Harmattan is our West African version of Winter with dust in place of snow. The weather has been hot/cold, foggy, dry, windy and dusty. *Sigh. This occurs around the end of each year from around November and can stay till March/April in Nigeria. It is more severe and prevalent in the Northern parts of Nigeria, Abuja gets hit less than Kaduna and Kaduna has it easier than Jos, etc. Basically it gets worse the more upnorth u go. I spent the Christmas of 2014 in Kaduna and the harmattan was terrible!! Christmas of 2015 was in Abuja and it was bad but still not as bad as Kaduna. This weather is mostly bittersweet, it gets so hot during the day while the weather is still dry, dusty and windy and in the evening it gets super cold, dry, windy, dusty and sometimes foggy till the early hours of the morning. By the way it would be nice for our Nigerian Fashion Designers to design outfits suited to our seasons e.g. Harmattan instead of Autumn, Winter and the likes wey we no get.
So below is a list of the Pros & Cons for me during the Harmattan season.
Pros
So below is a list of the Pros & Cons for me during the Harmattan season.
Pros
- Anything u wash dries fast
- Roaches/Spiders just die naturally due to the cold weather i guess (i just stumble on dem and sweep dem up happily)
- Its so cold especially at night so u will hardly sweat or need to use the Air Conditioner which in turn saves us electricity units
- My foodstuff in the pantry (yam, sweet potatoes, etc.) store better during this season
- My face seems to love this weather. I hardly have breakouts, my black spots have been peeling and fading off and it makes me exfoliate more.
- There is dust everywhere!! and if you have blinds in ur house, u know it is the worst!! All my living room and bedroom windows are closed but somehow the dust still finds its way in. I have to dust every other day and lets not even talk about leaving ur car windows down. Its soooo annoying
- I'm constantly sneezing and easily get nose bleeds 'cos of all the dust and dry, cold air
- Its easy to get a Cold (flu) and Catarrh
- My nails become so brittle and break easily no matter how much cream, oil i use on them, so i just file them low during this period
- Having my daily shower is a proper chore! I bathe with cold water and have to employ different tactics to get water on my body and be done with the shower asap else i end up with chattering teeth and shivering. Too much for just a bloody shower mahn!
- Everything shocks 'cos of Static Electricity, opening the door, tap, even taking of your clothes and i get zapped! *Sheesh!
- Dry hair and scalp. I have to spritz my hair with a mix of water and rosewater every other day so its not a crispy, crackling mass. Even that is not enough, i still have to wash my hair when it gets really bad, thankfully i have kinky braids on at the moment.
- Dry, Peeling, Sensitive and Ashy skin. Arrrgh... I practically layer on shea butter and oils on my body daily and before i'm even out the door my skin is dry like i did nothing! I have to rub on about 2 layers and still carry a travel size one in my bag to reapply as needed. If i don't do this my skin looks whitish grey and starts to peel and can even hurt when i try to move 'cos its so dry; and oh yeah its also really easy to get cuts, even from just itching.
- Crusty lips. Like i don't have enough issues already, i gotta constantly have balm on my lips otherwise it becomes so dry it splits, cracks and bleeds and hurts. Even with the balm, i still have to peel off dry skin or exfoliate my lips for a smooth feel & look
- The cold, dry air is soo annoying and feels stale if that makes any sense. I miss fresh breezy air
- Gotta drink warm and hot stuff to stay warm
- It can get sooo sunny, dry and hot during the day
I know people with Sickle Cell Anaemia, Joint issues and Asthma have it the worst during this season. Here are some articles i came across online as regards Harmattan and how it affects our health and well-being and how to cope with it.
Toodles!XooX
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