Of Pakistan and Skin Care

Hi guys, so this blog is about all things beauty. It will enlist my personal journey through the troughs of skin care and I hope to reach out those of you who:

- Have similar skin as me

- Live in a similar climate as me 

- Want to achieve spotless skin

- And basically understand how to tame this beast with a mind of its own- your skin! 

So now that we have set the tone of this post. I would like to answer the above questions for myself so you can determine if you relate to me. I am 29 year old woman (yes sounds very old, but doesn’t feel like it, trust me!!) who lives in Karachi, Pakistan which is basically the hub of ALL THINGS BAD-to the patriot ones out there willing to judge me, wait for it- FOR THE SKIN. All things bad for the skin! That’s right! We have pollution, crazy heat, sunshine all the day every day and to make things worse the sea! It’s basically like a pollution filled sauna. Hence we develop an array of skin issues- acne, clogged pores, hyperpigmentation, sun spots! You name it, we will have it on our face! 

MY PERSONAL SKIN PROFILE:

So I am no newbie to skin care, but first things first. My skin is not spotless! Not yet. It’s a journey and while I have MAJORLY revamped my skin though its many ups and downs, I can confidently say that I have tamed this beast and know what exactly to feed it and when. 

Okay now on to my skin type. For that you will have to take a look at history. As a teen I struggled with horrendous acne along with very oily skin. I took a course of Accutane and retinol with my dermatologist, Dr. Khilji who left my skin smooth and perfect. Yes I am a huge believer that Accutane is a perfect solution for teenage hormonal acne (book that appointment kids). Anyway, fast forward 8 years and my skin started getting dry. Mind you it had changed from oily to normal after Dr. Khilji was done with me. But of course, with time things do change, I’ve inherited dry skin from my mom like most things (watch it, temper!) so this was bound to happen. 

So it’s been long since I went to my dermatologist -3 years precisely- and my skin has taken a turn to be dry. I have been struggling with a bad case of hyper pigmentation from a bout of acne and some scarring. So this blog will focus on this struggle: dry skin, hyper pigmentation and scarring. 

It’s a work in progress, I will be testing new products and putting reviews here, helping you adapt your skin care routine to maximize benefits according to your skin type and issues. 

And lastly, this blog has nothing to do with totkas- a desi term given to applying anything short of biryani on your face. Nah, we will be taking help from our very reliable friend, Science, here in this blog. It will be all about the chemistry, ingredient analysis and conscious understanding of how products react with your skin that you will get to learn in this blog. So anyone who has a penchant for using harsh exfoliants or rubbing odd spices on your face may want to give it a break before reading my blog. 

That’s all for now, happy reading!