INTRO
Hi guys, I woke up this morning, feeling like this post was long overdue!
Let me tell you a little secret, my past idea of skin care was avoiding chemicals on my face and using only the best make up products.
The fear of bleaching and damaging my face back then was so real! I used to think that even if I could hide defects on other body parts, it would be near impossible to cover my face. (as I do not fancy masquerade or ninja looks) so I preferred to keep it natural.
Yes, this school of thought worked to an extent for me, after all, I had no pressing skin concerns. I only needed to glow, while being careful to avoid damaging my delicate skin. I was confident with my plans, until I realized I had been subjecting my facial skin to TORTURE!.
The use of shower soap on my face was unknowingly simultaneous to some of those harsh chemicals I had tried so hard to avoid. Just so you don’t get it twisted, my bathing soap; “Fruiser Goat Milk shower cream” is not a bleaching soap o!
Though it works great for other skin areas, it’s constituents could be considered too harsh for my delicate facial skin.
📢………In case you never knew, please darlings, it is a taboo to use body soap on your face. It might sound weird but it is 
true. Go get yourself a nice and trusted facial cleanser instead.
I was excited and relieved when I realized that as much as there are many harmful skin products out there, amazing, gentle and natural products to nourish the skin also exist. What actually makes the difference is being informed and making the right choices.
Even as a make up artist, I tip toed into the world of skin care. Thankfully, the help and encouragement of a friend who is blessed with a wealth of skin care knowledge came in quite handy.
It was more like she unveiled my skin care needs and introduced me to various trusted skin care products.
One thing I realized along the way is that sometimes, your skin care needs/routine could change for many reasons. The important thing is to keep yourself informed so you don’t overdo or do too little.
I would say that for minor issues such as managing hyperpigmented patches, acne prone skin, dry skin and controlling shine for oily skin you can usually sort those with the right products.
However if you have serious/recurrent breakouts/acne vulgaris, rosacea or other worrisome skin disorders, be sure to check with a dermatologist to prevent using products that could worsen the condition.
Now I am no skin expert (hopefully maybe sometime in the future it would be a thing), but if you are like me with no particular skin concerns and a combination/ oily skin type, then you could key into my skin care routine and see if it works fine for you.
What I am particular about is a glowing, smooth and evenly toned skin.
This is a no bleach zone please
Skin care routine
Morning
- First, I wash my hands before touching my face. (ain’t no dirty hands allowed in this skin care routine)
- Then, I grab my Simple moisturizing facial wash, massage it into my face and neck for about a min or two and rinse out. Like the name suggests it is simple and gentle. There are many other great face cleansers out there, and since this isn’t a detailed cleanser post, illd be mentioning only two others that I absolutely trust; CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser (suitable for all skin types), Cetaphil hydrating gentle skin cleanser (for combination skin)
- After rinsing out the cleanser, I either air dry my face or get my *FACE * towel to dry it up, please never use your body towel, else you would start to aid and abate micro organisms on your face.
- Next, I go in with a clean cotton pad to apply my all time favorite Neutrogenia *Alcohol free* facial toner.
I call it my all-time favorite because my mum actually introduced me to this particular brand.
That being said, you could get other equally great toners such as the Simple kind to skin soothing face toner or the Seba Med clear face facial toner for acne prone skin.
- Next, I go in with my sunscreen. Now this sunscreen matter ehn, it ended in tears with my first buy. I got the Neutrogena hydro boost sunscreen and I absolutely regretted it!
WHY?
Because it is damn oily! And it stings the eye.
This is a no for someone with oily skin. I would advise that you reach for either the Aqua Sun gel SPF 50 or the CeraVe hydrating mineral sunscreen which also has the SPF 50.
NB: Baby girl! In case you are wondering what SPF means, it simply means Sun protective Factor. It is absolutely necessary to prevent sun burns, especially in this part of the world. Some sunscreens have lower SPF levels i.e SPF 15, 30.
I would however suggest using a sunscreen with SPF 50 just for all round protection, plus who doesn’t like bigger things lol!
So, another thing to note is that some sunscreens are moisturizing/hydrating such as the CeraVe mineral sun screen mentioned earlier, it’s like a 2 in 1 package and it is very useful to the dry skin folks.
However for people with oily skin, sunscreens that dry matte such as Aqua 50 sunscreen does it for their skin type. A good moisturizer before the sunscreen application could come in handy even to those with Oily skin types.
Now for my night routine!
Let’s just say I do a double mild cleansing, delete the toner and also ditch sunscreen (coz ain’t no sun on my bed at night)
In clear terms,
- I go in with my Simple facial cleanser again, air dry my face and then cleanse with the gentle Garnier skin active micellar cleanser to remove left over impurities or missed make up products from the day’s event. (Do you see what I mean by double cleansing?)
- The next thing I do is moisturize my face with Tm essential’s luminous moisturizer before calling it a day.
Yeah, that’s it.
Just in case you are wondering, no I don’t exfoliate. I currently do not feel the need to, illd rather double cleanse. This might change in the future though, we would see
Edakun (please), this routine is my personal routine, it might not work for people with acne prone skin neither would it miraculously tackle break outs, as specific products would be required to combat serious skin issues.
If you however have absolutely no skin care concerns, then feel free to follow this routine, and let me know if it works for you.
