My Skincare Regimen

Having a skin care regimen is important if you want flawless skin. For as long as I can remember, I suffered from oily acne prone skin. Going to the dermatologist was no help. I was prescribed irritating skin care products that only made it worst than before. I tried everything from Proactive to RX for brown skin to Clean and Clear. 

That was money down the drain. After I returned to natural with my hair, I seriously looked into natural skin care. I was pissed when I learned all I had to do was look in the kitchen. I started researching and playing around with different ingredients. Within a few weeks I was seeing some results and I was sold.  I never looked at buying commercial products again. 

CLEANSE

I was very skeptical when I first heard about cleaning my face with oil. But, we all heard the saying water and oil don't mix. I thought to myself, everything else I was trying wasn't working so why not give it a shot. Almost two years later it's a huge part of my regimen.

The Oil Cleansing Method works with using oils. Oil dissolves oil. Once I soaked up all the information given I started experimenting. I found a mix that I really enjoy and it has resulted in clear, glowing, and youthful looking skin.

This is my mix: (can be modified to your liking)
60%- Sesame Seed Oil (while doing some research I found that it's the "Queen" of all oils)
20%- Castor Oil
20%- Grapeseed Oil
10-15 drops of tea tree oil

The OCM mix is also great for removing make-up. I never go to bed with make-up on, no matter how tired I am. It's also great for helping your eyelashes grow thick and long naturally. I mostly use it as part of my night time routine.

ACV (apple cider vinegar) Face Mask is a part of my daytime routine. I also use it as a lip scrub and I be lickin' my lips like LL Cool J. 

Apple Cider Vinegar- has acids that are useful in getting rid of dead skin cells off the skins surface

Green Tea- an antioxidant which helps with aging

Honey- a humectant that helps retains moisture it's also anti-bacterial

Sugar- exfoliates the skin by removing dead skin cells to make way for new ones

Tea Tree Oil- essential oil that is antiseptic

Here's an easy to follow video on how to make

TONE

The second step of my skin care regimen is toning. The purpose is to restore the pH (potential hydrogen) balance in the skin. It hydrates the skin just like drinking water hydrates our body. It also reduces the size of pores on the skin to give a more dewy, clear, and healthy glow.

I mix this with equal parts green tea and apple cider vinegar. I've noticed my dark spots fading away and even skin tone. I use a cotton pad to help distribute throughout my face

The only downside to this mix is the smell and it stings. After being consistent with it I got use to the smell and it no longer stings my face as much as it used too. 

Importance of Toning Our Skin

MOISTURIZE

I use grape seed oil to moisturize my face. It's a light oil that easily seeps into the skin without clogging it. I'm a sucker for products that pulls double or triple duty. I can cook, moisturize my skin, and use on my hair.  How awesome is that!!!

JUST BECAUSE

Bentonite Clay mixed with ACV(apple cider vinegar) and a few drops of tea tree oil. I love this stuff. I use it once a week. When I first used it on my face I thought it was going to explode. It felt like my face had it's own heartbeat. My face was tight. I read the label one more time and saw "Feel your face pulsate". Whew! I can put down the butter knife. I was about to scrape it off. Had me looking like the Statue of Liberty.

The clay works to draw out all the toxins/dirt out of your skin. The size of my pores have reduced greatly. It's not as oily as it used to be. I no longer have to play with my nose to see if I have any blackheads. Don't look at me like that. I know I'm not the only one that likes to do that. :)

 I use this on my lazy days when I don't feel like using the face mask.

 I love making my own products. There's just something about the feeling of "look what I did and it works" versus "I can't believe I spent all this $$$ and this sh*t does nothing." 

Changing my diet, exercising, and drinking more water also played a role in helping me achieve healthy skin.