No matter how clean I tried to keep my face, they just wouldn't go away.
Source
I poured oil control powder onto my palm, rubbing it in circular motions around my face. It wasn't as if that was effective either, no matter how much oil control powder I used, my face remained oily.
That was why I had so much acne.
I pulled my braids away from my face and wrapped them back with an elastic band then applied my signature lip gloss. I was already 30 minutes late for the leaders meeting in church but I wasn't bothered. Our unit head was fond of coming an hour after he fixed a meeting.
I wasn't surprised when I got to the church auditorium where we usually held our church meetings and there were only 5 people seated in a circle, gisting.
“Hi guys!” I called out, attracting 5 pairs of eyes. Mimi, one of my acquaintances, ran up to me.
“Treasure! So you're serious about coming late because presido comes late?”
I chuckled when she said so, going over to greet the rest of the team.
“But what's really wrong with your face?” Mimi asked, attempting to touch my cheek. I caught her hand just in time.
“I don't know what's wrong, I've used all sorts of face products, it's not just going away”
I remembered applying one lotion which actually took care of the acne but caused my cheeks, forehead and chin to become brighter than usual. That period, I could hardly go out without being asked the question “What cream do you use?” by both strangers and friends.
Then I was gifted another face product by my older sister who was truly concerned for my face during my birth month.
“Is this the kind of face you want to use for your birthday photoshoot? Please try these products, let's see if the acne clears up” she said after I received the package which she waybilled all the way from Port Harcourt.
There was a special black soap and face cleanser in the package, along with a cream which caused a pinching feeling each time I applied it at night.
The product cleared the acne from my face but replaced it with eczema. At first it wasn't serious but with time the eczema became obvious. That too attracted questions from my friends and loved ones.
I was already tired of applying different creams and spending on different product brands when I found a video online. The brown skinned lady in the video spoke about how she made coconut oil by herself and kept applying it to her face to clear up the acne on her face.
Her face was not completely smooth but it was better than the previous picture she posted as her “before” photo.
I didn't know if I wanted to pay attention to the video because of the products I used before so I just saved it and never went back to give it a try.
“Do you know Clara Daniels? She's a popular girl on Facebook and she did a video recently about her acne You should check her out”
I sighed suddenly remembering the video I saved since the previous month.
“I know her, I've even saved her video. I don't just feel motivated to take her advice”
Mimi laughed, “I understand. But do you think an influencer like that would post something that doesn't work? Besides her old photos say that the coconut oil really works”
When I got back home that evening, I went back on Clara's page and went through the videos she posted concerning her acne. There was one video where she compiled all the videos in order of importance; DIY face scrub, face masks, and face oils.
I was grateful that the ingredients were items I had in my kitchen so I poured a spoon of turmeric according to the guide in the video and a spoon of sugar then poured in a tablespoon of honey.
I wanted to rub the scrub already but I saw that I had to add either water or milk to adjust the texture so I took a sachet of milk from my cupboard and poured it in then poured in some water.
I couldn't fathom why the mixture had suddenly gone from paste to liquid.
It was then I realized that I shouldn't have poured in water if I was already using milk and the milk shouldn't have been powdered.
I sat back really upset for wasting the ingredients in my house especially since it was the last sugar I used up. I threw the wrongly made scrub down my kitchen sink and went straight to bed.
I decided I was done with facial products whether artificial or DIY and headed straight into bed.
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