Beauty Tips & Tricks: Baking Powder | Baking Soda

Baking soda has endless amount of household, medical, and yes, beauty solutions. What makes beauty and sodium bicarbonate a perfect pair? It's anti-fungal, antiseptic, gently exfoliates away even the toughest calluses, and tackles smells. You might be wondering, what is the difference between baking soda and baking powder? The is answer simple, both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents, which means they are added to baked goods before cooking to produce carbon dioxide and cause them to 'rise'. Baking powder contains baking soda, but the two substances are used under different conditions. Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate, but it includes the acidifying agent already (cream of tartar), and also a drying agent (usually starch). Baking soda helps regulate pH. Keeping a substance neither too acidic nor too alkaline. When baking soda comes in contact with either an acidic or an alkaline substance, its natural effect is to neutralize that pH. Beyond that, baking soda has the ability to retard further changes in the pH balance, known as buffering. I'm going to share with you 10 beauty tips and tricks uses of baking soda:

Facial Exfoliant: In the palm of your hand, mix some baking soda with your facial cleanser to make a gentle exfoliant. Use circular motions to apply gently then rinse as usual for very soft skin.

Baking Soda to Soften Skin: Before taking a bath, add a half cup of baking soda into your bathtub. It will make your skin softer and smoother.

Soften Tough Calluses: Blend two tablespoons of baking soda in a basin of warm water and add a few drops of lavender oil. After a nice long soak, scrub them away using three parts baking soda, one part water, and one part brown sugar. Follow with an application of a rich moisturizer and a warm towel foot wrap. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Baking Soda Mouthwash: Create an easy baking soda mouthwash by mixing 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 3 drops of peppermint essential oil (or eucalyptus essential oil) in a glass of water. Your mouthwash is ready! It will freshen your breath and neutralize bacteria.

Before a Manicure: Dip a small nail brush into some baking soda and gently scrub under nails and around cuticles until clean. Then, make a paste of three parts baking soda and one part water, and rub in a gentle, circular motion over hands and fingers to exfoliate and smooth. Rinse clean with warm water and apply polish as usual.

Clean Brushes and Combs: Remove natural oil build-up and hair product residue by soaking combs and brushes in a solution of 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a small basin of warm water. Rinse and allow to dry.

Treat Insect Bites & Itchy Skin: For insect bites, make a paste out of baking soda and water, and apply as a salve onto affected skin. To ease the itch, shake some baking soda into your hand and rub it into damp skin after bath or shower.

Deodorant: Skip Harsh Deodorant Pat baking soda onto your underarms to neutralize body odor. Mix four tablespoons of baking soda with about ten drops of your favorite essential oil and apply to underarms with a brush. To reapply throughout the day, just fill an empty mineral makeup container and use a Kabuki brush for a no-mess application on the go.

Hair: Sprinkle a small amount of baking soda into your palm along with your favorite shampoo. Shampoo as usual and rinse thoroughly–baking soda helps remove the residue that styling products leave behind so your hair is cleaner and more manageable.

Air Fresheners: Mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda with 3-5 drops of essential oil of your choice (lavender, jasmine or rose) and put this mixture in small sachet bags. Then, place them wherever you like and enjoy amazing odor!

An extra tip for you:

Boost your Laundry Detergent: Give your laundry a boost by adding 1/2 cup of baking soda to your laundry to make liquid detergent work harder. A better balance of pH in the wash gets clothes cleaner, fresher and brighter.

If you try out any of the tips above, please share your experience with me.

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Lemon Juice Beauty and Health Tips

Beauty treatments can put a huge dent in your pocket and at times these treatments are not effective. Lemons are a versatile fruit providing a number of aesthetic benefits. Lemons provides numerous skin, nail, health and hair benefits. Take a look at ten helpful beauty tips below:

1. Remove Blackheads: Take a lemon and slice it in half, rub the juice all over your face and wait five minutes before rinsing it off with cold water. Lemons have antibacterial properties, making it a perfect blackhead remedy. Blackheads are caused by clogged pores, and the acid called alpha hydroxyl from the lemons help to exfoliate the skin. It may sound too good to be true, but because lemons are antibacterial, they can help treat acne. Your blackheads will start to fade before you know it.

