It is absolutely essential to take care of oneself. Irrespective of the circumstances, irrespective of your financial, mental and emotional status, self care is vital, always! Of course self care is essentially broken down into various categories. This particular time, let’s talk skin!

Our skin is one of the most essential things when it comes to self care. It affects our perception of ourselves and even the outside world’s perception can to some degree be molded around the skin. This therefore makes skin care such a vital element in day to day life. Irrespective of your gender, race, profession, etc, it is every individual’s responsibility to care for and nurture their skin.

Now from experience I’d say there quite a number of things that can affect our skins each their own way, ranging from pregnancy, drastic weather changes, change in skin care products, make up, to mention but a few.

Oh well, as I intend to share my skin care routine, I might as well mention that personally I have not dealt with extreme skin irritation or conditions. Mild acne now and then, heels cracking slightly sometimes, strawberry legs, cellulite and stretch marks. Alright, it might sound like a whole lot of issues but at least they are not life threatening or painful in any way.

For intense skin problems, I’d suggest a dermatologist or a doctor and take it from there. But yes, let’s get right into it!

1. FACE
So for some one that hasn’t had a whole lot of facial skin issues, I’d say my facial skin care routine is moderate. I like to steam my face every once in a while to open pores. I usually steam once a week. Harmless, cost free. All you invest is your time and will power really. In a large bowl or smaller bucket, I add hot boiled water and put my face into the steam covering with a towel over. Simple but beneficial ritual that could help you keep that soft glow.
Note that it is not safe to steam everyday as it may just dry out your skin. Who wants to deal with dry skin? Huh! Not me. Definitely not you.
Do not forget to moisturise with a lotion after steaming that clean washed face of yours to seal in that moisture.

The other ritual I have got myself into to help my facial skin is washing my face thoroughly to rinse off the makeup. For the record, from my experience, my skin breaks out more during times I wear makeup more frequently. I personally love to keep a natural look. Except for that lipstick that I cannot live without, I barely wear makeup and when I do, I try to keep it to just a bit of foundation.
The point is that if you cannot do without your makeup, at least rinse it off before you go to bed. Let your skin breath otherwise you just may get to the point where you can not live with what stares back at you when you look into the mirror with no makeup on.
And try to at least go without makeup for instance on days you’re home alone, not stepping out or so.

The other thing is that do not bleach your skin for all you beautiful black Queens out there. The effects are horrific. You may not face them short term but you will in the long run. I do not have experience with that but I have seen and heard, as you all have. But to each their own.


For my face, I use facial masks sometimes about one to two times each week. Facial masks are not costly. I am a low maintenance person and when it comes to my health care I prefer anything natural over manufactured stuff. There are varieties of facial masks you can make from home. Personally I use a homemade mask once every week and use the PEEL OFF Masks and MUD Masks from 7th Heaven about two to four times each month. I love the 7th Heaven masks! They’re cost effective, (mostly under 5€), easy to apply and to peel or rinse off, the smell is mild and pleasant for most of the masks and the effect is overwhelmingly beautiful! I cannot stop touching my face each time I rinse or peel off a 7th Heaven mask. Beautiful soft feeling skin. Of course the results will most likely differ according to differences in skin but it’s worth trying.
For my home made facial masks, I mix one to two teaspoonfuls of oatmeal with one teaspoon of honey. Add droplets of water until you have a decent smearable paste. That’s it really. Smear onto the face and wait 20 minutes before you rinse it off.

It is important to moisturise your face after rinsing off the mask. Note that there are varieties of things sitting idly in the kitchen that can make a good facial mask. If my options do not work perfectly with your skin, search the Web for more options. All you need is to want it.

The last item on my facial care routine is aloevera. Yes I mean that aloevera plant sitting idly, thriving in your back yard.

So I started growing my potted aloevera for the sole purpose of caring for my skin. It’s healing properties are magnificent! Aloevera is a must have in a home. For whatever skin issues, aloevera always helps. I love to watch my plants thrive but every once in a while when my skin feels rough-ish or when I do not like my skin when I look into the mirror, I just cut a little piece off one leaf of my aloevera plant, wash the piece under running water, cut off the prickly edges, cut the piece open to extract the gel and then rub that gel onto my skin. I usually do this before bed time and only rinse it off during my morning shower but 20 to 30 minutes of having the gel on can do.

It is important to note that you may feel a slight burning sensation with in a few minutes of applying aloevera gel onto your skin.

Also because I love to use natural products a lot, as a daily skin oil for a silky glowing sensation, I use coconut oil that I melt and mix with aloevera juice freshly squeezed from my potted aloevera plants. You might want to try it!

The sole of the foot is soft and the cracks appear better. They start fading and with consistency disappear all together. Feet need some love irrespective of your budget or how busy you are. Take time for yourself once in a while. You need it. And you deserve it!

Also once in a while I use a little foot file to try and reduce that hard dry skin on the sole. It helps. That alongside the foot soak, thorough scrub and a little foot massage, you could never go wrong.