BEAUTY

THE REALEST TEA

Ladies and even my fellas, come sit with me, grab some tea, wine, vodka or whatever it is that makes you relax 'cause I am about to vent!!

Have you guys ever gone into a shop and feared what you were buying was fake? (or) Purchased (some) a makeup item from a beauty supply shop in Ghana, only to get home and find out it was fake or much worse it caused you to break out? I know I have, so I can tell you first hand how irritating it is for me and a few of my girlfriends, when all we want to do is shop, shop, and probably shop some more (“chop ma money cause I don care”) but we can't, because of the fear/high percentage of buying something fake (Can a girl just be a shopaholic in peace?).

It's exhausting honestly, to have to order stuff online (In my case having to look for someone either travelling or returning, then having to change my hard earned Cedis into whatever currency depending on where said traveller is going to) then try to coax whoever into either buying/picking up an item, and the ~~ass licking~~ begging please don’t get me started on the torturous ~~ass kissing~~ begging required just for them to bring your stuff down (“my bag is over weight so I can only bring ONE item”, how many of you have heard that before?). By the time thats done you have most likely lost interest, or the event you wanted to go for / make up look you wanted to achieve is out of vogue (LOL like that's even possible), or your skin in the worse case scenario is getting worse and worse by the day, so you fall back into bad habits 'cause your overseas products are just taking way too long to arrive. Point blank its HARD! Period.

We then have these beauty supply store owners who just get up and go to China or where ever it is they travel to buy these God forsaken goods from, have the nerve to charge us the cost price, plus their rent, AC, children's school fees and plane ticket, all 'cause they want to maximize profit and perhaps most unfortunately no one, absolutely no one is calling them out on this. I'd rather you bring an Asian brand than a rip-off.

One would say but all these brands are migrating to Ghana. That is true, brands such as Mac, Clinique, Estee Lauder are out here on these streets of Accra. Lately though, but they are also taking advantage of us by charging two/three times the original price, Leaving you confused as to which option is better for you - 1. Buying the fake brands and taking a huge risk on your skin or 2. Using up half of your monthly budget to buy the original - and you still stand a chance of not being able to get the most, if not everything you wanted/needed and we(my HUNTIES) have already established we are here to look good on a budget.

Lastly, there's also the monotony of the skin care/makeup brands in Ghana (I don't know if its the demand for them or lack of knowledge), Clean and Clear, Aveeno, Mac, La Girl etc are not the only skin care/makeup products out there, I repeat THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY PRODUCTS OUT THERE! I personally don't think they are even close to being the best but that is what almost ~~every~~ single store you go into has to offer, when theres actually a whole ~~world~~ universe of skin care/makeup brands just waiting to be discovered and become loyal to.

So after constant trial and error, a dozen heartbreaks we ended up here! And here, we are going to compel these sellers to do better or even try to do better by setting OUR standards high (Because we consumers have all the power we need). (FYI- Just to put this out there, if you have a beauty supply store offline and online and you get upset over a bad review and STILL do nothing thats on you and your brand! )Rather, Take this as a stepping stone so WE ALL (buyers and consumers) can make progress!

What should you expect from 'This Beauty Tea Time'?

Reviewing Makeup/skin care gems
Monthly Under 100ghc makeup finds
Reviewing Beauty Spas/beauty supply stores/MUA's
Reviewing/working with Local skin care Brands (for all my Organic babies)
MY PERSONAL SKIN REGIME (my journey to achieving perfect skin)
Makeup tutorials (even though I believe everything you need to know is already on youtube)
And *drumroll* We,Hunties are going to have '#FakeorReal' series.

So again, sit back and pleaseee just enjoy this journey with me, cause The Plug is here

Love,

LFA.