Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub

This super scrub will leave your skin feeling fresh and moisturised in a few simple steps… enjoy!

You will need:

1 cup of coconut oil – or however much you want, if kept in an air tight tub you can make a big batch and will keep for weeks!

2 table spoons of sugar – maybe three if you’re making more

1 teaspoon of vanilla – or any flavouring really.  This of course is optional

Place the oil in a bowl and place the bowl in a basin of hot water. This is to make the oil not liquefied but soft enough to mix the sugar through.

This takes approx. 3-5 minutes.

Add the sugar, and mix well until the two come together in a solidified state.  

This should only take a couple of minutes.  This is when you can add the vanilla.

Voilà!

Your scrub is now ready to be applied to the skin!

You are welcome : )

Sea Salt Body Scrub

So first of all, I would like to apologise to you all for my lack of posts these last few weeks.

I’ve been incredibly busy with college, I’ve had deadline after deadline to meet, right up until the end of the block!  Alongside this, I’ve been working as much as I can in order to pay for my car which failed its mot at the beginning of this month. L

I’ve also been very poorly with kidney stones, and was out of action for the best part of a week and a half.  I’m feeling a lot better now, however I am still waiting to hear back that everything inside me is all good and working normally again – so here is hoping all comes back well.

I’ve also had a bit more of a social life: gigs, gym, cinema... which is always nice when usually my only sort of fun would be a night time trip to Tesco to buy crap!  (I know, I’m wild)

I have however not forgotten about my poor wee neglected blog, and I have been trying out various different bits and pieces to see what my skin is taking to.

So for now, it’s the body scrub.

The plan originally was to create some sort of sea salt scrub, which would be safe to use on my face and body.  I started with about two tea spoons of sea salt, which I tried to break down in a bowl.  This stuff is really tough and so I knew it was going to be a challenge right from the start.  When I had successfully managed to crush down only about a third of the salt in the bowl, I gave up and added about three tea spoons of coconut oil.  I mixed the two together until it became a sort of lump in the middle of the bowl, then I set it aside for about an hour to allow it to set.  Then, I took it with me to the shower for a test run.

…do not try this at home kids.

It stings. 

Especially after a cheeky shave of the legs. 

It goes without saying that I aborted the mission there and then. 

Although this is probably a very simple thing to create, this particular experience has put me off for now and I have decided that I am going to leave the sea salt body scrubs to the people who know what they are doing.

My next challenge is going to be a sugar based facial scrub – which I will be sure to share with you ASAP.

Until then, this is farewell my friends.

Happy New Year!

So first of all, I want to say happy New Year to each and every one of you!  2014 was a fun and exciting year;

I passed my driving test first time round

I went to my first festival (Download) which I absolutely loved

I passed my first year of college with an A *proud moment*

Martin and I celebrated our first year anniversary in Edinburgh

And I got to celebrate my 20^th birthday on the same night as my little sisters 18^th :-)

I’m looking forward to another chilled out year full of fun, gigs, celebrations and laughter!  And who knows, maybe I’ll no longer be blogging about my eczema by the end of it..

On Wednesday I had my appointment with the skin specialist at my local GP.  As most of you will know I was super excited to be referred to her, because I believed that it would be the start of the end of this madness which is my skin condition!

She took a good look at my skin, it was hot and very red that day – so she wanted to see all of the affected areas, opposed to just my arms and neck.  She commented a lot about how angry it looked, and how she wanted to get it “under control” as quickly as possible. 

Her advice was to try out a new steroid ointment that I have not been prescribed before, she suggests that I apply it once a day for up to four weeks, then twice a week, then once, then only when required.  She informed me that it is important to stick to the regime, as when you suddenly stop using such a strong steroid, your skin doesn’t know what to do and goes into shock, which nine out of ten times is why the skin breaks out even worse the next time round!  So even why my skin looks as fresh as a daisy, I’ve still to apply just a little to the areas that flare up the most – in a bid to prevent it from happening later on.

My saviours for the next couple of weeks!  Aveeno cream is right up there with my favourites - the only shop bought cream that actually helps me!
Pictured: Cetraben Cream, Aveeno Oatmeal Cream, Organic Virgin Cold Pressed Coconut Oil, Elocon Ointment, Hydrocortisone Ointment and Atarax Antihistamines

My skin the day before the appointment...

My skin the day after, with just one day's use of the new ointment!

She also gave me plenty more antihistamines to help prevent me from hacking at my skin during the night, as well as giving me a weak steroid cream to use on my face to try and stop it looking so angry around my eyes.  I’m still been ditching the make-up, but I have since been advised that Holland and Barrett have a make-up range designed specifically for very sensitive skin – so I may be tempted to test it out in the next couple of weeks.  Watch this space…

All in all, I was a little disappointed with my visit. I’m not exactly sure why, but I had expected something other than just a new ointment.  I guess I had just hoped that I would have been asked more about what I had tried, what had worked for me in the past and what I would be willing to try in the future – rather than just being told for the hundredth time that eczema is not curable just manageable, and that stress will play a part in aggravating my skin from time to time, and that it’s something I’ll just have to deal with. 

I know it can be curable, I’ve read plenty about people who have overcome their struggles with it – be it by changing their lifestyle, their diets or their daily necessities – they did it!  So hopefully, with a little bit of patience, this year will be the year that I overcome it to J

I’m hoping that these ointments will do what the Doctor suggested and bring my skin back to a manageable condition, however I am keen to try other solutions to help control the situation.

I’ll keep you all posted on the success of my new prescriptions over the next couple of weeks, but until then, I hope you all enjoy the start of 2015!