Last August, I wrote about washing my face with baking soda in hopes of keeping my skin clear of acne in a more natural way. That post continues to be one that gets a lot of hits (thank you!), due to people having the same unfortunate situation as me, I suppose.

When I wrote that post, I had just started using the baking soda and the results looked promising. I thought it was only fair to those people hunting for more info that I write an update.

A few friends who decided to try the baking soda regimen quit within a month or so because their skin was too inconsistent with it.

I was happy with the results for a while, but was having inconsistency issues too after a couple months. Then, when the colder, drier air moved in for the winter, the baking soda dried out my skin too much, even using moisturizer.

I went to a regimen of The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash and Arbonne’s FC5 Day Lotion (for oily/combination skin) and night créme (for normal/dry skin). It worked decently well, but still not the way I’d hoped.

Then, just when I was about to break down and visit the dermatologist my dad swore by, everything was made better — by a vitamin.

While in my beloved Whole Foods one day, I picked up a bottle of the 365 Adult Multi for Women. A quick label comparison against my old One A Days bottle proved that 365 had much more to offer, and in a seemingly more natural way that included herbs (the vitamins look speckly and smell awful too).

The 365 vitamins are packed with nutrients that support skin health like inositol, beet powder, dandelion root, spinach, vitamins K and the Bs, zinc, copper and more.

My face has never looked so good for so long and this is the longest (by FAR) that I have ever gone without using some sort of acne treatment. Part of this could be due to me being older, but I really think it’s very much due to these vitamins.

It seems that there are a few more challenges now that we’re back to the humid summer months, but I’m nervous about messing with a good thing and going back to the baking soda to dry things up.

So I’m curious to know, if you’ve tried it, how did it turn out? Have you had long-term success with baking soda as a face wash? I’d love to hear what’s worked for you and what didn’t.

Thanks for all your support, comments and clicks!