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Showering with a washcloth acts as a gentle exfoliator, helping to keep your skin soft.

For a lot of black women, washcloths in the shower are equally as important as the water and soap. The culture shock is REAL the first time a black girl spends the night at her non-black friend's house and discovers she's the only one sudsing up with one. Washcloths are a fave among black women because they scrub away more dirt than just hand to body contact, but also, they exfoliate the skin and make it baby smooth because of their semi-abrasive texture. Tips: use separate washcloths for your face and body, and use white wash cloths so that you can see all the dirt, makeup, etc that comes off!

Get them here for $12.49.

giphy.com

The “Smile And Keep It Moving” technique reduces frown lines and wrinkles.

As little girls, black women learn the “Smile and Keep It Moving” technique. This technique is also commonly referred to as the “Don't Talk Back,” “Just Let It Go”, and “Let the Lord Fight Your Battles.” We’re urged by the older women in our lives who’ve walked the road we’re traveling to exercise the beauty ritual in instances of microagression – like when a white co-worker misinterprets our very normal human behavior as “having an attitude,” or in instances of overt racism, like when a non-black classmate calls us a derogatory slur and faces no consequences for their behavior. For it is better to smile and handle these matters graciously, than to wild TF out and be labeled “angry” and suffer consequences in the forms of termination, expulsion, or worse.

The constant smiling and resting pleasant face—even when we want to cry, scream, and/or go completely HAM on a mothafucka—reduces frown lines and other signs of aging. To see how the “Smile and Keep It Moving” technique is done, refer to the gif above of a Grammy-snubbed Beyoncé.

Get it by studying a strong black woman who has stories for days.

CBS / Via giphy.com

Believe it or not, Vaseline can be a great face and body moisturizer.

Have you ever met a black woman whose face and skin were exceptionally baby-soft and seemingly poreless, even without makeup? Chances are her mom or grandma slathered Vaseline on her head-to-toe, against her will, every single day in the early years of her life. Not sure how this became such a thing in black households, but we're glad it did. The thick and greasy concoction that seems like it'd be a pimple-inducing pore-clogger is actually a barrier that locks in moisturizer. It even got a 4.3 out of 5 rating on Acne.org. You should absolutely not put it on until after you've cleansed your face and body, though.

The Vaseline brand uses 100% pure and refined petroleum jelly, and according to their site, it “works by creating sealing barrier between cells in dry or damaged skin which locks in moisture and speeds up your skin’s natural recovery process.” The formula is, verified by the journal of Cosmetic Science, non-comedogenic, which means it shouldn't clog your pores.

Get it here for $4.

Bankable Productions / Via tumblr.com

To maintain a steady glow, eliminate the unnecessary anxiety that comes with stealing other people’s cultures.

There’s an automatic load of stress that comes into your life the day you come into the world as black and a woman, so we find ways to cut unnecessary stressors where we can. Like stealing other people's identity and land, for example. There's too much to worry about. What if you get caught? How will you perfectly execute your thieving plan so that no one knows? How will you then justify why you stole whatever you stole in the event that you do get caught? Or, if you're really a steal master, how will you manipulate your victim into thinking you didn't really steal anything and whatever you stole was actually yours all along?

That's A LOT to think about, and in between protecting our families from police brutality and finding the perfect edge control, black women just ain't got time. Additionally, some of the more commonly swiped items—like cornrows, Afros, hip-hop, and language—already belong to us, so we can't really steal them. And there are other things, like land, but due to systemic racism, we don't really have the power to pull off such heist. All that said, the low likelihood of us stealing such massive properties eliminates another stressor. Less stress = poppin' skin!

Get it by staying in your lane and not touching stuff that doesn't belong to you.

rollingout.com / Via youtube.com

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