Skin Care | Winter Products I Love

Just because it's now Autumn it doesn't mean we should only make way for our chunky sweaters and knee high boots. Your skin and hair needs some care and attention too! During these cold months, I tend to find that my skin and hair become much dryer and fragile and we all know walking around with dry flakes almost dropping off or cracked sore lips just isn't the one, so here's what I like to use to stay very well moisturised...

1. I prepare my skin for these harsh temperatures by washing with an oil based body scrub or 
    wash like Dove Cream Oil Bodywash, which come in a variety of scents; my favourites 
    being Shea Butter and  Rosewood and Cocoa Butter ... they smell so lush! The body wash 
    is super creamy and moisturising but it really doesn't leave your skin feeling oily just 
    incredibly moisturised and soft instead! 

2. I don't really use body scrubs that often, mainly because I take the fact that my skin is 
    super smooth for granted and therefore feel that I don't really need to care for it as much! 
    Stupid I know, but if it ain't broke why fix it?! However my sister swears by them! When I do 
    use them- which is about once every 1 -2 months, I do like nice smelling ones. One that I 
    particularly like is Royal Jelly & Pure Honey Sugar Scrub from Marks & Spencer... it 
    smells amazing and is an excellent exfoliate, leaving my skin feeling extra silky smooth! 
    This is around £4.50, which is a bloody good bargain!

3. I use a body cream after to keep the moisture locked into my skin. A few great ones that I 
    swear by are American Dream Cocoa Butter Cream with Vitamin E, and Nivea Lotion (the   
    Enriched for Dry Skin one). My skin literally stays moisturised for the whole of the day. You 
    can buy the American dream from most local afro caribbean hair shops (I get mine from 
    Brixton or Croydon and is a great bargain at £3.99 as it lasts for ages).

My hair is a different thing altogether. I've been natural now for almost two years and i've tried so many different products but it's only recently that I have found products that I like and have stuck with them. Where possible, I use quite a few natural hair products and mix them all up to make one big bottle. The main ones that I use are:

* Avocado Oil
* Coconut Oil
* Olive Oil
* Castor Oil
* Pure Almond Oil
* Rosemary Oil

These oils have loads of nutrients, amino acids, essential fatty acides and vitamins A, B, D, and E. They're excellent for moisturising, improving hair strength, deep conditioning, srengthening hair, boosting shine.

And for my lips I very often use a lip balm vaseline as a base before I apply my lipstick or lipgloss. I prefer making my own lipbalms and add a bit of colour to it. Here's how I make my own:

1 teaspoon Olive Oil 

5 tsp (or more) petroleum jelly or vaseline

1⁄2 Teaspoon Honey 

1 drop of Vitamin E oil or 1 Vitamin E Capsule
little block of lipstick (colour of your choice)

Melt and blend all ingredients with a spoon until smooth, put into a container and refrigerate until solid and voila!