Going With What Works

I think when it comes to skincare as it affects minimalism, that’s where a lot of people tend to draw the line. Simply because, everyone is struggling to find what works for them. And that’s important, because, on the internet today, there are a lot of people that are being misled into thinking that you can’t get the skin tone or texture you want if you don’t have a complicated or complex skincare routine.

When I was mostly on the skincare side of TikTok, I almost always felt like I was doing it all wrong and being called broke in a dozen languages, because I saw other ladies having a line up of different skincare products. You’ve got to use this before this. And you’ve only got to use this kind of line up if you want to get that skin that you want and a whole list of other things that would make something like a skincare routine, which should be done leisurely and happily become an intense chore.

What I’ve figured out is that, as far as you have what works for you, then it’s okay, complicated skincare routine or even a long, laborious one is completely unnecessary. I’ve got a friend that as long as I’ve known her, in season and out of season, she uses Vaseline petroleum jelly. And that’s it. It works for her and that’s what matters.

In my own case, while growing up, my Mom would use different lotions on us. We hardly found out what worked for us, or maybe we were changing lotions too often to figure out what exactly would make our skin pop. And then, I had this huge phobia for anything that would remotely bleach my skin. I’m dark skinned and as a dark skinned lady, you’ve got to be wary of products that talk about brightening or lightening because you don’t want you golden skin to get bleached.

What helped me was the fact that I have pretty sensitive skin. I think I’ve said this here before. So, it takes barely 24 hours to figure out if a particular skincare is good for me. My face is acne almost all the time, so when a try a product, if it’s not the right one, I have acne bursting out in less than 12 hours, so I immediately understand that particular skincare product is not meant for me.

However, the search for the perfect skincare product continued till I stumbled on baby oil. And it did wonders for me. I had someone say that even though I was dark skinned, it would get me to an unnatural kind of dark, but I haven’t noticed anything. My skin has been just fine since I started using this product a year ago and I’ve not had reason to turn back since. Coupled with Vaseline petroleum jelly and I’m good to go. Do I still have other skincare products? Yes, I do. But that’s only for my face. A serum and a moisturizer, and that’s about it.

To maintain all of this however, I drink water. Lots of water. You can never go wrong with water and I have this water can that I make sure to drink at least three fillings of every day. So, I fill my can up, drink water at different intervals and refill it at least thrice. It’s been doing wonders. Coupled with fruits like banana, cucumbers and water melons which I try to buy every time I go out to be eaten just before I sleep, and I think I’ve gotten it all figured out.

Oh, and I came back from school a few weeks back to see that my Mom had made this soap out of tumeric. We had a bountiful tumeric harvest from our garden recently and then she made soaps out of it. I was a bit sceptical till I tried it and I honestly hope I never have a reason to stop cause it is super amazing on my skin, and I had no clue tumeric worked wonders like that. This bit I took a picture of is so little cause it has been used by everyone at a rapid rate and I barely managed to snag this one for myself before it finishes, as my Mom is yet to make more.

So yeah, in response to the question posed by the Minimalist Community through the #kiss initiative, when it comes to skincare, it’s best to go with whatever works for you and stick to it, no matter how odd what you prefer seems.

Jhymi🖤

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