So, this year a lot of people have been talking about their
"Glow-Up'. I'm one of these people, waiting for their Glow Up, however at
the beginning of the year I decided there were some things that were part of my
"Glow-Up" that I could fetch instead of waiting for them to happen.
They were: having flawless, glowing skin and achieving my body goals or
somewhat being closer to them.
So out of the short-term Glow Up goals, the one that had the
most progress was the skin, hence the post title, 'The Chased Glow' however, I
am still chasing the glow in terms of skin, I do believe there’s always room
for improvement. So, in February, after writing deferred exams, I decided to
put some action in my Skin Glow-Up plan. I started watching skin care videos
(again) and read more articles on what the most effective routines and products
were for achieving clear skin. Lawl, guys I was so desperado, I was willing to
try almost anything within my reach, except being put back on Oratane. During
the research period, I came across Mihlali’s, ‘Acne Scaring Clearing Skincare Routine’ video and even though I've never had acne problems (touches wood) I
decided to try out the product that she said she found most effective. I was
sceptical about using Gentle Magic (GM) reason being it is notorious for being
a bleaching product. I mean everyone that used GM became a few shades lighter
(shade, no shade) and I had seen this in high school, but I knew my dad wasn't
going to let me go to the dermatologist for what he saw as a few blemishes, he
had already done that twice while I was in high school. So, Gentle Magic seemed
like my best option and very cost effective one at that. Furthermore, I
intended to only use it as a quick fix. I planned to only use until all (or
majority) of my blemishes were gone, but I only used the products for 3 weeks.
From my personal experience, I would not recommend using the products, they
burned my skin, luckily the burn was not too bad so it didn't leave too much
scarring. So, I began using the products that previously used before my
‘failed' attempt at having flawless skin.
A few weeks after being on the old routine, a then friend
recommended that I use the Sunlight green bar as a cleanser. It was working
wonders for them and I what I really liked about the soap was it's a gentle
soap, so there weren't harsh ingredients in the soap. So, my new skin routine included:
Sunlight Green Bar (cleanser), Nutraderm moisturising cream (moisturiser)
and Cetaphil sunscreen. So, about a month into the skincare routine I stopped
seeing improvement in my skin, but I still hadn't achieved "the glow"
I wanted. I then switched up my routine again (and this is my current skincare
routine). I started using the African Extracts Rooibos: Purifying Range
products. I'm only using 3 products out of the whole range, the Purifying Spot
Control Facial Cleanser, Purifying Toner and Purifying 3-in-1 wash, scrub and
mask (which I use as an exfoliator). I don't use the moisturiser because my
skin always felt tight using it (it's an indicator that your skin is dry) so I
use the Nutraderm moisturising cream instead and finish off it with my
sunscreen. All these products can be found in Clicks stores and Dischem stores, nationwide.