My Drink and My 2-Step...Process, that is.

The following post idea just popped into my head as I went to the work kitchen to toast my (TOTALLY FORBIDDEN) croissant this morning. (I’ve been doing the Atkins Induction diet for a few weeks but hell, I had to take a break for a few days. I’m still working out, now! But I needed some coffee and a croissant in my life TODAY.)

I am constantly receiving compliments on the smoothness and softness of my chocolate skin. So serious right now. From the cashier in the cafeteria to my favorite aunt who has known and seen me all my life, I keep hearing, “Wow, you have some beautiful skin.” Especially over the past 2 or 3 months, mostly because I’ve changed my “beauty regimen” (LMAO!) to include a specific product.

I feel guilty because I have definitely taken for granted the fact that I never really suffered from acne (although I have about 4 or 5 permanent pock marks on my face from suffering the chicken pox as a child). On top of that, my so called “beauty regimen” is so damn simple and cheap, I feel like a criminal when I tell people what I do! I feel like I should be rattling off 85 different products to justify the way my skin appears but I can’t ‘cause I don’t use but 2.

2?!?! I know, I know! LOL! I’m probably abusing my skin for the future but it’s worked so far so I’ma keep it up. Here go my "Steps for Smooth Skin":

1) Oil of Olay Beauty Bar

This is that “new addition” I was talking about earlier. In high school, I was addicted to Oil of Olay’s Foaming Face Wash. I would use that and follow-up with an oil-free Oil of Olay Moisturizer. I think I did that halfway through college too. That Oil of Olay was good but a little bottle was so expensive ($10 LOL) and felt like such a production to apply and wash off. I don’t remember when I switched but I know that I moved on to cleansing with Cetaphil. It was very mild on my face but still got it very clean and even though a bottle was ‘bout $6, that bottle would last me seemingly forever.

A couple of months ago, I noticed that the Oil of Olay Bar Soap kept making an appearance in our shower at home even though I never used it. For the most part, I wash my skin with various Bath & Body works shower gels. Randomly, I will feel moved to use bar soap and on those random occasions, the only bar soap I use on my body is Tone (talk about taking the dirt off?!?!) or Kirk’s Castille. All other bar soaps seemed to make my skin dry and brittle. It’s already dry enough on its own, it don’t need no help. So, I decided to see what about the doggon’ Oil of Olay Bar Soap kept bringing it back up in the house.

When I wash my skin, I can tell as soon as the residue is washed away how dry or moisturized my skin is – yes, even while my skin is still wet. If whatever I used has dried it out, my skin will feel tight even though it’s wet. If what I used has moisturized my skin, my skin feels like wet budda. Suffice it to say that the first time I used this soap on my body, I fell in love. My skin had that wet budda feeling as the soap was being rinsed off and even after I completely dried off.

I was so excited about the results that I decided to try it out on my face. *faints* SO GOOD!!! The soap removes every speck of dirt and oil that are floating around on my skin while seemingly holding onto every drop of water that comes within an inch of my face and injecting it back into my pores. When I dry my face (with a damp washcloth), it looks like I just applied some foundation, no lie. And I don’t use no special version. Just the regular ol’ bars that come in the $2 2-pak at the drug sto’.

After washing and “drying” my face, I move onto Step 2…


2) Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Oil

This is Step 2 of my 2-Step “Beauty Regimen”. While my face is still vaguely damp, I follow up with Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Oil. Now this came about when I stayed with some friends for FAMU’s Homecoming one year. My homegirl Amy woke up in the morning, washed her face and then applied the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Cream to her facial skin. At that point, I was using the cream – on my feet, knees and elbows. LOL!

I had never considered putting it on my face because I thought the only purpose of it was to moisturize very dry skin. Being that it is a thick cream, I thought it would be too much to put on thin facial skin. I asked her about it and she stated that the cream did not make her face oily so I figured, “Hey, I should try it.” A few weeks later, I tried using the Cream but it was toooo heavy for my face. I felt like my face was beaming SOS’s to a satellite in Mars, it was so shiny! On top of that, my poor pores were choking. I went back to my Oil of Olay oil-free moisturizer and called it a day.

Lo and behold, behold and lo, a few months after that experiment I was perusing all the products at the Beauty Supply Sto’ (one-time for Beauty Supermarket on 163rd Street), I came across a new product - Palmer’s Cocoa Butter OIL. Still wanting to give my skin that extra cocoa butter nourishment, I figured I’d gon’ ‘head and give the oil a try. It couldn’t hurt, I figured. Boy, am I glad I did!

The Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Oil is light and refreshing and smells GREAT! Most surprising of all is that it refuses to make my face oily even though I have that classic combination skin with a very oily T-zone. The “trick” is to make sure I put it on within 5 minutes of “drying” my face (remember, I use a damp washcloth) or the oil doesn’t get absorbed into my skin properly. I only use the equivalent of two drops rubbed between my hands. This oil has become my moisturizer, concealer, powder…yeah, all that! I have been using it for over 7 years without a problem. My skin is always supple and comes out with a matte finish. It doesn’t devolve into an oily mess unless I’m marching around in the sun all day. I find that I’m inside a building most of my days, so that’s not an issue.

Well, that there’s my whole complicated, time-consuming, major reconstructive surgery “beauty regimen”. I do steps 1 and 2 every single time I wash my face. I can’t do one without the other or my face starts threatening to revolt. I know most of it has to do with genes (ironically, I am sure I get it mostly from my absent biological father) and for that I am truly thankful.

Alas, it’s time to add a step to this whole process: Sunscreen. Having worked at a Cancer Center, I now understand the importance of avoiding these harmful uv rays and being that I live in Miami, I am exposed to some seerus sun when I step outside the comfort of any set of 4 walls. It be like the sun is standing in front of you, it be so damn hot! Whew, lawd. I’m sweatin’ just thinkin’ about it! I’m just nervous about it because I don’t think Palmer’s has added sunscreen ingredients to it’s Cocoa Butter Oil yet. I wonder if I send in that request, would they do it? Hmmmm...