Guys are lucky, sort of. When we shave, we exfoliate. For those who only have to shave their moustache (not everyone has a fully beard) do also “shave” and clean the cheeks and sides as if you did have a beard. There we go. Easy no? This removal of old dead cells gives your face a glow, and cleans at the same time.

It is important to soften your facial hair before shaving. Thus, it is most beneficial to shower before shaving. And it is very beneficial to use a facial scrub to clean your whole face AND NECK. Don’t forget the neck.  Why do we need to use a scrub if we are going to shave? There are parts of the face that will not be shaved, like your forehead, but this needs to be exfoliated too. Using a scrub also softens the facial hair, making shaving easier.

Always use a lubricant like a good soap, and a badger hair brush to foam up to ensure the lubricant gets deep down. This creates a protective film to protect the skin and to allow for a smooth glide. It is best to shave WITH the grain. Shaving against the grain does give a closer shave, but, you will experience more razor burn. What is razor burn? It’s those little bumps and pimples that pop up after shaving when you forget to apply some form of soothing balm or oil.

Now that your face is nice and clean after shaving, don’t let this opportunity go to waste. After shaving, the skin is much more receptive to anything you put on it. My system (was) is to apply a serum and a thin film of moisturizer. I NEVER use any alcohol based aftershave. It severely dehydrates your skin.

About a year ago, I started using Saadia Organics 100% Pure Argan Oil after shaving. Holy sh**! This stuff was brilliant! I did not have to use a serum and moisturizer. I only needed this. It left my face feeling really nice with absolutely no oiliness. Hand-squeezed Argan Oil is nutrient rich, very fine, and remains liquid at body temperature. It is absorbed by the skin very fast and does not block your pores, allowing your skin to breathe naturally.

So, for me, I exfoliate my face with a scrub (I experimented with various brands and finally settled on the one we offer) at least once a day in the shower, and ALWAYS apply the Argan Oil after shaving. 

Please do note that there is a big difference between Pure Argan Oil and the blended rubbish being sold out there. Don’t get cheated. You get what you pay for. There is NO substitute for the real thing.

There is a difference between hand-squeezed argan oil and machine pressed argan oil. Sadia Organics Argan Oil is HAND SQUEEZED by Madam Saadia and her team in Morocco. No heat is applied, and all the precious nutrients remain intact. Machine pressing applies heat (damages nutrients) and crushes the pulp so much that even stuff you don’t want comes out of the pulp.

When you buy something, look for the value it brings to you, not the price (by the way, our hand squeezed Argan Oil costs the same as the big name brand, but you get a much higher quality and effective Argan Oil from ours, as we don’t have to pay the long supply chain. We get ours direct).  Always look for the EFFECTIVE VALUE you get from what you buy.

Link to : Argan Oil

Link to : Face Scrub

Link to : African Black Soap

Link to : Goats Milk Soap

The skin on your face is far more sensitive than the rest of your body, so choosing the correct products for the job are essential. Regular soap is usually too harsh for your face, especially if its detergent based (contains sulphates), can harm the skin as they contain nasty chemicals. A mud mask twice a week would help.

Step 2 – Exfoliation
Exfoliating (removing dead skin) is an important step for proper skin care. Use a proper facial scrub, because body exfoliators are often too rough for use on your face. We probably have one of the best Argan face scrubs every made.

To apply, wet your face with water, dab the scrub on the face and use your finger tips to massage the entire surface of your face in small circles. Do not massage your eyelids, or under your eyes as this skin is far more sensitive. Exfoliation twice a week should suffice but if you work in dirty environments, more often. We do recommend exfoliating before shaving.

Step 3 – Moisturising
Toners are aftershaves without alcohol. Nothing beats our pure hand-pressed argan oil from Saadia Organics. Alcohol dries out the skin, so applying an alcohol based product after a shave will merely damage your skin more. A toner will usually contain helpful nutrients such as vitamin E, and should be applied after shaving to help with the damage caused by the razor. Moisturising is an extremely important daily process that will help keep your skin young and glowing.

There. 3 simple steps. That’s it!

