What Does Baking Soda Do To Your Hair?

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In different cultures, people associate neat hair with health, beauty and youthfulness. You might wonder why you have to spend a fortune on your hair, but truly your hair can greatly improve the way you look and feel about yourself. People really invest a lot of their money and time on luxurious hairstyles to enhance their natural beauty.

The baking soda hair fashion is meant to substitute commercial shampoos. This is because baking soda when dissolved in water and as a result remove excess natural oil hence preventing its buildup, restore shine and soften your hair. Also, some people have stated severe damage to their hair in the long-run. Enjoy the read to learn what research has to say about this treatment and what it can do to your hair.

What Does Baking Soda Do To Your Hair?

Maybe you are wondering if it’s safe to use baking soda on hair. Well, here are some possible benefits that can happen to your hair if you use baking soda on it. Firstly, it leaves your hair shiny, clean and very soft. Secondly, when baking soda is dissolved in water it helps to remove soap, buildup natural oils and any other ingredients in your hair care products. Also, it can help remove dry skin on your scalp.

In addition, if you can’t afford shampoos or maybe you are concerned about the additives or ingredients used in shampoos, then it’s advisable for you to use baking soda as an alternative. Moreover, some people use Apple cider to rinse their hair after washing it using baking soda. They have reported some good results because baking soda is alkaline with a high pH and rinsing it with apple cider vinegar restores the scalp’s natural pH balance.

On the other hand, baking soda pauses some risks to your hair because it has a slightly higher pH than commercial shampoos and also a higher pH than your scalp.

These risks include:

Dryness

Baking soda is known to clean well but it might wash away your natural oils from your hair, this may result in dryness. Note that the amount of oils in the hair varies from one person to another. Some people have much oil than others. However, too much oil on your hair makes it look greasy. Although some oils are desirable to maintain your scalp healthy, baking soda does not have the ingredients that are needed to moisturize your hair, it will only strip away all your oil making your hair look dull. It is advisable to use natural conditioners like coconut and others to restore moisture on your hair.

Breakage

Baking soda is like salt and it consists of some tiny and abrasive crystals and using it on your delicate hair causes the tiny crystals to break your hair fibers.

Scalp irritation

Baking soda is not recommended for people with dry skin, dry scalp or even people with conditions like eczema because it may result in scalp irritation.

After understanding the benefits and risks of using baking soda on your hair, you might ask yourself what research has to say about baking soda. Now, baking soda has a pH of about nine, that’s a strong base. The scalp and the skin have a pH of about 5.5. This means that using any product with a pH higher than 5.5 will definitely damage your scalp.

Also, it can damage your hair fibers and lead to frizz. However, research also suggests that baking soda may open up your hair cuticles for water absorption to take place. Some moisture is essential for your hair but too much absorption may fade it.

Maybe you’re wondering if there are other natural shampoos. Well, before selecting any product, consider whether your hair is thick, oily or thin. Also, if you dye your hair then you should find color-treated hair products. Soo chose a shampoo based on your hair type. Baking soda is not the only natural product, consider others like:

Coconut oil

: It helps seal some moisture against your skin making it good for your hair

Aloe vera: It contains an enzyme that leads to hair growth and can stimulate hair follicles. Also, it may soothe dry, irritated scalps.

Jojoba oil: It can help to balance your oil production and treating your dry hair.

Can Baking Soda Make Your Hair Fall Out?

It’s normal to lose on average of about 50 to 100 hairs in a day. However, this amount is unnoticeable considering that a human being’s head has approximately 100,000 hairs. Losing hair is a natural process and the lost hairs are always replaced by new ones. In general, using baking soda as your shampoo can leave your scalp and hair dry because of its abrasiveness. Baking soda brings out a positive outcome only to those people with extra oily hair. That means if you are not one of a kind, then you should try the other natural products but not baking soda because it will lead to hair loss.

Unfortunately, at some time in life, you may notice excessive hair loss. This may be as a result of some reasons including poor lifestyle, genetics and diet. The reassuring side of hair loss is that it is mostly temporary, meaning that your hair will regrow after a period of time. But it could also be permanent due to other reasons.

Does Baking Soda Damage Hair Follicles?

Baking soda has an alkaline pH of nine, which is higher than that of the scalp which is 5.5. Note that using any product with a pH above 5.5 will damage your hair follicles in the long-run. The use of baking soda can strip away the natural oil from your hair, this will definitely lead to hair breakage. Maybe you have oily hair, then you can greatly benefit from using baking soda but by only using it for a short time and with caution.

