Shower Essentials

So after a busy couple of weeks juggling between college, work and drunken birthdays (I’m twenty now *sob*)… I’m back! 

As far as my skin goes, it’s been pretty miserable and resulted in a trip back to the docs.  I’ve been prescribed two types of antihistamines, one to take in the morning and one to take at night (which pretty much knocks me out), which is fine by me because what student doesn’t like to sleep, right?  These seem to be doing the trick just now, however I am to go back and see my doctor in the next week just to check up on everything.

Since my last post, I’ve managed to find some shower products that are totally free from both Paraben and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS), which I have been using every day since purchased to see if my skin will improve in any way, shape or form! 

Herbal Essence have recently released a new hair range called “Cleary Naked” which contains 0% Paraben and Coulourants.  The range aims to restore your hairs natural body and promises to leave your hair feeling refreshed, with extracts from fresh ingredients.  I have since found the conditioner to do just this - I purchased the volume conditioner with grapefruit and mint extracts, which smells divine and leaves my hair feeling fresh as a daisy till the next wash!   Unfortunately I found the shampoo was not to eczema friendly, (only after I spent £4 on it.. UGH), as it contains SLS – which I have since discovered is the key ingredient in shampoos to make them foam.  I would still however highly recommend the products to anyone that fancies giving their hair a well-deserved rest from the nasty chemicals we use all too often in our hair!  The range can be bought anywhere that stocks Herbal Essence, I’ve found it in both Tesco and Superdrug, varying in price from about £3-£4 per bottle.

I had MAJOR problems trying to find a shampoo that was free from SLS, it took me days to find one that was 100% pure and natural.  I eventually came across Hair Wonder by Nature on Amazon, whom have been on the go since 1985 developing the most natural hair products they possibly can without any of the nasty stuff.  Although it is a bit pricey – I paid £15 for two 200ml bottles – I honestly do not think that I will be tempted to return to the stuff I can grab oh so easily off the shelves.  I went for the Organic Mint and Rosemary Everyday Natural Shampoo, which smells beautiful to say the least.  You don’t need much to give your hair a real good wash, and after you rinse it out you can actually feel that your hair has had a good old clean!  The mint leaves your scalp feeling tingly and fresh, which I have never experienced before from any old product off the shelf.  In terms of value for money, I think I’m only about a half way through a bottle, which when you consider the size of the product and the two weeks that I’ve used it for – it isn’t really bad at all.  It’s since become my new favourite shower product.. EVER.

In terms of shower gels and washes, I’m left with a plain old shower emollient which was prescribed to me by my doctor at the beginning of the month.  Dermol 200 moisturises the skin whilst it’s being washed, and traps in the moisture when you’re drying yourself down afterwards.  This helps to prevent the skin from drying out completely, and ensures that your skin is getting the protection that it needs from there on after. 

I’ve also been applying the 100% Pure Organic Cold Pressed Coconut Virgin Oil to my face on a daily basis to prevent my skin from drying out throughout the day.  I bought the oil from Naissance for £2.79 for 100ml – which is a complete bargain when you consider the good it does for your skin.  I’ve been applying just a little oil to my face, both day and night for the past month now – and the results that I have seen have been amazing!  My face feels soft, it looks fresh and most importantly it is clear and healthy!  I’ve not had any major breakouts since I switched to the coconut oil, and I can honestly say that my skin has never felt so hydrated!  I’ve still got about a third of the tube left, which will do me another month at least, however I will be quick to stock up when I start to run low.  Eczema or not, I really couldn’t recommend this product more even if I tried.  It feels so good knowing that I’m using a completely organic moisturiser on my skin – and the results really do speak for themselves.

It’s still early days yet, but I’m hoping that by swapping my usual everyday essentials to the natural ones – that my skin will begin to restore itself overtime and my breakouts will become a thing of the past… wishful thinking I’m sure!

I’ll keep you guys posted on any changes throughout the next couple of weeks, and hopefully I’ll have some good news in terms of the vitamins and if they’ve done anything for my skin!

When Things Are About To Get Nasty

I can always tell when my skin is about to take a really random turn for the worst.  My right hand breaks out in these tiny little blister-like spots around the knuckles, and my fingers become unbearably itchy to the point where I usually break the skin around the creases.  My hand proceeds to become an unsightly shade of red, followed by the backs of my wrists joining in on the itch fest.  Usually by this point, if I have no steroid cream available, there is nothing that I can do about it, other than to lather the irritated areas up in copious amounts of cream and hope for the best.

I've thought long and hard about the products that I use on my skin as of late, and I can’t seem to come to any understanding as to what could possibly be causing the skin on my right hand to flare up, yet leave my left hand perfectly fine.  However I have since noticed that my flare ups do tend to be a hell of a lot worse on my right arm and leg compared to my left… I just don’t understand why!

One Dr that I visited earlier on in the year did make comment on the weird situation with my hands, because I am in fact right handed, he believed to think that I must be using something or dealing with something on a regular basis that my left hand has little contact with, hence the drastic difference in the two!  However I have since shot down that theory, after having read that it is not uncommon for people’s symptoms to be worse on one side of their body compared to the other.  The Dr did leave me wondering though…

Since then, I have been looking into the various types of remedies that can help ease the symptoms of eczema.  Of course, I’m not going to get my hopes up over any of the following, as each person’s skin is completely different from the next, and something that my act as a relief to one person may be the same something that causes the next person to become completely miserable.

I bought 100% pure organic, cold pressed coconut virgin oil from Amazon about 2 weeks ago after reading online that it is one of the purest and most effective remedies for eczema.  I read many good things about the product, how it cleared the affected areas of skin of eczema for good, how it completely changed the users life, how good it was in terms of value for money etc.  However, although I do completely love the product in terms of its texture, its smell and how far such a small amount goes in terms of actually helping my eczema, I’m not convinced it’s for me.  The product DID make my un-irritated skin ridiculously soft after as little as five applications, but it actually caused more harm to my eczema than good.  I’ve continued to use the product as a face moisturiser at night opposed to a night time serum, however I’ve tried to keep the coconut oil as far away from my eczema as possible.

Today I went out and purchased some vitamins which may or may not be essential to tackling bad cases of eczema over time.  To start off with, I’m trying out vitamin C, Vitamin D and Evening Primrose oil – one of each a day.  I’ve read some forums online that indicate that there is no evidence to prove that any of the above will have any impact on my skin – however I’ve also read that there has been many successful cases after increasing their daily intakes of vitamins… So I guess I’ll just have to try for myself.  I’ll stick it out for 30 days (when my evening primrose oil is all gone) and hopefully I’ll be able to comment on what kind of benefits I’ve seen from taking the 3!

In regards to my last post, my skin has stayed much in the same over the week.  I’ve been applying the Cetraben cream throughout the day to keep my skin moisturised, and I’ve also been applying the Bentnovate RD cream (steroid) to the most irritated areas of skin – my forearms and the back of my thighs mostly.  The itching seems to be at its worst in the evening – I assume because my morning antihistamine is wearing off – and so I’ve found that by using the steroid cream at night has helped to ease the problem.  However this will be a short term solution, as I am running short of the Bentnovate, again.

(I do apologise for these nasty images... as you can tell I am no photographer!)

Right now, I'm in the process of trying to switch my daily necessities to ones that are free from SLS, so I will be able to fill you in on how successful/unsuccessful that has been later on in the week!