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

Mini hair haul

I know, guilty as charged (*bows head*); Today isn't Tuesday but Wednesday, and I'm sure y'all were thinking I was gonna post last week Tuesday. That was what I had hoped, but I had an exam that day in a different city and had a lot of things to do upon getting back here, so I do apologize. Now that the air is clear let the blogging/hauling begin :)

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So I went to boots the other day to get a peak flow meter aka 'something' for my friend. After placing the order I started walking out when I tripped over temptation and found myself floating to the haircare aisles. As my deceptive heart knoweth, I promised that I'd quickly browse, make a mental note and leave. I beamed from ear to ear as I walked through my favourite brands, caressing the bottles, not caring who was looking at me. It was not long before I saw myself at the checkout tills with some products in hand. (so much for mental notes when it comes to me and hair products). I breathed a sigh if relief like a junkie getting his fix.

So first up is my old time favourite, HH. I must say it feels like forever since I used her. Since being in braids I've been on tressemme for some reason. I think it was likely the 'bogof' phenomenon that made me stock on them- buy one get one free, for those of you looking confused..lol.

Anyway I felt my hair needed some moisture as I'd been using protein products to build up my hairs strength since the braids. (Oh ya I finally took them down after 4 1/2 months. That has got to be some record. I just thank God that I didn't lose too much hair, however I wasn't too pleased with my hair length....as usual, that's a post for another day)

HH & SS ;)

Marketing is soo essential especially to the 'sensing' eye who appreciates aesthetic beauty....hence my transfixion with this (orange) bottle. Given that it was one of the herbal essences range I hadn't tried, I jumped on the band wagon (literally) and didn't look back. The smooth and soft (SS) conditioner is  directed at dry, damaged and frizzy hair types and promises to soften, smooth and protect hair from HUMIDITY (can I get an 'Amen')

Third in my mini haul was a pack of 3 crochet like headbands. Now I remember wanting to buy these after watching a kimmaytube video ages ago. I had obviously forgotten about them and was in the accessory aisle looking for a 'bun-holder' and soft boar brush (after mine fell into the toilet- don't ask). So u can imagine my surprise when I found this product (which even had a photo of an 'ethnic' girl on it- random right?). Anyways, I immediately grabbed it and started formulating different styles in my head.

'crotchet headbands'

Last and by all means the least were a pack of ouch-less hair bands. I have lost a good few of them and as its a new year, I thought it would be a good time to replenish the stock.

'Boots' ouch less hair bands

Now I don't plan on buying any more hair products, as I bought a couple during two of my last visits to boots. I didn't actually plan on doing a haul on these items but since I've mentioned and some of y'all may be wondering, why not? 

My fist visit was post braid removal. I was looking for a Protein shampoo and conditioner as I had run out. I saw a 3 for 12 bucks deal on the tressemme range and thought why not?

L-R: Keratin deep treatment masque, Liquid gold restorative complex-argan oil infused,
Keratin restoring conditioner.

My second visit which threw me into a frenzy was when I was shopping for hair products for my dear friend in Lagos in a much larger boots store. I was browsing the aisles when I saw the whole ORS range- I'm talking relaxers, shampoo, conditioner, replenishing pack, hair mayo, carrot oil, name it. To top it up these products were all on the top shelf and not the bottom one where they usually place them discriminately sorry I meant to say discreetly. In my joy, I bought ALL five of the replenishing packs  on display. (Hey, don't give me that look...it was Christmas time and Companies needed to make a profit to pay the Christmas bonuses. Plus I was also shopping for a friend in need).

Apparently the replenishing cond. and pan have the exact same ingredients.

Oh yeah, whilst in Lagos I found the cantu Shea butter curling cream and thought I'd give it a shot (later turns out, it's quite a hit on the YT community). So far I like it and it does make my hair look moisturised as well as give it some curl definition. 

My friend also gave me some curlformers she didn't want, so I gladly accepted, and hope to experiment with them sometime.

Curlformers- brand unknown

Anyways, that's all for now and I do hope to post more frequently. Take care and God bless.

XOXO
Miss J

Happy new hair

Happy new year guys. I'm not even going to apologise for being so M.I.A cos that's gotten old. All I wanna say is thank you for being patient.
I'm so grateful to God for a new year cos for the first time i really understood the grace of being able to see another year. My prayer is that 2013 shall be a year of focus and progress for us all; (Can I get an Amen?)
Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Enough with the pleasantries. (My friend once told me that Yorubas never like to go straight to the point because they love to hear themselves talk....I never really thought about it before but it couldn't be further from the truth....think of microphone hugging individuals...lol)

Ok, before I become a victim of what I'm describing, lets get straight to the business.
This month is going to be a pretty exciting one as I already have a few blog topics / posts written up for yous ( U see I hadn't forgotten about u guys). In fact, today I spent over 3 hours researching on some of the content I will be sharing in the coming weeks.
Here's some of what to expect in no particular order:
1. My new hairsolutions (get it?...lol)
2. Bust that fat!!! Body goals 2013
3. Hair mini haul
4. Straight and bouncy curls
5. The return of shingling
6. Blog feature- J.Go
7. Skin care regimen (yes I'm finally delving into this area)
8. Skin heroes ( don't wanna use the word idols...lol)
9. Next hair style + inspiration

So that's all I have scheduled so far. It's gonna be pretty exciting!!!!! I'll be trying out a few new things and I so can't wait to tell you all about it.
Expect the first instalment by Tuesday baby!!

