Skin Care Regimen

So I was in boots the other day browsing through the skin care aisle when a thought came to mind- 'how about I research and find the perfect skin care regimen for 'black' skin'. (For anyone who knows me an interesting thought can easily become a short term obsession- a la INFPness).

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In the past I had used both the body shop seaweed range and clinique 3 step both of which were great products for a maintenance regimen. Recently, I started breaking out and getting more than my fair share of pimples which I initially put it down to the bare minerals primer I was using. However, after weeks of not using any primer or makeup I was still getting tiny pimples cropping up, mostly at the corners of my face and the middle of my forehead. In one of my previous posts I had mentioned the neutrogena blemish range which I got on sale. Well what can I say? It wasn't great (to put it politely). In fact, I started breaking out more. It wasn't until I started researching that I realised that the culprits were probably the oil-present skin care range as well as the hair oils which I had been using since taking down my braids.

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Anyways I continued to browse the skin care products, trying to get ideas for a regimen. When I got to the Olay range I paused and casted my thoughts back to the days where I'd often see their products on my mom's dressing room table. Hmmm, I thought, this could possibly be my next buy, although I had associated it with older women. I didn't want to 'trigger-buy' anything so made a mental note (as promised) and moved on to the hair product aisles.

Upon getting home (or should I say library) that day, I started google-searching and found a few helpful tips. For one, I have combination skin, which means I have an extra-oily t-zone and occasionally get dry skin around my cheeks. In looking for the best regimen for my combination, I came up with the following:

the whole shebang- morning routine *

basic morning ritual

My evening routine

1. Cleanser-  I read somewhere that bar soaps are advised in comparison to liquid cleansers for people with oily skin. With many in the market, I decided to opt for something more natural and which I often used as a child in boarding school- it's called Dudu Osun (which basically means black soap in english). 

'add-on's'

2. Exfoliate- I use the St. Ives anti-blemish range in the morning to exfoliate every other day of the week. When I do wash my face in the evenings, I prefer to use something much milder, and that's when the neutrogena pink grapefruit scrub comes in handy. To be honest, I stole the later from Gabrielle Union's skin care regimen. She's got such flawless skin and one of my mini goals is to have such skin when I'm forty :)

2b. Mud mask- I use the body shop warming mineral mask once a week.

3. Toner- After searching far and wide for a toner, I came across a couple positive reviews for witch hazel which has acne-fighting properties. I therefore purchased the boots tea tree and witch hazel toner, which i'm loving so far.

4. Moisturizer- And here is where I'm still searching. My ideal moisturizer will be oil free, contain antioxidants and have a sun protection factor (spf), the reasons being as follows:

oil-free: because I already have somewhat oily skin.

antioxidants: because they moisturize the skin and protect it from damaging effects of the sun. They may also minimize fine lines and wrinkles.

spf: likewise these help to protect the skin from the harmful effects of UVA/B rays. In addition, skin cancer is real, and 'black does crack' if not taken care of. 

* Initially, I tried the olay essentials complete care for normal/dry/combo skin with spf 30, but found the lotion too thick and greasy. I started breaking out more and so decided to stop. I now use the neutrogena pink grapefruit oil free moisturizer, which is perfect in consistency and layering. However, it doesn't contain spf or antioxidants, so my challenge is to find one with all of the above (3) properties. 

5. Facial- I plan on incorporating this into my regimen, every other month. I am aware that not all facial treatments are created equal and some may be more harsh on certain skin tones. As such, I am still yet to research and discover the best ones for darker skin tones.

6. H20- Ah yes water. This is probably the most important item on any regimen. It is recommended to drink 8 glasses of water a day, and I know Gabby drinks a gallon everyday (which works out as 3.78 litres). That's kinnda deep...lol. I'm currently trying to drink a 1.5 L bottle of evian a day, and as things progress, maybe i'll move to 2 bottles :)

7. Frozen spoon (for bags)- Gabby does this as well (I think it's pretty obvious by now that she's my skincare hero). 

That's all for now folks. Till next time.

XOXO

Miss J