Keeping clean

Most people wonder what living in Port Moresby would be like. When they hear of this place, they automatically think that it's hard to get the modern luxuries which we take for granted living in a large and highly urbanized city. Well, they do have a point. It is quite hard to get normal things over here. Heck, it's even hard to just find a decent burger. but we're not going to talk about food today though this will be a recurring topic here.

Today, I thought I'd share some of the hygiene products I use. The perception here is that a person can only find the basics. Well, I would agree if you lived in the jungles of Papua New Guinea which cover most of the country. If you live in Port Moresby, some shops do stock up on things that we'd need just to keep clean in this dusty place.

When I wake up in the morning, my daily ablutions start off with washing my mouth. For this, I use Aquafresh, a toothpaste that's supposed to combine the best qualities of the two types of paste you use to clean your teeth and mouth with.

I wash it all off with Listerine. I need mouthwash all the time. If I don't use mouthwash, I feel my mouth isn't totally clean.

After I rinse my mouth. I hope into the shower. Now my hair is very particular to shampoo. Almost every brand out there causes my scalp to become itchy and flake. I remember as a kid, my mum bought me some coal tar shampoo from St. Ive's and it worked beautifully. I don't know if this is still available but I got the next best thing, Neutrogena t/gel. I love it.

 Then I begin using my tea tree products. Tea tree is a wonderful product which also goes by the name of Melaleuca oil. I believe that it is endemic to Australia. It has antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. My skin started to clear up after I started using tea tree products. First up is a foaming facial wash from the Body Shop. It is also the only product I am featuring that I bought overseas.

I then scrub myself with some tea tree soap. I also use oatmeal soap when I feel like exfoliating my skin. Natural selections is a relatively cheap brand that produces good quality oatmeal, eucalyptus and tea tree soap. I've been using it for the last 4 years. Each box contains five bars of soap which will last me a quarter.

After I step out of my steaming-hot shower making me red as a lobster, I go to my dresser to put on some tea tree oil on any problem areas. I used to use Body Shop tea tree oil but Thursday Plantation's tea tree oil works just as well and is half the price. This oil cannot be taken orally and is poison. It says so right on the bottle. A bottle like this can last me a year.

Now I start moisturizing. Port Moresby's climate is usually dry. It is only of late when it started raining regularly. For lotions, I use Nivea. They have a pretty good line-up of Nivea products here including ones I never see anywhere. I use the lotion to moisturize my tattoos. If you don't moisturize a tattoo, the skin can dry up and will make the colours of the tattoo fade away.

And lastly, I moisturize my forehead. I am a paranoid person and I fear getting any wrinkles on my forehead. The thing is, I furrow my eyebrows several times a day so I think I am likely to develop a wrinkly forehead in the foreseeable future.

Now that I've shown all the products I use on a daily basis here, I hope people get a bit more enlightened about Port Moresby and not just complain that there's never anything in this city I live in. Like with most things here, all you have to do is keep your eyes open for the products you need. Ciao.