Here’s the thing – This post was meant to start differently. I had my solid intro pat down, complete with the jokes and a quick story to go. It was brilliant. But midway into writing this, I realized that I was jumbling way too many posts into this one post, and decided to break it into two instead.
This meant having to decide between a weekend bits post and sharing all the dope pictures I took at the New Afrika Shrine. Weekend bits won.
I haven’t done a weekend bits post in a while, and it isn’t for lack of content. It just somehow got pushed to the back bench of my “content file”. But one of the things I planned to do more this year “blog-wise” was definitely to reintroduce some of my old categories – reader spotlight, style conversations, weekend bits, candid talk
Today’s post really is more a mix of weekend bits and Lagos living. It’s a bit of a long read too but I hope you guys enjoy it and sound off in the comments after reading.
The Youtopia Beauty Brunch.
On Saturday, I got to attend a Beauty Brunch put together by Youtopia (an online beauty retail store) to launch their new/first product – The YouSkin Vit C face serum. I almost didn’t make it but I’m glad I did as I learned a few skincare lessons.
The brunch was held at the dainty restaurant in V.I – La brioche, in a super intimate setup with a few other influencers and entrepreneurs.
La brioche really is such a beautiful place and the event was quite refreshing. The food was good, the conversation flowed (although if I’m being honest – I was more of an observer than a partaker) and skincare routines/tips were shared. Founder of Youtopia Beauty, Nnenna Okoye also spoke about launching her own product line – the face serum and an Acne kit dropping next week, and the benefits of having a skincare routine.
At the event, I learned that:
- Black soap isn’t good for the face. Actually, soaps (bar form) in general as they contain a high level of sulfur used to help them lather well. Cleansers are the best for the face.
- Lemon juice isn’t good for the skin either because if it’s high acidic nature.
- Vit C serums and sunscreen should definitely be a key part of your skincare routine.
Did you know any of this and what do you think?
I left with my own YouSkin Vitamin C serum and will definitely share my thoughts on it after I’ve used it for a while.
Are Vit C face serums a part of your skincare routine? If yes, which one do you use and do you think it has made any difference to your skin?
On Sunday, I made my way to the legendary New Afrika Shrine – home to Felabration and the Kalakuta Museum with blogger boo, Alex. Although, I’ve decided to leave this for another post entirely so look out for my full post on this experience.
Afterwards, we decided to check out the House restaurant because the “FOMO” spirit was active in us and we just had to check out what all the hype around The House Lagos was about.
The House Restaurant V.I – A Home Away From Home. 
Our last stop for the day was the House restaurant in V.I, Lagos – a new spot I’ve been seeing all over my Instagram. It’s an alternative/super creative restaurant and chill spot. It looks like a proper house, complete with a living room, study – the whole works.
We got a quick tour when we got in and I was super impressed! It really is such a great idea and whoever owns that place needs to lend me his brain because dope stuff! And even doper execution.
The only downside is that the service is a bit slow and the menu a bit pricey (although this is relative because we all have different pocket sizes and budgets for eating out).
We settled for what looked like the most filling option on the menu – The ofada rice bowl and I LOVED it! The food was so good. I had zero complaints. The House restaurant in V.I is truly a home away from home. Good food, good vibes, and aesthetics, It’s definitely worth a visit.
Located at: 4 A.J. Marinho Drive Victoria Island, Lagos
Have you been to the house restaurant? What did you have and what did you think of the place?
Looking back now, I think I should have broken down this post even further because these two can make solid separates. What was I thinking trying to cram three posts into one? What manner of content wasting is this?.
Oh well, I hope you at least enjoyed reading this and will share your thoughts in the comment.
What was your weekend like? What did you get up to?
I hope you have a wonderful new week!
I do agree with it. I stopped using products that lather on my face for that reason. They are often too harsh and strip moisture from the skin. Do I still use black soap occasionally? Yes! It does work wonders for the skin, you just need to tweak it to avoid it being too drying. I do think it has some great ingredients and shouldn’t be dismissed like your regular bar soap. Most bar soaps also come with a pretty god pH balance (if they’re designed for face) so I wouldn’t dismiss bar soaps entirely. The key is understand skins ph, and know how the product you use can disrupt that.
Sly!!!!
Lmaoooo. Sorry, not sorry. 😑🙄
I mean I enjoyed reading about multiple topics so yeah, isnor a bad idea in my opinion that you combined them.
The House is looking(sounding too) like a vibe so yeah. Thanks.
