baking soda has become a key part of my regimen. i stopped using it for a few months and swapped it for a prescription gel (ziana, don't do it) and regret it so much. i'm back to my old regimen and already seeing some improvement.
here's what i do every night after i was my face:
1. a honey mask. put plain pure honey on your face for as long as you have time for. if you are just sitting around doing homework, i figure you may as well multitask. i will leave honey on for anywhere from 15 minutes if i am tired and rushed to 6 hours if i have a lot of homework. honey is super gentle, known to help keep your skin moisturized and be an antibacterial
2. BAKING SODA. take a small palm-full of baking soda and mix just enough water to make a paste. apply to your face and leave it on (a) til it dries hard (b) until it stings/irritates if you have sensitive skin (c) for about an hour if you have enough time to do so anyway. then rinse off with cold water
3. alpha hydrox. i have used both their cream and souffle (which contain 10 and 12 percent glycolic acid respectively) find here: [link removed] be careful if you have sensitive skin.
4. moisturize
and that's it! more involved than i would like, but i haven't found anything that works better. my skin isn't perfect, but this gets it to the point where i don't feel like the light remaining acne really hurts my confidence. plus it's relatively inexpensive (the aha costs between 10 and 15 dollars) and you can do whatever while the masks are on. all of these things are great if (like me) you struggle with hyperpigmentation, because all of these things also help to lighten the skin/exfoliate and remove dark spots.
as far as the baking soda goes, please try it, you really have nothing to lose except maybe some acne