing uses of Baking Soda and other natural/cheap house cleaning tips!(r/LifeProTips)
NO no no no no. NEVER use baking soda on your skin. It disrupts the natural acid mantle of skin aka it’s barrier. It’s exceptionally harsh and irritating.
EDIT I urge people to read up on the importance of maintaining a healthy acid mantle. Also a recent post about baking soda with sourceshere and here, also includes how skin pH is tested
EDIT A cheapo option for dislodging blackheads is mineral oil massaged into damp skin each night. Contrary to popular belief, mineral oil and vaseline are both hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic. However there are outliers with sensitivities to these, so test patch. Baby oil is mineral oil + fragrance. If you have no fragrance issues, this will be find. You can also find unfragranced mineral oil either in the laxatives section of the drugstore ( though double check ingredients, sometimes they add thickening agents) or as cutting board oil, like Snow River Wood Oil.
As you massage, you’ll feel little grits under your fingertips: this is all the gunk trapped in your pores. Sometimes it can take a few weeks for stubborn areas to dislodge.
Again, this method doesn’t work with everyone, but it’s an option to try out.
You can also try chemical exfoliating to loosen them up with salicylic acid, like Stridex pads.