Micellar Water vs Toner/ Everyday Night Time Skin Care Routine

A couple of months ago I bought micellar water. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it so I wanted to try it out. I use the micellar water as a secondary make-up remover after facial wipes. After a few uses I started wondering whether or

not I can use the water as a toner as well. So I did a little research and here’s what I’ve deduced:

Micellar water is a cleanser. It contains micelles (tiny oily molecules) that are partially dissolved in soft water; the micelles are the cleansing agent that attract and dissolve dirt and oil from your skin. It is recommended that you rinse your face after using the micellar water.

On the other hand a toner is used to restore moisture after cleansing your skin; you are generally not required to rinse it off. It also helps prep the skin for better absorption of nutrients from your mask, serum, and/or moisturiser.

Here’s how I incorporate the two products in my night time skin care routine (especially for days when I wear make-up):

Step 1:

I apply coconut oil all over my face, leave it for a minute or two then wipe it off using a facial wipe.

Step 2:

Apply a few drops of micellar water (currently using Garnier SkinActive Micellar Water) on a cotton pad and wipe off any access dirt.

Step 3:

Depending on how much energy I have left after a whole day’s work (and traffic) I either both cleanse and exfoliate or I do one of. For my cleanser I use L’Oreal Pure Clay Detox Wash and the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliator for exfoliating.

Sometimes I’ll use the L’Oreal cleanser with my cleansing brush and skip the ’chemical’ exfoliator.

Step 4:

Apply toner using a cotton pad. I’m using the Dischem Rose Water and have been for a while. Actually I used it as a make-up remover as well before I bought the micellar water.

Step 5:

Apply serum; I use the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair.

Step 6:

Moisturise. I have numerous moisturisers but predominantly use the Nivea Crème for my super dry skin.

Yimina ozithobayo

Snothando

The Real Woman

This term ‘real woman’ has always bothered me. What am I talking about? …

A male celebrity, many women’s heartthrob, successful actor, was recently pictured with his fiancé on a beach somewhere; wearing beach appropriate attire. The lady was wearing a white one piece, high leg, and low-cut back swimsuit. She’s on the thicker side. Not fat, but not skinny either. She’s what I’d call average sized. Although I can’t say for sure, her body looks natural - as opposed to surgically enhanced. She has cellulite, stretch marks and all; a beautiful, natural-looking body. It was refreshing to see really. 

Then I started reading the comments. There were naysayers as always, but most of the comments were positive. This is great, right?

Here’s where my concern comes in, some of the positive comments kept referring to the ‘real woman’ phenomenon. “It’s refreshing to see a real woman’s body”. Look, I get it, media is filled with photoshopped and surgically enhanced bodies. It’s reassuring to see something different from time to time. A body type that perhaps the majority of women can identify with.

That being said, referring to her body as ‘real’ almost implies that someone who has a different body type is not a real woman. I have seen this kind of commentary many times. 

It begs the question, what makes her body more real than a woman who is slimmer or is perhaps cellulite free? The closer to ‘perfection’ your body is, the less real you are? Can we not find a way to compliment her beautiful body without causing division and implying that someone else is less than? If her body is that of a ‘real woman’ how should someone who doesn’t have thick thighs identify themselves, are they not real women?

For me the ideal goal would be to stop body shaming period. Celebrate the diversity; all shapes and all sizes. We’re not going to achieve that by flipping the table; slyly shaming the media-celebrated body type in order to elevate the other (thicker). It seems vengeful.

Everyone deserves to feel beautiful, and we’re all REAL.

Yimina ozithobayo,

Snothando



Fragranced Oils for Hair

I love my natural products, so does my hair but let’s be honest, most of them don’t smell that great. It’s not only oils but some store bought hair products don’t exactly smell like roses either. Who wants to walk around smelling like castor oil? It’s great for the hair but offensive to your sense of smell. Furthermore, if like me you were forced to drink castor oil as a child, the smell can be downright traumatic. I know I’m being a bit dramatic here but you get the drift.

You do get products that are not so bad of course. For example, I don’t mind the smell of coconut oil or cocoa butter, and I actually love the smell of shea butter. To me the latter smells like a combination of bark and rain. Pure natural goodness!!

On the opposite scale products like neem oil, hemp seed, olive, mafura, almond oil, just to name a few, smell like the not so glamorous side of nature. They’re all great for the hair but very primal smelling, lol.

To be honest I’m not greatly offended by most of the smells, probably because I tend to prioritise the health benefits. However I do socialise, and sometimes get self-conscious about some of these natural smells.

Luckily I’ve found a solution.J Mask the smell with something else; genius really!! There are a few products that I use for this purpose. Not to say they don’t have health benefits, but I primarily use them for their fragrance.

Dark and Lovely Amla Legend Oil of Seven Wonders

African Pride Olive Miracle Growth Oil

Lavender Essential Oil – usually added to my daily spritz if I’m not going to use any of the above oils.

I get most of my oils from Dischem, Clicks, and Faithful to Nature.

Yimina ozithobayo

Snothando

Gel as a Styling Product

When I went natural one of the styling products that was mentioned a lot was gel, mostly Ecostyler gel. You can imagine my frustration when I couldn’t readily find it in South Africa; this was about 2 to 3 years ago. I was so desperate I even went as far as making my own gel using flax seeds. I’ve also bought a few gels over the years including two samples of the coveted Ecostyler gel. However I’ve just realised that I don’t use gel.

Ever since I discovered that I couldn’t do a wash and go I haven’t felt the need to use gel. My hair has no discernible curl pattern and therefore a wash and go just results in a shrunken mess. The last time I tried it using flaxseed gel, even though the wet results looked very promising, when my hair dried I was left with a white flake-like residue all over my hair. I had to rewash my hair to get rid of it, very disappointing. The other gel I used just didn’t dry and all I got was a sticky mess.

I don’t care for laid edges or sleek hairstyles either; I have little to no baby hairs and my hair doesn’t lay. It just doesn’t. The one time I used a gel successfully was when I did finger coils. They came out very nice but were too time consuming and I’ve never tried again.

I’ve also used gel to enhance the definition of my twist outs or braid outs. I must admit I didn’t really see much of a difference, maybe I wasn’t using it right. I also didn’t like how my hair felt with gel in it, all dry and crunchy. Now that my hair is a bit longer, the only reason I do twist-outs or braid-outs is to stretch my hair and not to define it.

I’ve listed the three reasons I know to using a gel; laid edges, sleek hairstyle, and definition. So before I throw away the gels I have left I’m asking myself, am I missing something? Am I being left out of a movement? Does anyone out there use gel, and if so how?

Yimina ozithobayo

Snothando