Let’s talk skin
My skin is going through it. She has let me know what once worked, isn’t working anymore and she’s not happy!
I remember the days when my skin would glow and radiate, where it was one with the weather and the humidity kept it soft and full of moisture.
You’ve all heard me go on about winter and my struggle to acclimate to the cold. Ever since I moved to a country with four seasons, winter and colder months have wreaked havoc on my skin. After almost 10 years living here, I may have layering down pat but finding the right products for my skin continues to evade me. The dryness that creeps up the minute winter rears its ugly head is real. It has said ‘NOPE’ time and time again and I’ve had to figure out how to hydrate it, moisturise it and keep it happy more times than I can count.
The thing with my skin is depending on the weather itself, or depending on how dry or cold it is, my skin will do the absolute most and decide one random day that a product that once worked isn’t going to work anymore. How many more products can a girl go through in one lifetime? Your good sis is tired! Is it just me or do certain products stop working for you too? Like, you’ve been using them for years and all of a sudden your skin says ‘NAH! This ain’t it friend. Switch it up!’ Cause I can swear there are moisturisers I swore by at one point in my life that do not work anymore. Is it age? Does our skin need higher levels of hydration as we get older? Or do certain products have a timeline for how long they’re efficient and after that period it’s time to pack it up and move on to the next best thing? I have questions!
Glowing and highly moisturised in Mombasa
My skin thrives in warmer temperatures. I know this, my skin knows this. It is hydrated. It radiates. It is moisturised for longer and that obviously has to do with the humidity (and good old sunshine!) levels which contribute to its all round glowyness (I realise this is not a word just let me run with it!).
Even though we lived in the tropics, Black skin does tend to get drier than lighter skin so the need for moisturiser is absolutely necessary. In Black skin there isn't as much water, so the skin is less hydrated. The epidermis in Black skin also has fewer ceramides, which are waxy lipids (fatty acids) that form a natural barrier. Therefore, Black skin often has a higher level of transepidermal water loss (lost moisture from the skin) compared to white skin (thank you Google!)
And if you are Black, you are very familiar with the word ashy, a word used to describe skin that is dry skin that is more apparent and visible in people of color. It can make the skin look dull, gray, or chalky, with an ash-like coating (hence the name). One thing you did not want to be as a Black person stepping out the house is ashy cause you know you’ll get a barrage of comments begging you to get some lotion on your ashy bits (generally very common in the elbow and knee area).
My skin and I have history. We’ve been through some rough patches and eventually made it out in one piece. I used to have eczema growing up & it was mainly on my forearms and on the backs of my knees. The eczema only appeared once I hit puberty which could have been hormone related, food related or none of the above. No one really knows. It shows up, destroys your self confidence then disappears without a goodbye or a reason as to why it even came. I tried everything to cover it up and for the most part it worked. But there are only so many long sleeved shirts, arm and leg bands you can wear before calling it a day. I remember using this cream that came prescribed by our family doctor called Diprosalic (how and why I remember that name I can’t even tell you!) but it worked like a dream. Eczema isn’t to be messed with and the scarring it causes takes months and sometimes years to fade. I’m glad that part of my life is done.
Skin history aside, let’s talk about how our skin is different and may need different things in order to thrive. Take frequent showers for example. There’s been this long standing debate that people don't need to take 2 showers a day as you supposedly strip your skin of its natural sebum and can be detrimental to the skin. Hygiene aside, I believe this advice is for people who actually have oily skin but then again if you have oily skin you need to shower more often cause are you just going to be walking around greasy? I don’t know. Personally for me, I aim at taking 2 showers. Cause lord forbid I miss a shower in the morning or push it until later on in the day. My skin pays for it!
I grew up in a home where showers were taken twice a day and moisturiser (or in our day good old Vaseline) was vigorously lathered on straight after. Growing up in a Black home you know this was standard procedure. No ifs, ands or buts about it!
When your skin is dry you need to rehydrate it. My thing is, if you don’t shower often, then yes, your skin will produce its own natural sebum, but you are accumulating dirt at the end of each day (and humans produce about 10 grams of dead skin cells per week). Especially during winter months when your skin dries out, showering actually hydrates the skin, and to reinforce that hydration you moisturise it afterwards to lock in all the moisture. That’s MY story and I’m sticking to it!
If you see me pull out this wrap you know my skin and I are thriving! Another glowing and moisturised example.
Now in search of the ultimate product I’ve done my own research as well as listening to the advice of others. We all know how influencers be influencing us into buying things we don’t necessarily need right? And we’ve all fallen victim to that one product we bought which we had no business buying thinking it would work with our hair/skin and were later left feeling kinda dumb cause it fell flat? Yes to all the above on my part!
