#BEAUTYSEGMENT Guest BlogPost: my formerly blemish-less skin but now acne-prone skin

Nduta is our guest blogger today as part of the beauty series.

I had my first significant pimple in April of 2013; now a little over 2 years ago. Before that I may have had the occasional heat rash or mosquito bite but no pimples. Then come 2013 and a few life lessons later, it seems that one morning I got up and my face had broken out into all manner of hideous and concerning pimples. Of course I ignored them because I thought that they would just go away as quickly as they appeared but they didn't.

I've never had much of a skin care routine - I was always one of those girls who would use whichever soap was in the soap-dish but then I started reading up and learnt that it was near sacrilege to use the wrong soap. It feels like I have tried it all but this isn't very true since I neither fancy nor have the time and money to keep up with pricey facial routines (I don't know if they work). I did the recommended monthly facials but each subsequent facial seemed to make things worse! At my most desperate I even saw a dermatologist for a while but as soon as I completed the course of medication the pimples were back in full swing. I finally tried the famous 'African black Soap' from Nigeria but it left my face feeling overly dry, sensitive and looking raw. I don't wear much make up which led me to the conclusion that this is more a symptom of stress rather than anything else..right? 

Anyhow, a friend of a friend recommended that I try some natural products that she was using made by another innovative nairobian. A lady (from the Coast of course) makes natural soaps for problematic skin - be it oily, acne-prone, dry etc - and she suggested that I try the 'haba soda' soap for my formerly blemish-less skin but now acne-prone skin. Having nothing to lose, I decided to try it and though I don't know what exactly it is made of, I do know that it is gentle on my skin, it removes all my mascara without being harsh on the skin around my eyes (which I've noticed is usually quite sensitive), leaves my skin feeling clean and fresh and does not dry my skin out. I'm on my 3rd bar (I buy a bar at Kshs. 400 and break them in half for each to last longer) and I would recommend it to anyone who's willing to try something new.

When I'm done washing my face with this soap (which I usually do twice a day; immediately I wake up and just before I sleep - I don't use an face cloth; just my clean hands and lukewarm or cold water, 

I then apply virgin coconut oil which has a natural SPF 4 (*the benefits of virgin coconut oil are just to many and too awesome - I use it for my hair, my face, my entire body, for cooking and I recently discovered that I can use it as spread for toast as well!), 

Then I add sunscreen on top of the coconut oil each and every day regardless of the weather and I'm good to go.

Incidentally, I don't know if I have dry skin, combination skin or normal skin (I've heard varied and contradictory feedback from one facial expert too many) but I am sure that 

(a) it's not oily and that 

(b) so far this stress-free regimen seems to be working quite fine but now I need a natural, simple, affordable and sustainable solution for the scaring and blemishes..

When I have a particularly nasty pimply I dry it out by putting a little Apple Cider Vinegar (bought in nakumatt or uchumi) on a ball of cotton will and dabbing the pimple.

It's usually gone by morning.

If anyone needs the number of the lady who makes the soap then let me know - nduta.njenga@gmail.com.

#BeautySegment Guest BlogPost: Baby Soft Skin

Hiuko is our first guest blogger on this #beautysegment and I must say I do agree with her that plus size peeps have the most amazing skin!

I WILL HAVE BABY SOFT SKIN!! This has become my new mantra. The last time I had baby bottom smooth skin was pre adolescence and then the hormones smacked me in the face. I got black heads and white head and scars and everything that could possibly go wrong on my skin happened in sequence. I steamed, scrubbed and even used oxy 10 (which in hindsight was probably bleach) and then one day the break outs disappeared but the scars remained.

To be honest though, I stopped taking care of my skin as I added weight because it got smooth the more weight I added the smoother it got. MY SKIN GOALS WERE ACHIEVED!! Then I lost weight and the bumps and ridges returned (someone really needs to do a study as to why plus size women have super smooth skin) so I started on a skin care routine to ensure that on days when I do not feel like make up, I still look smooth. 

First, I prayed that maybe an angel’s wing feather would fall on my face overnight and I’d wake up with the smooth skin but nothing!! I decided to research and top of my list was face towel. The double duty of face and body towel needed to end and closely behind it was that of face and body soap. I invested in face cloths (which are recycled weekly) and face soap (good old fashioned Nuru soap) that is kept in its own soap dish. Then I identified my skin type and let me tell you, the amount of oil my face produces on the daily would be enough to fry obambla so that had to be controlled first and I was introduced to liwa (sandalwood). It comes in a powder form and at first I would mix it with extra virgin coconut oil (yes add oil to oily skin) and water to form a paste and mask daily. Once a week, I would mix it with sugar and scrub then mask. Over 2 months, I realised that my shine was gone. Now I mask every other day with just the liwa and water paste. I will be introducing turmeric soap to my skin regime in conjunction with the liwa. 

I also discovered the power of MOISTURIZER!! It is the one thing that I MUST apply to my face. Make your life easy and buy a moisturizer with SPF so that you do not have to add sun screen over it. And water is truly life so sip it like you are being paid (and your skin will pay you back).

I may not have baby smooth skin for now but I am getting there by keeping it really simple, never sleeping with make-up (baby wipes are a life saver for this) and hydrating my life. Soon tutafika. Very soon I hope.

Introduction: Beauty Segment

I decided to revamp this blog or at least add new elements to it other than just clothes, after all style is all encompassing.  One of the weekly segments will be a beauty segment and for most part it will be having guest contributions as well as my own contributions. I want it to have a relatable feel to it rather than just product reviews . I am quite excited about it and if you read this blog , is an East African resident or citizen and feel you would like to be a guest blogger for this series then let me know in the comments or email me.

For most of us, we feel that we really don't have a beauty regimen yet human beings are creatures of habit and for sure, even if all you do is wash your face and slather grease all over your skin after  a shower or prefer to be part of team ashy then you definitely have a beauty regimen. Most people have two categories of beauty regimen, one for their face and another for the rest of their body.

When I was a little girl I would watch my mum come from the shower with her large towel and apply lotion all over her body with her leg on her bed or a stool nearby. The lotion that stands out had 'petra' in it's name and it was pink in a triangular kind of container. What stayed with me was the ritual. To me it symbolised what it meant to be a woman and a grown one at that. I could not wait to be all grown up, start using lotion instead of the valon my mother insisted we use. I was about fours  years and my mum  only allowed me to use lotion after I turned 14  as I was heading off to boarding school for  my high school education. Ten years and I could finally join this club of lotion users. To this day I oil my body in my towel the same way I saw my mum do it . The only difference is that I have to first apply Vaseline on my lips in front, apply a moisturiser on my face then get to the fun lotion part. If I am not at home and that order is disturbed I feel like my day has not started as I would want it to start. 

My face was something that I did not give much thought as I was such  a tomboy . I was in my second year in Secondary school when Fair and Lovely became all the rage and I was swept up in it's tides. To have that smooth and matte finished look was the epitome of sophistication to me. It's hilarious thinking about it now but it was no joking matter back then. This group of girls, who were in a clique and in my hostel, more or less introduced me to it despite no real love lost between us. Whenever I think of fair and lovely or that clique, the tale that comes to mind was how one of them admitted to one day buying all these different kinds of face creams, most of which were skin lightening types and mixing them all up in one container. She called it 'mkorogo' and the silly chit applied this mixture to her face! She obviously got burns on her face and being light skinned she had those marks years later when she was regaling her friends with this tale. I was on my bed reading a novel and I recalling being struck dumb with this tale but you could see the faded scars on her forehead corroborating this bizarre tale. 

I am quite excited with this series and can't wait to hear from the guest contributors.