Stay tuned, one love and God bless.
Xoxo
Miss J

Gone till November ;)

Just thought I'd sign in before another month goes by. Not much has been happening on the hair front as I decided to leave my braids in for another month (so help me God), as I was moving jobs and didn't want any added stress. I have also been very conservative in looking after it as my routine currently consists of washing (yes to carrots shampoo), air drying, moisturizing (kinky curly knot today) and sealing (avocado or other oil) once a week. When I do remember (which is quite rare I must confess, I spritz with water...oh and that includes walking in the rain :D).

Ok, so I have some great news...are you ready???......*drumrolls*...... and no I didn't get married, have a baby or win the lotto just yet (I actually hate that word 'lotto'...cringe)....

.... I FOUND A NEW HAIR SALON!!!!!!! I know awesome right....lol..

So I'm walking down clarendon street with my friend the other day when we pass by this brazilian salon where they had the 'twisted sista' range on display. I decided to walk in and look around. A very friendly hair dresser walked up to my friend and I and we had a nice chat about my hair type and what they could do with it. He was really nice and told me to come whenever I wanted. After my experience here, I think one can understand my immense joy.

That being said, I still miss having straight hair every now and again but was brought back to reality yesterday when a saw a soft bouncy afro swaying in front of me....I must say, the wearer (and it was a gorgeous he) garnered quite the attention. I smiled to myself and thought how lucky I am to have such beautiful hair.

I'm now looking forward to taking out my braids and reviving some hand-in-hair syndrome ;)

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In other news, the past couple weekends have been fairly interesting, hanging out with my girl J.Go. She's also into hair and I will be featuring her on this blog soon. 

We went make up browsing the other day, and although I'm not into make up, I found a brand that's quite 'natural' and which I think I'd be interested in investing in. Anyone heard of Bare Minerals?? 

I think they are awesome... My housemate kept commenting on how I looked so 'refreshed' hours after the make up assistant had applied the product.
I like the fact that they contain SPF and are quite healthy for the skin. Their products claim to have macro and micro minerals, which increase cell turnover, improve luminosity and help the skin defend against environmental stressors. (sounds good, doesn't it).

I would however love to know if there are any rival products out there before I invest in this brand. Knowing me, I'd probably only use it when going out to events or something. I used to break out with MAC blushes, and even though I've started an anti-blemish regimen with Neutrogena (who saw the 2 for 1 offer in boots...lol), I am looking forward to using a line without the after effect of le pimples.
Anyways, that's all for now (sigh....I really have missed blogging).

Take care and God bless,
xoxo
Miss Jay

Something new

*yawnnnn* (wakes up from blog slumber)... I've been away for almost a month now and the reason is partly because I'm still wearing my braids, hence, nothing new in that regard.
The other reason is this. For the first time since '09, I feel somewhat apathetic towards my hair. I don't know if having it bundled up for this long is to blame, but I simply feel blasé about it.
I'm beginning to wonder if this whole natural thing is all a fad. Recently I've thought on many occasions of getting my hair straightened, as it's so much easier to deal with. The only thing is I don't want to use a relaxer to straighten it, cos it's just too much upkeep. So what do I do then? Brazilian blow-dry every couple months? perpetual braids? Man, I just don't know.
I'm hoping to fall back in love and obsession with my hair, when it's out of these braids, as I often go through these cycles.
I guess we'll see when we get there.

In other news, I've fallen in love with latin american dancing since going dancing these past two weekends- salsa, bachata, reggaeton, forro... and would really love to go to Brazil to 'discover my roots'. Sounds weird huh, coming from someone from the motherland.
The truth of the matter is that some aspects of the Yoruba culture have been preserved over centuries in Brazil due to the slave trade and these have been inco-orporated into the culture. On the contrary, a lot of what was preserved in Brazil is being lost in Africa thanks to colonialism and westernization. There have been benefits either way and I would love to explore some of the benefits in the name of a vibrant culture, that is Brazil.

Sigh...I'm in another 'culture freak' phase. It looks exciting anyway and I'm gonna enjoy it whilst it lasts. That's all for now. I'm gonna go get some work done.

Take care and God bless,
xoxo
Miss Jay.