🥊 DEBUNKING: DIY Acne “Hack” 🤷‍♀️ Someone PLEASE explain these incredibly overcomplicated “hacks” for straightforward skin concerns? (Aren’t hacks supposed to be SIMPLER than the alternative?) 🤕 Particularly with ingredients known to damage skin barrier. 👩‍🍳 Prime example: BAKING SODA 🥄Thousands of DIY beauty hacks using baking soda - been around as hack longer than some people now trying for first time. (👋 Gen Z) 🧙‍♀️ Back in the Paleozoic pre-TikTok era, widespread belief that acne secondary to oil, dirt and bacteria... 🧽 So scrubbing like a maniacal loon & using intensely harsh toners was standard. (Yup, this is where the awful advice to “scrub away acne” traces back to.) 🚫 Except now we know this is WRONG. While true that baking soda is physical exfoliant with anti-inflammatory properties, key to recall that also has highly basic pH (about 9), UNLIKE healthy skin’s slightly acidic pH of about 5.5. 🙋🏻‍♀️ Why does that matter? Something so basic can throw off skin's pH, disrupt protective outer layer, and cause a ton of irritation. 📅 Also, progress! It’s 2022, there are waaaaaaaay better options. Hydrocolloid (“pimple”) patches and salicylic acid spot treatments are widely available at broad array of price points making this messy&ill advised potion a lousy “hack.” #skincarehacks #skincareroutine #acne #acnetreatment #pimplepatch #hydrocolloidpatches #bakingsoda #applecidervinegar #honey #skinscience #ranellamd