2. Lighten Old Acne Scars: Take a cotton ball and soak it with a little freshly squeezed lemon juice, and rub it all over your face. The lemon juice when applied daily will gradually help to lightens up the scars as it works as a chemical peel.  

3. Clarifying moisturizer: Mix a few drops of coconut water with a few drops of lemon juice. The coconut will hydrate your skin, and lemon will clear and brighten it.

4. Lighten Your Hair: This is a perfect and gradual remedy for those sunny fun summer days. Mix the juice from four lemons with ¼ cup of warm water, put it in a spray bottle, and spray it in your hair until it's damp. Make sure you only expose your hair to the sun for about 30-60 minutes, depending on how light you want to make it. After you’re done, take a shower and use conditioner, as lemon juice can sometimes dry out your hair.  

5. Strengthen Nails: Soaking nails into lemon juice for about 10 minutes and rinsing them with warm water once a week will not only help them to grow but will also remove any discoloration.  

6. Lighten Armpits and Elbows: Discoloration and hyper pigmentation happens to people when there is more melanin in their skin. The more melanin a person has in their skin, the darker it will be. Since lemon acts as a bleaching agent, rubbing a cut lemon on armpits or elbows will help to lighten the skin in those areas.

7. Shine eliminator: Lemon is great for reducing excess oil. At night, apply lemon juice to your face and allow to dry. Go to bed and wash off the lemon in the morning.

8. Lip Exfoliator: Put a little lemon juice on your lips before bedtime, and wash it off in the morning to help remove dead skin cells and dried skin. Obviously, if you already have severely chapped lips that have any cuts, do not try this until they are healed.

9. Teeth whitener: Mix baking soda and lemon juice, and apply it to your teeth with a clean Q-tip. Then, use your toothbrush to scrub your teeth and rinse. It's way cheaper than going to your dentist's office.

10. Lemon Water for Weight Loss: If your digestive system has slowed down, most of your weight loss efforts will be in vain. Lemon water is rich in citric acid which stimulates the digestive system. Every morning squeeze half a lemon into a bowl and add water at room temperature. The water must be at room temperature to activate your digestive system promptly without spending energy on heat the water. 

I hope you try some of these home remedies out and let me know how it turned out for you.

Trianon - Almond Oil palm ("coco")

I bought this product from Jumbo mainly because it was written aceite de coco on the front side of the bottle, 

This is what I call false advertising. Although the name says "coconut oil", it is made ​​from almonds palm. The issue is not the product but the false advertising splattered on the front of this bottle. On the back of the packaging, it says almonds palm oil. This oil comes from coconuts palms.

I needed the coconut oil for my deep conditioning routine but I was disappointed when I got home because I had bought something completely different from what I was expecting. Despite labeling issues, this is a very good product and its affordable. The product promises lubrication, shine and softness which it delivers.

I got it for $1,200 in the Jumbo. You can melt in a double boiler or place the container in a cup of hot water for a few minutes. After the product take consistency as oil, apply a little to your hair and massage it in. Wrap your hair or put it under a heating cap to have better effects. Leave the product on for 20 minutes or for as long as you wish. Wash your hair as desired. I normally co-wash my hair. Apply every seven days, you can mix it with other oils. Another option is to use a few drops to apply in day to day at the tips but do not overdo it, your hair could become very heavy and greasy. 

Watch my YouTube video, Fun with Lorsh: Natural Hair Tutorial. I used the Trianon aceite de coco for my co-wash and deep conditioning wash.

Virgin coconut oil has many properties. I think you should do some research on different ways you can use it. Then incorporate in your daily routine.

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