Is clear skin only for rich people?

Written by: Chisom Okoye 

(Photo by Tetiana SHYSHKINA on Unsplash )

The other day I went to my local shopping plaza to shop  for groceries. There was a store right next door that I had always overlooked but that day, something told me to go in and check it out. Lo and behold, it turned out to be not just a beauty store but THEE beauty store I had been looking for since I landed in the US! It had all the popular (some arguably fancy) products I thought I could only find online and it was the first time I could actually consult a real life person about what I could use for my particular needs! No more driving miles to get to the other beauty store across town just for a product, no more ordering and paying delivery fees, no more waiting for days before my order is delivered, I now found a store right on my doorstep!

While I’d like to think I was in skincare heaven, I don’t believe heaven will charge this much!

I ended up paying about $50 for two testers in small packages promising to deliver the best results with their non-harmful, cruelty free ingredients.

Yes, yes, I know I always rave on and on about how much fun I’m having on my skin care journey and how much closer I am to being a skin care expert with not a single qualification. What I haven’t told you about is how badly this journey can break the bank – if you allow it to – and one way (out of many) that you can work your way around that!

While I do not regret purchasing these products, it got me thinking about how much one has to spend to find the perfect products for their skin, and when they actually do how much they have to actually spend a month to buy into the idea of achieving perfect skin. It got me cringing about how much I have already spent trying to find the perfect concoction! And while I tackled the question about whether all brands could have the perfect products in my last post, my question this time would be centered around how we could spend more wisely if we knew more about the ingredients we are paying more for in these products

I was speaking to someone who spoke about the skepticism he had when it came to the ingredients and the fact that we really don’t know what is in the products that we are buying. That some of them could actually be harmful and deceitful and it would be wise to make your own products!

“I make my own shaving cream,” he said, “I go to the grocery shop and I buy raw ingredients and mix them up and it works for me.”

(Photo by freestocks on Unsplash)

This comment amazed me because I had never thought to look at skincare beyond the products at the store or beyond mixing these already processed products up. I had never dared to mix up raw products to put on my skin, and I thought it was a brilliant idea!

So this week I leave you with the challenge to do more research about the products you’re buying and really assess whether the ingredients are indeed healthy and good for you. Of course you will not know everything and some will be far too technical for you to understand, but you will walk away learning SOMETHING about the ingredients and that is the point! Who knows, you might end up mixing up a good concoction for yourself and that might be just the trick you needed! And no, clear skin doesn’t have to be for the rich alone. And perhaps, making your own skincare products might just be cheaper and more effective!

So I will leave you with some tools to use on this challenge in the form of links to YouTube videos that helped open my mind to understanding more on how to choose raw ingredients if we to decide to go down the concoction (skincare) making route.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGs6zHn2Gq4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHdJxZ0wuQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=948MLgRGNyU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbY_nLc3kU4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KKR7D_KNt4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx6eM1CkR94

And an alternative opinions and warnings to balance things out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRPuO39xHw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRtR1ApnKqE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUoHmRQRSaA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kchM-FOmtY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kniRD12MDbU

 

Disclaimer: I am not an expert so follow these tips at your own discretion and DO YOUR RESEARCH!

GOOD LUCK!

 

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