My Skincare Confession: How I Accidentally Built My Perfect Routine (And a Business)

I have a confession to make. It has taken me years to get my skincare routine to where I think it's actually benefiting me.

My go-to used to be Lancôme or Estée Lauder. LOVE LOVE LOVE EL—and for me, it was always about the consistency of the creams (moisturizers mainly) and the smell. But here's the thing: I don't like too much perfume. It makes me nauseous.

Imagine walking into an elevator with someone wearing their perfume or aftershave heavily. First, I will not get on the elevator with them because I will be gagging (very embarrassing, but it's involuntary), and I'll be able to smell it ALL day. No idea why, but there it is.

The Namibia Connection

A few years back, while visiting my mother and sister in Namibia (and all the other siblings and cousins—if I leave them out and they read this, they might be a wee bit miffed I didn't mention them), something unexpected happened.

One of my old clients—someone I'd supported years before when he hit rock bottom, coaching and encouraging him to be successful (and thank the Lord, he's very successful today)—recommended his acquaintance to me. This person wanted to import Marula oil into the USA.

You have to understand, Namibia is a very, very large country, about the same size as Texas, but it only has 2+ million people living there. Which means somebody knows somebody and is a good friend. It's a huge community.

I was all gung-ho, and we got it underway. He exported to the USA—took a few months, obviously—and we started launching the Marula oil online.

Falling in Love with My Own Product

This is a long story, but bear with me.

I started using my own product to test, obviously, and I fell in love. I used it on my skin, on my scalp, in my hair to tame down the craziness, and on my body. We started using it for Eisley's hair (my granddaughter), who struggles with a lot of knots and hates having her hair detangled because it does hurt.

At the same time we were launching the Marula oil, I was introduced by Zach (my scientist who was in on the Marula oil deal) to his friend Minas, who had this scar cream which he wanted to relaunch as a primer and needed a better online presence. Obviously, I had to test the product because how can you be enthusiastic about skincare if you don't use it yourself?

The cream was brilliant.

I took some to Namibia and had my 85-year-old (at that stage) use it, and she came downstairs and was amazed at how smooth her skin felt. You should've seen her face.

The Perfect Layering System

So now I was using my oil as a base and the scar cream on another layer, and then a smear of moisturizer. The scar cream had a smooth feeling, and I loved that it had the best Vitamin C ingredient, so I didn't have to use a serum.

Because of customers' reactions to the cream, we started launching it as a primer. And man, it deserved every accolade.

Back to Today

I've been doing my whole regime again, and my skin is just absolutely awesome. I don't feel dried out by 2pm in the afternoon or when I wake up. And I've only been using it for two weeks now.

(I'll add before and after photos in a few more weeks so you can see the results.)

One more thing about the scar/primer—it has helped my freckles... I think they call them dark spots. AND I had an age spot on my face that faded as well. So no more freckles, and you know they pop out during the summer because obviously we're out in the sun more and in the pool. And I live on a boat, so there's a lot of reflection from the water.

Stay tuned for more content about the Marula oil journey and my vision for my company. This is just the beginning.