All I can add is that vinegar is acidic, with a pH about 3.5 to 4.5, which might be helpful to your skin because skin has a pH of about 5.5.

For perspective, hair has a neutral pH of about 7, and so do most shampoos and body washes, although bar soap usually has a pH of 8 to 9. Municipal water can have a pH of 7 to 8.9, depending on where you live, so anytime you add water from the tap for washing, pH measurements become very approximate but it's still useful to know

Here's how I see the problem -- baking soda is a mild alkaline with a pH of about 8.2 (sort of the opposite of vinegar) so the baking soda might not be helpful to your skin.

Thanks! I'm going to cut out baking soda in my routine, I did not feel it was helping much anyway. I will continue to use the apple cider vinegar for the next few days to see what happens. Will update if there is a difference in my skin

So I do think my red marks are slowly starting to fade finally! But the ACV isn't really helping with preventing new breakouts... although the really bad breakout I had last week is subsiding, I am still getting flareups. But I wasn't expecting it to clear up my acne anyway, I need strong prescription creams for that! So overall my skin doesn't look exceptionally different from when I started. I'm still breaking out and my red marks are still there, but they are lighter. I will keep updating in case anything changes!

What type of Apple Cider Vinegar do you use? I read that Bragg's is the best to use so that's what I use and I haven't had any issues with it so far. I only spot treat and I don't dilute but I read that you're supposed to dilute it because it's so strong. I've put so much crap on my face so it's pretty tough

I read through a ton of reviews before I used it and a few people mentioned that they had a bad reaction to it (rash, breaking out) so always spot test before you apply anything all over your face.

I have before and after pictures so that you can see the amazing results. I don't know how to post them though but ACV helps get rid of my cysts within a few days AND as an extra bonus made the redness go away. I still have some redness but about 90% is gone. Thank goodness.

Oh have you used mandelic acid? I bought some of the 25% acid and it dries up zits and helps fade red spots (but not as fast as ACV). Just spot treat and don't apply onto scars. I used it all over my face and it dried my skin up badly and I think it made some of my new scars (holes) bigger. It did, however, help shrink my cysts (but not as fast as ACV) and it faded my red spots but very slowly which is why I decided to try out ACV and I'm so glad I did. It's so much faster and it doesn't make my scars look big.

I've never used baking soda...

Thanks for the reply! I read that Bragg's was what you were supposed to use too, but all I had in my cabinet was just a plain Shoprite brand Lol! I know it may not work as well but I think I am seeing results! My red marks are pretty dark so I didn't expect the results to be unbelievable, but I really do think they are fading!

I do dillute the ACV though. At first I only added a small amount of water, but then when I started to breakout I did some research and read that you should really start out slow or your skin may react. Haha I am just like you, I have really tough skin from all the medications and products I've used on it over the years! So when I first started using ACV with only a little water it didn't burn or sting so I assumed my skin tolerated it, but then when I started to breakout, I diluted it with more water and now my skin is not breaking out as bad!

Thanks for your advice, it made me feel more optimistic about using ACV! Do you think I should switch to Bragg's since it's organic and you are getting such great results from it?