Tips and Tricks: Baking Soda Scrub

I used to have great skin. I was the girl in high school who never had to worry about breaking out before a big date. Having nice skin made me lazy, though. I never developed a good skin care routine, and while I still don’t break out, my skin definitely has some blemishes and flaws. My nose bothers me the most of all. Blackheads–UGH!

I’ve used Biore strips for years, but they are expensive, they hurt my nose, and they never get rid of all the blackheads. So when I saw this trick on Pinterest, I couldn’t wait to see how it worked!

blackhead scrub

Yes, it uses baking soda! I’m beginning to think that you can do anything with baking soda. Here’s what to do:

1. Make a paste using a teaspoon of baking soda and a tiny amount of milk. I only used this scrub on my nose, but if you want to exfoliate your whole face, use a little more baking soda. The recipe I used calls for a quarter cup of milk, but it was too liquid-y and I felt like I poured most of the milk down the drain.

2. Wash your face with warm water. This will dilate your pores and make the most of the baking soda scrub.

3. Gently scrub your face/nose with the baking soda and milk paste. The baking soda neutralizes the pH of your skin and the lactic acid in the milk helps clean your pores out. To maximize the effect on your skin, let the baking soda paste stay on your skin for a minute or two before rinsing.

4. Rinse off with warm water. Then, you can also splash some cold water on your face to constrict your pores and prevent more blackheads from forming.

When I first tried this scrub, I was surprised at how cold the milk was! Next time, I let the scrub sit on my counter for a few minutes, and then used it as a scrub right when I got out of the shower. It wasn’t a miracle scrub; I still felt like I had blackheads. But it worked just as well as the Biore strips, didn’t hurt my skin (my skin actually felt great!) and I hope it will prevent blackheads. I’m going to keep using it!

Do you have any skin care tips? Tell us about them in the comments!

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I used these websites for this post: Natural Skin Care and LiveStrong.com.

Tips and Tricks: Polishing Silver

On Christmas Day, we were expecting company to arrive in two hours. Stacks of clean china and rows of shining crystal sat on the dining room table, ready to be used. I had forgotten one thing, however. The silver wasn’t polished! I went to my folder for household tips, which is not kept in my file cabinet, but on Pinterest–of course! The directions read:

To polish silver: Wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking-soda solution (ΒΌ cup soda, a few teaspoons salt, 1 quart boiling water) and cover for a few seconds. The result? A chemical reaction that gets the black off the gravy boat.

tarnished silver

I dutifully boiled water in my kettle, poured it into a measuring cup, and added a quarter cup baking soda.

Ed and I literally jumped back as the baking soda and water EXPLODED. Thankfully, the cup was sitting on the stove and no one had been holding it! I quickly dumped the remaining water into the pan, added some salt and the silverware, and then tried to soak up the mess with towels.

This trick did get the tarnish off of my silver. However, I found that it worked best when the silver was completely immersed in the water. I also had a super clean and shiny stove top after that baking soda explosion.

silverware

Steps to follow for shiny silverware:

1. Line a pot with aluminum foil.
2. Add a quarter cup baking soda and a few teaspoons of salt.
3. Place washed silver at bottom of pot.
4. Pour a quart of boiling water into the pot to submerge the silver.
5. You’re ready to set the table!

So, share with us: What tip have you tried that has gone horribly wrong?

Tips and Tricks Tuesday

The original link for this tip is as follows: Baking soda for polishing silver. Check out the linky at Milk & Cuddles for more tips and DIY projects!

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