Eva Alordiah
Acne is one of the popular skin troubles that many people are desperate to be rid of, especially as it mostly affects the face which makes it very obvious. To help combat this, Nigerian rapper Eva Alordiah who many regard as one of the prettiest around while writing for myskinmakeuphair.com has shared the story of how she won a 6 year battle with the skin disease.
Read her story below.

It would be really a waste of an experience for me to have gone
through battling Acne and bad skin, finally getting through it and not
be able to share it with you – Whoever you are, dealing with your acne
issues one new product off the shelf at a time. I just want you to know,
I have been there, done that, Look at me now! I may be clueless as to
how severe your Acne is or isn’t, but as you can see from my progress
photos, I battled with really severe acne. Goodness me, I literally
could not step out of my house! I was home bound for weeks on end,
forming “I’m an introvert, I don’t go out much”, when deep down inside I
was in so much pain and stress, which obviously helped a few more zits
pop out of every free corner of my face. No matter how hard I tried, I
just couldn’t get it off my face.”

“Sorry for the not-so-clear before photos. We never get money buy
Iphone that year hehehe. Bottle after bottle of toners and astringents,
pills, dark bitter concoctions, soaps, creams of varying names and
packet design, not to mention an ailing bank account that was
deteriorating rapidly from my weekly experimental expenditures on the
next big thing promising to clear my face. I bought every soap, every
cream, every toner, the big brands, the small brands, the DIY Home made
recipes, Chemical peels, the ‘bury your head in a bowl of hot water,
wrap a towel around your head and cook your face’ therapy, ‘First urine
of the day as a toner’ therapy, Facials and Facials and even more
facials, all to no avail. It even seemed at some point that my face
would get better and then all of a sudden get even worse again. Plus It
almost seems like every one you know suddenly becomes a skincare
specialist when you have acne. You get the “Ha, oma se ooooh! Who do you
this kine strong tin na?” “Why don’t you try this and that product”
“You should drink your urine, it would cleanse the toxins from your
system” “Use the first instance of your next period as a toner, it has
nutrients that will clear it.” I kid you not, i got all of these and
more. If you haven’t gotten these kinds of attention before, then E be
like your face never jam better pimples. LOL. And in all this time of
worrying about myself and locking myself indoors, what did i do about my
Acne? That question should be more like “What didn’t I do?” Ok now lets
get real. The bigger question now would probably be “How did I do it?
How did i get my skin so clear of Acne?” Truth is you might even be
asking these questions now, without asking How long it took. That’s what
happens with Acne, or any skin issue for that matter. We want it off
now now. Unfortunately, the bad news is, It is not going to just up and
leave your face like a visitor who came for lunch. As a matter of fact
the more you worry about it, and disturb your face on and on about it,
the more it lingers. So the first tip I am going to give you,’
1. Worry Less As much as you are going to care for your skin with
hopes of getting better, you also need not worry about it so much. I
didn’t notice any huge improvement on my face until I began to let it
be.
2. Ditch the Astringents and Alcohol. Use an organic toner. This
worked for me amazingly. As soon as I stopped the constant swirling of
an alcohol infused cotton ball around my Acne eroded skin, I noticed a
dramatic improvement with my skin. I haven’t bought or used Acne
clearing astringents in the past 3 years and I am the happier for it.
Pure rose water should do you just fine. What I use: A mix of Vitamin C
serum in my Rose water. Vitamin C serum helps renew dead surface cells
and fades dark spots left by Acne
Our skin has the unique ability to renew itself over time, replacing
dead skin cells of the surface/epidermis. This is totally dependent on
the activity of the epidermal stem cells. And you have the power to
increase the efficiency of this process or cause a major decline,
depending on what you apply topically and what you feed your body. Which
brings me to food!
3. Change your diet. Or improve it. Instead of investing your hard
earned money on drugs and skin care products over and over, how about
adding fruits and vegetables to your diet. The good news is that the
foods that happen to be good for your skin are also good for your
overall health. What I noticed was a huge change in the feel of my skin
one particular week when I decided to increase my intake of Oranges and
Citrus fruits. My skin felt smoother and seemed to glow, which was weird
for me as i always had to wear foundation to get that before. Vitamin E
is also very vital for the overall health of your skin and since the
human body cannot produce Vitamin E naturally it should essentially be
consumed from external sources. What you need: A diet rich in
Antioxidants, this means More Vitamins, A, C and E and Omega -3:
oranges, grapefruit, papayas, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes,
strawberries, kiwis, red and green peppers, tomatoes, vegetables,
broccoli, mangoes, oranges, Brussels sprouts, Nuts, fish oil.

