First date diaries: I am not my skin

First date diaries: I am not my skin (sunscreen)

“I’m way too black to burn from sun-rays.” Kanye West- Clique

I should have known something was wrong when the lady at the Heathrow Mac store advised me to buy an NW 50 mac powder. “But I usually use the NW 45”, I protested. She looked at me, shook her head - and I could see she was trying to be polite - and said: “I think the 45 will be too light for you, you are definitely a 50.” So I tried the NW 50 on, it was not too dark for my skin, and I did not want to argue, so I let it slide.

Days later, the popular bride price app went viral. While answering the question on complexion, I was going to choose dark but Tosin (a male friend) insisted that I tick ‘Lupita’ instead. I was shocked. I mean I have always been dark, you know, I always thought I was somewhere slam bang in the middle of the cream caramel - dark mocha spectrum; definitely not close to charcoal black. Anyhow, the elders (on the bride price app) rated ‘Lupita’ (50,000 naira) higher than ‘dark’ (20,000 naira), and I have never had a problem with being ‘too dark’ so again I let it slide.

Prior to this, I had spent a considerable amount of time away from the UK, in Northern Nigeria. Just before I left for Nigeria, I met a certain young man. It was one of those random happenings that turn out to be so much more. We met at the mall… well, just outside the mall. I had bought much more than I intended to and needed help with my bags. Luckily, he happened to be passing by and offered to help the harried (pretty) young woman (girl). You know how you connect instantly with a stranger right? Yep! That’s what happened. Shopping and time were forgotten as we grabbed coffee and talked like two old friends. Unfortunately, and too soon, reality set in and I had to go finish packing as I would be leaving for Nigeria the following day.

 “I wish you were not leaving so soon; I would really love to get to know you better”, he said.

You would think that he would ask for my number/ facebook / twitter / whatsApp / email / Instagram / home address… but he didn’t. That is another story.

Anyway, five months later, I was back in the UK and really looking forward to seeing him again. It happened sooner than I expected, and just a week after the bride price app incident. So, Sunday morning, I was in church, looking fly (in my couture Naija native dress) and feeling extra fly (in my couture Naija native dress), when I saw him. I was very excited, but tried not to show it especially as he seemed to be walking toward me. As he got closer, I smiled and got up from my seat when he looked at me and seemed to hesitate slightly, but he walked on right past me. I was stunned. I was still standing when I saw Chinedu, my friend from college. His first words were: “Hey Sophia, how are you doing? I almost didn’t recognise you… you look much darker…”

Ah Ah!

I got my first jar of sunscreen the following day. Spf 50.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, wear Sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it” Baz Luhrmann- Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

image: ©2013, WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved