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| Before and After pic |
Hey beautiful people, I hope you are doing well. Today’s blog post is about my skincare journey and how it is going. Skincare is something that’s really a vulnerable topic for me. I have suffered from acne and hyperpigmentation since I hit puberty. I got bullied a lot because of my flaws and at one point never looked at the mirror because I never felt beautiful.
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When I was young my dad took me to all the dermatologists he knew and they prescribed all the medication they could but they all seemed to stop working the moment I stopped using them. I have also tried all the DIYs skincare under the sun and followed the “drink water for clear skin” religiously (accomplished a lot of runs to the loo haha).
I used to think I have oily skin but now I have combination skin. I also have PCOS read my story here.
I stumbled upon a retweet of a guy on Twitter whose handle is (thatskincareguy) and I literally went through all his tweets and wrote his advice down. I was really determined to take my skincare journey seriously, clear skin is on my vision board.
Skincare is really tricky because what might work for me might not work for you. I decided that I would start small and see what my skin loved and not overwhelm it too. The basic routine I had picked was CLEANSE, HYDRATE, MOISTURIZE AND WEAR SUNSCREEN.
RELATED POST: 11 SUNCREENS THAT WON’T LEAVE A WHITE CAST ON DARK-SKINNED PEOPLE
I remember walking into Goodlife pharmacy to look for the products I needed to kick start my skincare journey and I met a very lovely attendant who advised me on the products to get that would help me clear skin but the total cost was ksh 10000 (approximately $100) and even though I had the money the voices in my head whispered “What if they don’t work?”. And I politely told the attendant that I would pick them later and ended up buying just a sunscreen which is now my favorite; the La Roshe-Posay Anthelios XL spf 50+.
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| La Roshe-Posay Anthelios XL spf 50+ (a fave) |
I went back home and I went through thatskincareguy’s tweets and saw cheaper alternatives as a start. He recommended dove soap as a cleanser, glycerin as a hydrator and sunscreen. I also got tretinoin which is a synthetic retinoid derived from vitamin A (will have a separate post about this) and it became part of my skincare routine.
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| Treninoin cream |
I religiously cleansed my face every morning with the dove soap and warm water (sometimes cold water) and applied the glycerin and wore my sunscreen even if I didn’t go outside. At night, I cleansed my face with dove soap, applied glycerin and I would wait for 30 minutes before applying the tretinoin cream. I have done this routine religiously for 6 months and I am so elated with the results so far.
Check out my instagram reel for more before pictures (https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRJSXoPhYZw/?utm_medium=copy_link )
My skin is not perfect yet but at the moment I love it you can ask my mum because I make her compliment my skin a lot haha (she’s tired of me). I have incorporated new active ingredients in my routine like the AHA and BHA serum since my tretinoin cream is almost done. I have also replaced my glycerin with a hyaluronic serum (you can get it from Instagram.com/nallynaturals if you are in Kenya). I still wear sunscreen religiously and I carry it with me everywhere I go.
My skin has gone through the most but I am happy with the progress I have made. If you need skincare advice please give (thatskincareguy) a follow on Twitter. A special thank you to him for giving me back my confidence. I am still trying to figure things out and I still try to keep my skincare routine as simple as possible.
If you have any questions you can reach me via Instagram at Instagram.com/naliakabrenda_
And if you are struggling with acne and acne scars please be patient and start SIMPLE. Remember you are beautiful and please be kind to yourself.
I will post my Tretinoin experience in the next post. Until next time my loves, sending virtual kisses. If you love this post please share it using the share buttons down below. Thank you.