Lool! Thank you for coming around Tolu. I appreciate !
I envy you Lagosians and your wide pool of chill spot option. Abuja… God will help us. Looking forward to your Shrine experience. I enjoyed this post.
But Abuja is pretty lit too! I’ve been seeing some very cool cafes on the instastory of some of the Abuja Bloggers I Follow.
Thank you! Do you Have plans to visit Lagos this year?
There are actually a lot of chill spots in Abuja but you need to have steady money to really enjoy them..lol
Lovely photos! The skincare discussion is something I would have enjoyed because of how seriously I take skincare.
I believe it’s not all bar soaps that are bad for the face, it all depends on the ingredients.
Vitamin C is one skincare ingredient I’ve been using in my skincare routine for about 2 years and I talked about the benefits on skin and my favorite vitamin C face serum on my blog.
That restaurant looks good, can’t wait to explore more places in Abuja when housejob finally lets me. Great post as usual!
Modavracha | Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Blog
Yes, I do. Sometimes.. in April. I hope you’ll show me around. 🤗
Niceeee! Put me in your prayers so I will be rich by then because this Lagos is super expensive to move around
I agree! Nnenna and Dimma Umeh are like my skin care inspiration if that makes sense. For sensitive skin, black soap strips your skin of all its oil and moisture. I totally agree with any Nnenna says because she’s a skincare pro. I don’t use any natural product on my skin. My skin hatesss it! Also, I love the pictures of the event! Great job!
Hey b!
Please what do you use for your face? What cleanser?
Mahn this news isn’t going so well with me. I thought black soaps were bae and switched totally to it and now y’all are saying no! Gosh. Lol. I guess we learn everyday.
Content was super easy to read and loved the way i could tell your personality from just reading! Loved it!!
Hey first time on my blog! Yay. Thank you so much Sofiyat!
truly believe that cleansing your skin with a bar of soap (even if it’s a “facial” bar) is harmful to the skin. Although many bar soaps now have gentler formulations than they used to (thankfully!), the issue of the binders that hold soap in a bar shape form remains. These binders naturally have a higher pH than your skin. This causes your skin to go into an alkaline state, which results in dryness.
Most skin types have a pH of 5.5. Soap’s pH ranges between 8-10, so this instantly strips the skin of moisture. It’s a fact that healthy skin thrives in moisture; your skin cells are like fish and need water to live. Dryness and dehydration are bad for your skin’s long-term health and appearance, which is the basis of why I strongly recommend against all bar soaps, especially for washing your face.
Think about it this way. When you wash with a drying soap, it pulls all the water out of the skin and creates dead, dry skin cell buildup. To compensate for the moisture you just removed, your moisturizer now has to repair the dehydrated cells caused by cleansing. This is not efficient at all! Every skincare product that you use should offer something additional and beneficial, not remove what’s meant to be there in the first place.
To think that I ditched cleansers because most of them contain alcohol which drys out my already dry skin.
I don’t use soap on my face, I use a face wash.
I’m not to surprised about the lemon part, because even makes one’s skin more sensitive to the sun.
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Yes oh Cassie, your last thoughts echo my sentiments too, what kind of content wasting is this indeed? Anyways, I’m sure you have more so no biggie. And I’ve heard of that soap one before but I will say when it comes to skincare it’s different strokes for different folks. Awesome pictures as always.
Princess Audu
I Loved reading this post. I have been using black soap since forever on my skin but the local black soap, not black soap in bars or shower gel just raw local black soap wrapped in brown paper that the grannies sell straight from the market, It’s the only thing my skin doesn’t react to because I have very SENSITIVE skin and I also use vitamin E + Vitamin C oil on my face from Sundown Naturals. Great post, looking forward to reading about your visit to the Shrine.
I use local black soap and I have no complaints so far.
My face is even clearer although I’m not sure if it’s because of the black soap or the combination of me drinking more water and using sunscreen everyday.
I’ll try out cleansers on my face though and if you have any recommendation please let me know.
You could always do a separate post on the Afrika Shrine and ‘The house’ and just find a new angle to them.
So if I melt my bar soap and put it in a body wash container, does it make it better? lol * jokes* Alex is an original wakajube so you guys are just made for each other in this exploring journey.
I’m adding The House to my list.
love the combined post.
http://www.ellapinkette.wordpress.com
The House is a Beautiful place. I so much love it, and that Ofada bowl is a delight.
Also, your pictures are beautiful.
I know this has nothing to do with this post. I just want you to confirm the link