‘Because Of Lock-Down, I ...

Given the choice, many of us would probably have given 2020 a Miss Entirely – but for these six women, lockdown had an unexpectedly positive outcome.

- Charis Torrance

...started my own skincare range’

Lerato Lefafa is probably best known for the travel and foodie adventures she shares online with her fan base (leratolefafa.com). When she’s not inspiring her followers to explore the country (and beyond), she works in marketing for an energy company. One of the few whose job wasn’t affected by lockdown, Lerato was, however, unable to visit her dermatologist – which might seem like a luxury for some, but for those with skin problems, it means everything. ‘I suffer from eczema and I have hormonal acne, so I would often go for chemical peels and get skin treatments,’ Lerato says. ‘The stress of lockdown caused my skin to break out badly, but I wasn’t able to treat it.’

From the age of 13, Lerato had made her own skincare concoctions using organic ingredients, but they were nowhere near strong enough to treat the problems she had. But with lockdown, she had to get back into the kitchen and whip up something to help clear her skin, using knowledge from her previous experiments and what she could find online. And it worked brilliantly!

Delighted, she gave some to a friend. But her friend ended up suffering from nasal congestion because of the product. ‘I wanted to share my skincare products with others, and I realised the only way to avoid these types of issues was to go to school,’ says Lerato.

It started with one online aromatherapy course, but to date, Lerato has completed nine courses on remote-learning platform Udemy. Today her skincare range, Mokgantso Organics, features three products that target hyperpigmentation and acne.