I'm a 17 year old girl with oily skin and have been on the 0.005% Retin-A cream for over a year now. It's worked pretty well to clear up my cystic acne. However, I still have blackheads around my nose area (t-zone) and hyperpigmentation. I've read that baking soda is a great solution to both of these problems. I know that I'm not really supposed to exfoliate while on retin-a, but my skin is not easily irritated as I didn't suffer from any of the redness, irritation, or flakiness that I thought I'd get when I first started using this product. I don't want to do anything that will exacerbate my skin.
If not exfoliation using baking soda, then do you know of any other solutions to my blackhead and hyperpigmentation problems?
Also, are clay masks okay to use while on retin-a?
Thank you so much!
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Here's why you shouldn't use baking soda on your skin. It's very alkaline, and will mess up the acid mantle of the skin. Skin is usually around 4.7-5.0 pH, while baking soda is 9ish. Higher pH has been linked to bacterial growth (acne vulgaris-bacteria anyone?).
EDIT: For exfoliation, I'd recommend a BHA-product. Great for clearing up gunk inside the pores.