HOW TO BEGIN YOUR SOFT GIRL ERA

Even if you're broke.

It's 2023, and everybody is in their “soft era,” don't give the excuse of being broke and tell us that's what's preventing the softness, no. Anyways, these are some useful tips on starting, even if you don't have money.

• Love yourself : Yes, love yourself. That's the first step. You won't get any progress if you don't make peace with yourself first , stop trying to please everyone and put yourself first . It's okay to do that,really. I'd tell you to “kiss a stranger" but a lot of sick people are roaming the streets, so unless you want to start coughing blood or suddenly find yourself in a politician's wardrobe with calabash on your head, don't do it.

  

  Let it be your motto.

• Start writing a journal : Get yourself a book, and just fill it with things about yourself- memories, things you hope to achieve, the things you love, how your day went, just anything.

  

  It doesn't have to be one fancy notebook or anything, any book at all will do, as long as its empty. Get stickers, even if it's the ones that come with Eclairs, or just cut out pages in magazines and create your own aesthetic, really. There are no limits to how creative you can get with your journal. You can also decide to go for digital journals, just do you.

• Take care of your skin: It's really not about using a 20k moisturiser, or one 6k serum.. But those things are nice too.. You being broke is not an excuse to not take care of that wonderful skin you have, regardless of the colour. You can't be taking your bath twice in three weeks and expect clear skin, Chelsea come on now. Buy those local sponges if you have to, God knows those things can scrub the first layer of your skin off exfoliating oil who? Use correct local sponge, apply vaseline or any other petroleum jelly you have, if you want to take it to the next level, use vegetable oil or palm oil. But if your skin ends up looking balablu, i was never here.

Imagine what it would feel like if people treated you the way you treat your hair: Exactly. You'll be looking homeless all the time, that's not soft, at all. You don't need to have braids or locs or one elaborate style on, even if you decide not do plait it it all, at least pack it in a bun and look presentable. Shout out to Betty.

• Be a lipgloss warrior : It's high time someone addressed this topic, because in this day and age, how can your lips be cracked? You don't have to buy lip masks and lip scrubs and what not, just make sure your lips are not cracked. Besides, you can make these things at home now, as long as you have vaseline. You can make lips scrub at home too, just get brown sugar , or white sugar, mix it with honey and add a bit of vaseline and coconut oil if you have it, and there you have it. Mix vaseline with eyeshadow or lipstick to make a lip balm, or just use vaseline alone.

  

• Deodorants are very important, please: So this beautiful lady was beside me in the bus, beautiful face, wonderful makeup, her skin was giving, her hair was on flick, and her outfit was just beautiful, but the disturbing thing was her body odour. I kept trying to see if it was something or someone else, because it just didn't add up, but at the end of the day, na she dey gba. At this point it doesn't matter if you're using the 500naira aboki perfume oil, just don't go out and be smelling. Please. It's very bad.

• Spend that money, get what you've been craving for: If you're the type that craves 50k wine out of nowhere, please, keep scrolling. I'm talking about basic things, if you can afford it and not end up getting high blood pressure when you check your account balance, then what are you waiting for? Do it! Stop trekking that very long distance when you can get a cab and say your saving you're money, if you have the money, do it. But if you know you don't have, please, trek and don't let anybody embarrass you.

• It's not everything that happens in your life that you take to social media: Some things should really just stay private. This social media thing? It's a very dangerous place,so don't bring every little detail here.

• Learn a vocational skill: It's a big flex to be able to make your own stuff yourself, really. So learn something, open YouTube, type in any skill you'd like to learn and you'll find of videos on it. Plus, in this economy, if you can't make your own money and rely solely on one source of income.. let's just not go into details. Learn something- pottery, cooking, sewing, knitting, crocheting.. Anything.

• Stay away from stressful people: No cause why are you still around that person that gives you headache all the time? It's okay to block people, set boundaries and if anyone crosses it, boot the person's pops.

  

  There you have it, try these things, and you'll see you'll how soft you'll get. Remember to stay hydrated, eat and sleep well, you no be witch.

Love, Hauwa.❤