I remember trying this one particular body lotion by Kiehl’s which came highly recommended by this person I follow on Instagram and she couldn’t stop singing said products praises. It’s one of their best selling products so in my head I was like ‘Ok. She’s Black, she lives in a cold country too and is from SA so if it works for her skin then it’ll work for mine right?’ So as you do, when you’ve been on the search for that holy grail product that is going to ‘radically’ change your skin, I went out and bought it. I got home and tried it straight after my shower and lord was I disappointed! Disappointed to the nth degree. It did absolutely nothing for my skin. It was watery and did not give what it was supposed to give. If I remember correctly, after putting it on my skin felt moisturised for the first 10 minutes but it was soon downhill from there. My skin felt tight (you know the feeling) and itchy which is an indication that you need to rehydrate. 2/10 for real. (Disclaimer: I currently use mostly Kiehl’s products for my face which I love and have been using for years so this is my opinion on this one particular product).
What works for me will not necessarily work for someone else, a lesson I had to learn many times over after taking others advice (same goes for life I suppose)! Yes a brand can have a best selling product and people will most definitely gush about it if it works for them so do with that information as you will (because you do also know people get paid to promote products as well right??). ESPECIALLY when it comes to skin and hair products. One size definitely does not fit all and it’s everybody for themselves! You should know this, please know this. It is trial and error and finding that one product that compliments and benefits your skin can feel like an endless pursuit. But once you find THE product it’s life changing!
Very up close and personal pic of my skin so you know what I’m dealing with. This is after a shower and being heavily moisturised.
I’ve tried Shea butter on its own and that doesn’t do the trick for me either. I was super sad about that because 1. It’s natural and 2. Our ancestors were using that for centuries so you would think it would work for me right? But knowing that our ancestors used it in tropical, hot weather makes all the difference so no wonder it doesn’t translate here. There’s this other product by Hanahana beauty I really wanted to like (it’s Black owned and they use natural ingredients) but the product didn’t work on my skin. And I really wanted to like it so I even went and bought a second round of products hoping my skin would be receptive but it didn’t! I was distraught to say the least. How Sway?! It was so smooth, smelled sooooo good and literally melted on my skin but in terms of hydration, my skin didn’t take it. My daughters skin loved their unscented Shea body butter though and I loved that for her cause you can’t go wrong with natural ingredients for the babies! 7/10 for effort and because its Black owned!
What I’ve finally come to realize is (it’s taken me a while ya’ll) I can’t just use one product on its own and call it a day. I HAVE to layer my products one on top of the other to get maximum hydration and moisturized goodness. Which has become (but honestly was always) an act of self care. The conscious act of taking the time to moisturise, rehydrate and give my skin some much needed TLC is calming for me. 10/10 would recommend.
So in order of appearance, the products I use now are as follows: natural Shea butter as a base which I then move on to a moisturising balm, finished off with a body oil (this one by Aveeno smells absolutely divine! Thanks to Melissswardrobe who put the girlies on!) I like to believe by finishing off with the oil, it helps trap in all the moisture.
It’s still very much a trial and error thing and I think I’ve finally found the formula that is bringing my skin back to life. So yay? (I’m adding the question mark cause I’m still unsure. Will revert back in a few weeks maybe months for an update).
The Shea butter I bought it from Amazon France and works pretty well for what it is. I most definitely wouldn’t be able to use it on its own as mentioned previously but I’m happy so far. Come to think of it, now that I am layering products maybe I’ll go back and try Hanahana again? *thinks to self
This body balm is pharmacy bought and works pretty well too. Here in France you can also buy your skin care products from pharmacies (yes the places we usually buy medicine back in Kenya) and they tend to have a bunch of affordable items to choose from. I found this particular one randomly and thought I’d give it a try and I’m happy with the results so far.
I used to use another pharmacy bought product called Cicabiafine which worked well for years and now I’m trying to remember why I changed? Ah yes because it was hard to find at some point (and your girl then decided to try out the Aveeno moisturisers during her first trimester and now I can’t go near them cause the smell brings back so many bad memories!) Anyway, I see myself switching between the two cause they work!
The reason I actually bought this oil was because I knew you can’t go wrong with it. It isn’t something you use on its own (at least for me) & I had just figured out that I was going to start layering my products. So this was one of the very rare wins I’ve had with actually buying a product someone recommended. But ALSO! Melissa doesn’t recommend just any product so I trusted her word for it. The girlies all agree!
Now take note and take heed. This is MY tried and tested formula. Please do your own homework and see what works for you. I would hate for you to go through the same disappointment I did thinking that the products I use didn’t work for you. But what I would suggest if you too are going through it with your skin, try the combination above and not necessarily the products. That is butter + balm + oil.
And in the spirit of (over) sharing I’d really love to know how you’ve tackled any challenges you’ve had with finding the right products for you? Are there any products you’ve used that have worked that you swear by? Or like me, do you try and test and move through products hoping to find the ultimate moisturizer? Let me know in the comment section and let’s learn from our mistakes!
Now let me go and give this skin some good ‘ol TLC! x
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