For the past four-five months my PCOS has been acting up big time and my entire hormone regulation has been erratic, to say the least.
Now this isn't the first time I've had crazy symptoms because of this condition, I've been dealing with it since I was 18!
However, this is the first time that I've had acne as a symptom! Like terrible acne! All over my face! Along with this comes discolouration, lots of it! I never even had acne as a teenager during puberty, so to be getting acne as an adult in my late twenties, it's very disconcerting to be honest.
That's a post for another day though.
In my panic, I decided to do something about it before it takes over my entire face! It's already halfway there.
I was changing up my facial routine and then I remembered. Oriflame! I can't even remember when I joined Oriflame. I just know a colleague at work had been pressuring me to join and the membership was really cheap (N1700).
Even though I've been a member of Avon in the past, I actually really hate network marketing with a passion. My mum (like many Nigerians) used to be obsessed and she's done it all! In Nigeria she did GNLD and Forever Living and When we moved overseas she did Amway, Nutrimetics and Avon.
I personally find it annoying when these sales people try to stuff their products down your throat. Some can be fussy and pushy and I avoid them a lot.
But I joined Avon because the makeup and fragrances were great (as a teen and college student) but I only ever purchased for personal use.
So I joined Oriflame cos their products seemed cool and reasonably priced. Until I got the catalogue and saw the sizes! Like 50ml for body creams? Too small.
However, in my acne hysteria I decided to try a few of their products so I shopped online at their website. Here's what I got:
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| Love Nature Face Toner and Blemish Solver |
This Range contains tea tree oil and I know tea tree is great for acne: in fact, my current cleanser contains tea tree and I like it. So I needed a good toner to close my pores and complement the cleanser.
The blemish solver claims to target spots and reduce scarification.
| Pure Skin Blackhead Control Toner |
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| Pure Skin Blackhead Control Toner |
Hopefully this would help with black heads.
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| Essentials skin care range |
Now I was sceptical about getting this set of products because it mentioned 'lightening'. I'm not a fan of skin lightening products but I checked the ingredients and it had no chemicals that could lighten the skin! A friend that's also been using this products said she hadn't seen a change in her skin colour. Just soft skin.
Which leads me to believe that it's all a marketing ploy! The whole world knows that Nigerian women are obsessed with becoming fairer and they'd use any means to make money off gullible Naija girls.
The only difference between the ingredients in these products and another non 'skin Lightning range is the SPF so I think they're banking on SPF= lighter skin which is a big lie under the Nigerian sun! I used to use SPF 20 quite religiously when I first came back and my skin stayed the same. No difference.
I was attracted to this range cos of the pH balancing cleanser. It's really mild and skin feels refreshed after use.
I also got a kajal which I really didn't need. But yay! Love it!
Quite pigmented but can get runny when under the hot sun or sweaty.
I also got this for the husband. I wanted to get him the entire north for men range but only the aftershave was in stock. :(
He really likes it though so yay. I will be purchasing the entire range later.
So I'll be giving these products a go to see which one my skin responds to best so I can stick with it. I'm really hoping I find a solution to this problem because the hyper pigmentation going on on my face is really getting out of hand.
Would I recommend Oriflame?
Yeah, sure! Especially for personal use. If you're already in the cosmetic retail business then adding these products to your stock is great however, you're like me and not into network marketing then join to get a 20% discount on cosmetics.
If you're in it for the money you could make let me warn you now, it's quite difficult to get to that point.
You need to get about 100 points consistently every month which comes to around 9000naira/ month or 11 if you add shipping. if you lose your streak, you've got to start all over again. And if you don't get up to,100points, you lose those points and start over again the next month, they don't cumulate
You also need to get people to register under you and they have to get others to register under them and so on so you can move up the ladder.
I find that quite stressful and of all the peopl I know into this, I'm yet to find anyone that has actually made hard cash.
For personal use, I was able to get 8 products for 9,900naira which became 11,200 after shipping. Not bad at all.
Have you ever used Oriflame?
What was your experience like?
Would you recommend it?
Have you used it to make money?
Let us know in the comments below.
Until then, have a blemish free rest of the week!
Lots of fresh skin love,
Ummi
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