Link to : Argan Oil

Link to : Face Scrub

Link to : African Black Soap

Link to : Goats Milk Soap

Emotional stress tends to modify hormonal levels, triggering the production of a sticky substance (sebum) which, clogs the pores. Unfortunately, try telling a hormone raging teenager to stay calm. But, it is a good approach to acne control. Recent findings have affirmed that a diet high in refined sugar increase a person’s chance of developing acne.

Treating acne is a slow-ish process. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to see results. So, no immediate results. Benzol Peroxide is a common treatment. It doesn’t usually have serious side effects. Some people may develop a reaction against it. So, start off using it sparingly at first. Better safe than sorry. Both oral and topical antibiotics work. Topical antibiotics have fewer side effects but oral ones work better usually. Your doctor will decide the best form of treatment. There is a third treatment which uses vitamin A derivatives. These carry significant health risks if used improperly and will not discuss here. Only qualified dermatologists and specialists would prescribe these in special circumstances

So, the main thing here is to keep the skin clean. An effective deep cleansing soap and a good quality gentle scrub that does not contain harsh chemicals will help. The less “bad stuff” you put on your skin, the better.

So, our project began. SHEA has lots of soap which are gentle and safe to use, but we needed a special soap. There are plenty of soap out there that claim to do magic. But, the elusive special soap eluded us. Then, by chance, our shea butter supplier mentioned Black Soap used in Ghana. Black Soap? They told us that Black Soap was especially good for oily scalps and skin. AHAH! So I asked her to send some black soap to us. When SHEA received it… it WAS NOT BLACK! It looked like fruit cake? It was not black like the other stuff we had seen on the market. Many a time, the “black soap” in the market was just soap that had a black dye.

So, what so special about this fruit cake soap? Firstly, it’s made by hand over a coal fire, in a village. So, super traditional. Secondly, it was made with simple, true to nature ingredients like shea butter and cocoa butter. What blew us away was that the soap was saponified using the ashes of cocoa pod shells and plantain skins. So, no Lye. This was really pure soap. and traditional. with no “modern” ingredients. You may find pieces of ash in your soap. So, you know this is the real thing.

I tried it. Oh WOW! Absolutely brilliant on my super oily skin. I now only use this for my face and scalp. My two teenage daughters also use this for their face and i must say, their acne is well under control. Only an occasional “popper” once in a while.

Now, we understood that the dirt in the air definitely causes a problem, and the air in Singapore is oily due to all the petrochemical industries surrounding us. Just check out the blades on your fats, the dust is not “dusty”, it’s oily. We also needed a gentle scrub to clean the face. Now, my teen daughter became a source of help. Her Turkish friend living in the UK uses an American face scrub (talk of an international mix) that she said was the “best in the world”. She had a massive problem with acne and this scrub did not have a negative effect. So, good teen daughter sends her some black soap and, to make a short story longer, my daughters friend saw some positive results after a few weeks of use. She in turn sent a really nice scrub to daughter. I must say, it was good. Very very good. So, this happy story ends with SHEA being able to offer this combo to those suffering with acne. We liked the scrub so much that we also decided to bring in their argan face wash. You can read about it in the website under the ARGAN menu.

So, it short (sort of…) The soap should be able to remove all the built-up gunk to help unclog pores without damaging the skin. The scrub should not be sugar/salt/oil based as these have sharp edges that might scratch your already sensitive skin, causing more inflammation, causing more problems.

Remember that all particulate matter, such as foundation and powder add to the problem as these fine particles mix with the thick sticky sebum to block pores. Pregnant women, ladies during their periods and teens all have wild hormonal fluctuations. Skip the make up. It aggravates the problem. Just keep your skin clean, eat healthy and lay off the sugary stuff (by the way, laying off sugary stuff is important for everyone, our biggest problem nowadays is sugar, not oil, but that’s another story) and keep calm.

Be nice. Share this info with your family and friends who need acne help. It won’t cost you a thing but you will definitely make someone’s life better.

Link to : African Black Soap

Link to : Argan Oil

Link to : Face Scrub