Black Don't Crack - My Skin Story

Recently, in a conversation with moms at a school function I got asked about the glowing condition of my skin and as I was telling my story of the amazing skin care range that I use (Dermal Health's Dermexcel products), one of the mom's interrupted my explanation with the words: "Yes, but black don't crack".

And I thought: "What??"

She explained to me that, because I have darker pigment in my skin (yes, I do tan easily) I age slower and my skin is just in a better condition in general. Again: what??!

I was quite disappointed that this might be the common opinion about women with good/ great skin. So here are my own personal skin facts:

1. No, I don't have naturally good skin and definitely not any "good skin genes".

Both my own mother and her mother suffered from mild to extreme skin conditions including rosacea, enlarged pores, serious pigmentation and adult acne. On my father's side there were no serious conditions, but blackheads, pimples, dry skin with a very oily t-zone, fine lines and aging were and are all a reality.

2. I was on 20 and 30mg of roaccutan 4 years ago for my sudden flare up of adult acne in my late 20's.

3. After 4 pregnancies & being an absolute sun worshipper from young, I had two large & dark spots of pigmentation on my forehead and right cheek. They still flare up in summer, especially during our beach holidays.

4. I've always followed a very strict skincare regime & routine. Good skin takes effort. It takes really hard work. I never, ever go to bed with make-up on, no matter how tired I am or how late I get home. Not even when I was at varsity; after being out all night, I would get back to res just before sunrise and still wash my face before getting an hour of sleep before classes.

5. I've been sleeping on a 100% organic silk pillowcase every night, for the last 2 years. It truly makes a difference! (You can order your standard sized pillowcase in white/ caramel from me for R 550)

6. Skin gym. Whilst working with the Lifelab team dr Juanri introduced me to Skin Gym. This is a 10-week "skin workout"-program that you can do twice a year. I've done blog posts on Skin Gym and the new & improved Skin Gym Lite before, but leave a comment or send me an email if you would like to enquire about it. 

7. What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.

This is truest when it comes to your skin. You can go for the best and most expensive treatments known to man, but if you do not use good products and follow a really good regime every day, your skin will never live up to your expectations.

Skin close up

And on this point, enter Dermal Health and their Dermexcel range. Personally, I've used a number of different products - all with no significant result on my skin.

I was introduced to Dermal Health by Bernadette from Lifelab when the range was relatively new on the market and I'm forever grateful for that introduction 🙏🏼

I fell in love with the principle behind how this range of products work with your skin, teaching it to produce its own collagen & moisture from the inside, visibly slowing down the aging process. I also fell in love with the amount of active ingredients that these products contain, since it is locally manufactured, and my skin (acne, blemishes and pigmentation) loves all the actives. It heals better and looks healthier.

I thought I'll just share the story of how I'm definitely not "born this way". My good skin is self made, with a little help from my friends 😉

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