Saturday, November 2, 2013

African Black Soap.....

Training....
Shopping

I also decided to see how many good military push-ups could I do....sad day. I only did 12 really good ones. A few years back I could do 40 with no problem...so I will start doing them again and get back to  the good.

When I am at the gym, I will see where I am with body weight pull-ups...we will see if I can do any and then check how many body weight dips I can do.

At least I will have a starting point with these 3 body weight exercises.

Nutrition....
Veggie 2 egg omelet
A bag of blended frozen mixed veggies
Mahi Mahi grilled fish..about 3-4 oz
Small apple

Let's talk about my skin....
I have extremely oily skin. As an adolescent, I had horrible acne...hormonal in nature. Between 5th and 9th grade my acne was unsightly. Around 10th grade after my hormones settled down, my acne cleared on its own. I recalled using noxema as my facial cleanser during that time. 

My skin in my 20s and 30s was oily with minimal breakouts...and I did not treat my skin good at all. I would wash my face in the morning and sleep in my makeup at times and was blessed to not break out despite my really oily skin. 

Now, fast forward to the past 2 years....
I am a HORMONAL NIGHTMARE as I am pre-menopausal and my skin has become acne prone again.  So, I have invested in high end facial cleansers to keep things at bay...but I can count on 3-4 acne bumps a week. And then I have the nasty habit of squeezing my zits. I know that is bad...but I just can't help myself...so the squeezing causes further inflammation and ultimately black spots (hyper pigmentation). So I have to put concealer to cover the black spots which clogs my pores leading to more acne. Agh!!!!!!! So I am a hyper pigmentation mess!!  

So.......
I am trying a new facial routine. If you read my blog you know I like my makeup and that will never change. I wear makeup daily on top of extremely oily skin. My skin is so oily that to keep the oil at bay I put a layer of Milk Of Magnesia on my face...yes...MOM regular flavor and it turns my skin white. Then I put on a layer of Lanacane anti-chafing gel over the MOM. The minerals in MOM absorb oil and the Dimethicone in the Lanacane acts as an INEXPENSIVE primer for my skin. I always read ingredients on products, and my $30 facial primers have the exact same ingredients as Lanacaine or Monostat anti-chafing gel ($4).

What's new in my routine is African Black Soap. I just started using it on Wednesday. I hope to replace some of my absorbantly expensive Peter Thomas Roth facial cleansers and moisturizers with all natural  products. 

I bought my African Black Soap from Butter N Bars along with pure SHEA Butter which I will use as my moisturizer. 

African Black Soap

100% Pure Shea Butter

So, I read a lot of reviews and I researched the products for hours and purchased them on Monday and received them by Wednesday. 

I used the Black African Soap and Shea butter Wednesday and the soap burned like crazy on my face. If I had to rate the burning on a scale of 1-10 (10 being unbearable burning) I would rate the burning a 6/10. Whoa!!!! WTH....so I researched that and found that the PH of African Soap is between 8 and 10!! Very alkaline. I decided to use my Peter Thomas Roth Face Serum on my face following the soap and then put the Shea butter on top of that. I felt the sting for about 3 hours. I figured I would wake up to red inflamed skin that will lead to deep dark marks from the chemical burns. That's what happens to my skin when I pick my zits or use something too harsh...my skin turns really dark in the inflamed areas.

Thursday morning, indeed my skin was red and inflamed around my mouth area, so I skipped the African Soap and used my Peter Thomas Roth facial products. Thursday night I BRAVELY used the African soap again and experienced the same burning....but less intense 5/10 burning.  So I followed it with the PTR serum and the Shea butter and woke up Friday morning with redness as I expected. I did the same thing and used my PTR cleansers in the morning routine. Friday evening, I decided to use the African soap again BUT I put a layer of Shea butter on the hyper sensitive areas of my face prior to using the soap...and yay...that helped significantly with the burning 3/10...no longer burning, just a bit of stinging.

So, since I don't have to worry about the bareMinerals November video shoot, I can be more daring with my skin starting today, I will use the African soap morning and night. 

This morning I started my routine with the Shea Butter on the sensitive areas on my face and then lathered up with the African Soap.  Instead of the stinging...I had a tingling sensation that I would rate a 2/10....woohoo.  But, I have a new pimple on my lower right jawline. I AM GOING TO TRY MY BEST TO NOT PICK IT!!! PRAY FOR MY STRENGTH NOT TO PICK IT. We will see if the black soap helps this. I am hoping that the black soap will prevent the breakouts....but we will see. 

I think I will ditch the cream/liquid concealers that I like to use to cover my black marks and will use my bareMinerals mineral concealers on those areas. I am going to miss my MAC Prolong Wear, which is my FAVORITE concealer because it covers like a dream, but I think it is contributing to my clogged pores and breakouts. So I will keep you posted on my skin.


Today's bareMinerals Makeup 

Random Thoughts....
I watch a lot of youtube videos...mostly makeup related stuff and the advertisements prior to the videos get on my nerves...but there are 2 commercials that I watch every time they come on...











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