This is what happens when you use baking soda for a long time. The extra high alkali baking soda opens up your hair cuticle, hence making your hair look frizzy, brittle, dry and will be prone to tangling and breakage. That is why you are advised to use acidic products like apple cider vinegar which will help neutralize the effect of baking soda and close the hair cuticle.

Does Washing Your Hair With Baking Soda Make It Lighter?

Absolutely yes, but only when you use the baking soda correctly, that is for a short time and with a lot of caution. Below are steps of how you should use baking soda:

Firstly, combine one cup of baking peroxide with 3 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide to make a paste. Continue and apply it to your hair. Then cover your hair with a mask for about thirty to sixty minutes (but not more than sixty minutes), and surely your hair will turn out to be 1-2 shades lighter. The above procedure works magic to lighten your hair.

Still there’re simple ways you can practice to make your hair lighter and they are as follows:

• Mix Up Your Lemon Juice with Conditioner: According to Aura Friedman, lemon juice can easily make your hair lighter but you should be extremely cautious because it is so acidic thus it can burn your hair.
• Apply Vitamin C to Your Hair: Due to its citric acid, vitamin C makes an effective way to lighten your hair. This method is way too easy because you just crush up some vitamin C and put it into a spray bottle and spray it on your hair. This brightens up your hair and removes mineral build-up.
• Use a Saltwater Solution: This method is the best for color-treated hair. You only have to mix some water and salt then spray it on your hair. It will open up your hair cuticle and the end result is that your hair will turn to be lighter
• Add Apple Cider Vinegar: Mix 6 cups of water with one part of apple cider vinegar, then wash your hair using the mixture. It will help to lighten your hair and also dissolve oil build up in your hair and on your scalp. On the other hand, the mixture helps detangle your hair.
• Apply a Cinnamon and Honey Mask: This is the only sweet-smelling solution you have to lighten your hair naturally. Combine two tablespoons of honey with one tablespoon of cinnamon and one tablespoon of olive oil. You must allow the mixture to sit on your hair for a long time

How Long Does It Take For Baking Soda To Lighten Hair?

Baking soda is definitely the very first alternative that people who stop using shampoo turns to. This is because the mechanism between the soda and your hair is simple and pure. Baking soda turns the superb protective sebum of your hair into soap (that is the part of your hair that makes it look greasy). That is still the reason as to why you feel slipperiness all over your hair after using this ingredient. In addition, it is the cheapest alternative apart from water you can use as it only costs you about 2 cents for each application.

For baking soda to lighten your hair successfully, apply the mixture on your hair for 30-60 minutes once in every 7 to 10 days. Your hair will firstly squeak with a lot of cleanliness as you rinse it off, later it will turn to be lighter, shiny and bright.

Can I Mix Baking Soda With My Shampoo?

When your hair is extra dirty, then it absolutely needs some more effort in its cleaning. Adding up some baking soda to your normal powder maybe be your favorite way to oomph or rather energize your shampoo. Just pour one teaspoonful of baking soda to your hand and lather it up to your usual amount of shampoo. After doing this you will find that your lather is now extra rich and helps your shampoo to work a little further to have some super-strong cleaning.

There are still some other useful ways baking soda can help in your beauty routine. They include:

Mixing baking soda with your face wash for a scrub will eliminate extra oils and leave your skin feeling clean. Although baking soda has an irritating effect to many people it does not have any problem.

Does Baking Soda Remove Facial Hair?

If you have unwanted facial hair, it can be hard to constantly keep them away. Truly shaving will only work for a few days and using creams can irritate your sensitive skin. Actually, you do not need to use chemicals on your face to get rid of the hair. Baking soda can effectively remove facial hair. This process will involve you to practice the following simple steps:

• Mix the baking soda in water and then soak a cotton pad or a washcloth for a few minutes
• Place the washcloth on the areas you do not want the facial hairs to grow and then compress it. This removes dead skins thus making it easy to remove the unwanted hair
• Allow the compressed cotton pad to stay overnight, then the next morning, remove the cotton pad gently and wash off the area with water
• Lastly apply a moisturizer over the treated part of your skin. Carry out the above process repeatedly once per week for about one month

According to science, baking soda has more risks than benefits in the long run thus it does not support the replacement of shampoo with baking soda. Although a number of people have fallen in love with this natural method, maybe you could end up being one of them, just give it a try if you have oily hair. Also, it is known to cause irritation and dryness on your skin, if you find that it is causing the same effect to you then try other natural remedies like vitamin C for your overall health as well as for stronger growth of your hair.