4. Water. Water should become your best friend if it isn’t already. 8
glasses of water a day. I beg you to try this strictly for 1 week and
see what difference you experience on your skin. It would help to flush
toxins out and even do your kidneys and liver a favor. And when those
babies are working smoothly, guess what happens on the surface? Your
skin would literally smile! That’s when you notice a glow that you
didn’t think was there before. What I do: 1 glass + 2 limes or 1 lemon
first thing in the morning and last thing before I go to bed. In between
6 other glasses of water. 5. Enough with the Scrubbing!! Scrub your
face morning, scrub again at night, wake up tomorrow and do it all over
again like say I nor get work. Seriously, Stop. You are doing more harm
than good by scrubbing and scrubbing ever so often. Your face needs time
to heal, it needs time to renew itself. The more you scrub the more
your pores stay open, increasing your risk of sunburns and more zits
developing into spots held tightly together creating little communities
and townships on your skin. I recommend a light touch exfoliation once a
week and see how you can improve from there to twice a week. What I do:
I use Honey + Sugar or Sheabutter + Sugar for exfoliating my ski
6. Cleansing. You should always cleanse or wash your facial skin with
a soft touch. All that gra-gra washing doesn’t necessarily mean you are
going to rinse off and have the acne falling to the floor. You are
doing more harm than good to your skin. What i use: The good ol’ African
black soap never seems to tire me.
Whether you get your soap from Lagos or Ghana, if it is traditionally
made, it becomes my best friend. I do a mix of Black soap, Honey and
Lemon till it becomes a sort of washing liquid. No water. Your honey and
Lemons would be just enough to liquify the soap. I love this stuff!
7. Sunscreen Acne makes your skin even more susceptible to sun burns
which it why it seems the spots get darker and darker no matter how hard
you try. You should be wearing sun screen on a daily basis to prevent
more damage. Choose a sunscreen with SPF 30 and higher. 8. Less Makeup
This is a no brainer really.
You want to minimize your use of makeup as much as you can till your
skin is in a better condition. Makeup clogs your pores and make it even
difficult for your skin to breathe, let alone smile. Plus we both know
you would be needing a hell lot of product to cover those zits up. So
please bare for a while, do without it when you can. Your skin smiling
days are only weeks ahead trust me. And if you do wear makeup, ensure to
take it all off before going to bed.
9. It gets better with time! This is so true, well depending on
how early you stop worrying so much about your skin. I used to have 4
big zits appear on my forehead and chin as soon as the monthly came
knocking. In fact, I stopped checking my calendar and started telling it
was time just by the acne popping out.
Now, I don’t even get them anymore. Not one pimple! My Mom says my
body grew out of it, and my hormones balanced out with age and i would
like to believe that. However depending on genetics and other hormonal
factors this would likely vary from person to person.
10. Believe As queer as this sounds, it is probably the best tip I
would be giving you. Just believing that your skin would clear up in no
time is enough to calm your nerves, have the good vibes flowing, have
your heart pumping nicely and reducing stress, and in all reflecting
improvement on the surface. So be calm, sincerely believe that your skin
is going to get better and begin to imagine all the beautiful pictures
you’d soon be showing off of your Acne-less skin.
There you have it guys! I do hope this has helped you in some way. My
skin isn’t perfect yet, a couple of fading spots here and there but I
can sha waka without Makeup now and not worry about people looking at me
funny. LOL. For more on Skin care and Acne care tips Subscribe to
myskinmakeuphair.com, Follow on Twitter and Instagram @SkinMakeupHair
and stay Happy!”
Culled From: www.myskinmakeuphair.com