Skincare remedies for glowing soft skin

The time for having an uneven skin tone is over. Ladies will enjoy this one of course, but gents can try these too to keep their skin looking healthy and soft. I do think that we women obsess about our skincare the most, and with good reason.

I love home remedies and my skincare routines consist of a lot of them. I believe it has saved me money on a lot of skincare products. I have nothing against skincare products but some of them are just overpriced if you asked me. Then again, as a cheapskate, I may not be their target market lol. Here are remedies I have tried and worked wonders for my whole-body skin tone and glow.

Skincare benefits of Water

We have been told to drink water for ages but I have never taken this seriously, to be honest. I decided to up my water drinking game and started to drink a gallon of water a day. I have seen so many people on YouTube raving about the health benefits, so I decided to give it a try. Within a few days, minus the few trips to the ladies’ room, my skin started lightening up, my dry sensitive skin started to feel more hydrated and soft.

Never underestimate the benefits of drinking water. Start little by little and gradually increase your water intake. I’m not saying drink a gallon of water like me but most of us don’t drink nearly enough water.

Exfoliate

I remember when I was young, my mom would randomly storm in while I’m taking a bath and scrub my back with an orange sack. Talk about child abuse! I do wish I had continued with that habit in my young adult years though.

I have a number of ways I exfoliate my skin but they don’t include that orange sack. I do this at least 3 times a week and it has helped lighten stretch marks, lighten armpits, remove old scars, the dreadful kiwi (inner thigh chafing) scars, and improved the overall skin tone of my whole body. Make sure you don’t overdo it on the scrubbing and please use a gentle soap like pure glycerine soap on your exfoliating days. For extra smooth skin, do shave 1st before you exfoliate.

• Exfoliating/body scrub mitt: It works best for whole body exfoliation and is way better than an orange sack because it fits nicely on your hand.
• Exfoliating brush: Works well for those hard-to-reach places like your back and back of your thighs.
• Ichopho (pumice stone): Great for removing dead skin on your heels and those awful corns.
• Sugar and Salt scrub: I just mix equal parts of brown sugar, rough sea salt, and olive oil and scrub mostly legs and thighs for that extra softness and shine.

Moisturize

I have dry and sensitive skin so exfoliating does result in a little bit of skin irritation so this step is the most important one for me. I use lots of oils and mix and match depending on what I have on hand. As a base, I moisturize my skin with Aqueous Cream B.P. with no fragrance or colourants. I then add on my oil mixture that keeps my skin soft and glowing all day. Below are the oil mixtures that I have used. I usually mix them in a 100ml squeeze container. I use carrier oils such as:

Olive oil – has anti-ageing properties, helps manage sun damage, and gives skin a natural glow.
Coconut oil – can help lighten skin, and reduce the appearance of dark spots or uneven skin tone.
Almond oil – Improves complexion, and skin tone and treats dry skin

Mixture 1: add equal parts of olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, and glycerin. Then add 10 drops of lemon essential oil (considered to be the most effective when it comes to skin lightening).
Mixture 2: add equal parts of olive oil, almond oil, and castor oil, Then burst 5 VitaminE oil soft gel capsules (reduce the appearance of these marks) and add 10 drops of Lavender essential oil (which has remarkable healing properties and helps treat pigmentation and scars on the skin)
Mixture 3: equal parts of olive oil, coconut oil and almond oil, 5 drops of Tea tree essential oil (used for treating scars and other skin damages), and 5 drops of peppermint essential oil (which has a cooling effect which soothes skin irritation and inflammation).

Protect your skin from sun damage

Stay away from the sun. I know it is believed that as black people we are immune to sun damage or skin cancer but that is not true. Scars as well as stretch marks are very sensitive to strong sunlight and can burn easily. Do wear sunscreen, or long but loose-fitting clothes to cover up and apply aloe vera gel on your skin after sun exposure to help cool and heal the skin. These will help keep your skin healthy, even-toned, and glowing.