Is perfect skin attainable? PART ONE

This is a question I’ve often wondered but with the constant stream of skincare fads and fashions it can be a little daunting as to where to even start. Most of the products on the market today are filled with bogus claims and are heaving with heavy and toxic chemicals. Even those claiming to be natural and organic can still contain bucket loads of nasties. 

Remarkably, 60-70% of the products we directly apply to our skin each day will be absorbed into our tissues and bloodstream. Therefore it only makes sense to apply nourishing and wholesome ingredients to bring out your skin’s potential.

This is why I have decided to log my skincare diary over the next 6 months to see if I can actually make an improvement to my skin by cutting out as many chemicals and toxins as possible. I will be blogging about what works, what doesn’t and whether or not going ‘natural’ makes perfect skin somewhat more attainable.

If you read my blog you will be aware that I love to make my own DIY skincare recipes and that I have been reading a lot of literature about how the beauty industry is a rather unregulated sector of the consumer market. This has urged me to try to eliminate as many chemicals as possible so I started by sifting through all my products and laying them out on the bed to see just how much stuff I actually use in a day. If interested in this article you can find it here. It showed me just how many unnecessary products I’ve been sucked into over the years and I there and then made a promise to myself I would cut down thereby benefitting not only my skin and health, but also my wallet!

I should say, however, that personally, I don’t believe perfect skin actually exists. We are constantly bombarded with pictures of beautiful, perfect looking women who have been airbrushed to excess which makes the normal individual feel as if they’re not so perfect skin is inadequate. That said though, I do believe that you can improve the texture, smoothness, appearance and health of your skin dependant on what you treat it with.

In this first post I will be talking about how I’ve started to cleanse my skin. About 5 months ago I read about a cleansing bar called Ghanaian black soap. The soap proposes to assist with many common skincare complaints such as oily skin, acne, skin redness and dry skin. It’s even been known to help alleviate psoriasis and eczema. Perfect I thought! BUT, what were the ingredients? Well the Akoma Black Soap I bought from here has only three ingredients: cocoa pod ashes, extra virgin coconut oil and shea butter. Three 100% naturally derived ingredients and nothing else.

When my soap arrived I couldn’t wait to use it. It had a distinct earthy smell and was quite soft compared to normal bars of soap. When I used it in the shower it lathered up beautifully and I could really feel the suds cleaning deep into my skin. I rinsed my skin off and can honestly say I’ve NEVER had more squeaky clean skin.

I’ve been using the soap for about a month now and have definitely noticed my combination skin isn’t nearly as blemished as it previously was with the texture feeling a LOT smoother. I use it once in the morning to remove what my skin has expelled whilst sleeping and once at night to remove make up, dirt, oil and sebum. It’s important to keep this soap in a soap dish with a lid because if it gets too wet it can become soggy and you won’t get as much wear out of it.

I am going to continue using this soap for the foreseeable future as I really feel it’s making a difference. If you do decide to try this soap out (as it is for all skin types) then I highly recommend using Akoma skincare to purchase it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post; I will be posting about ‘is perfect skin attainable?’ once a week so make sure you look out for them. If you have any questions or any natural skincare recipes or tricks you would like to share please leave a comment below!