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!

It's Getting Hot In Here

IT GOT ME.

I STOPPED TAKING VITAMIN C LAST WEEK AND I'VE BEEN SMOTHERED BY THE COLD.

I FEEL LIKE CRAP.

MY EAR HURTS.

AND I'M STILL ITCHY!

My skin is still red, I'm still uncomfortably itchy all the time and I'm still walking around make-up-less looking ill on a daily basis.

I read online a good while back about how some people find bathing in a salt water bath not only relaxing but soothing on the skin.  So me, wanting to believe every possible cure that I read about online in regard to eczema, I went and ordered some from Amazon for just £3.50! (50 p for the salt, £2.99 for delivery.) 

The 100% pure organic Dead Sea spa bath salts arrived just a couple of days after placing the order – which I was really happy with considering I didn't expect them till at least sometime after Christmas! 

I tested them out last night – and to be completely honest, I just wasn't feeling it.  The water stung for a little bit, mainly because I've been hacking at my skin in my sleep again – so I have a lot of cuts and scratches across my body.  When I got out of the bath (about an hour later) I felt uncomfortably dry – my skin felt tight and dried out, which meant that I had to apply more cream than normal.

I am going to give it another go though, maybe at the end of the week, just to be sure that it’s defiantly not going to benefit me. 

I've been using a lot more cream as of lately, purely because my skin is so dry and irritated.  Every time that I apply it to my skin, it absorbs really quickly and still feels really uncomfortable.  So because I've been using more than usual, I've been running out a lot quicker – which is not ideal when Christmas season is in peak and it would appear that my usual chemist comes to a standstill, (irritating isn't even the word.)

I've just over a week to wait until I have my appointment with the specialist, which I'm still really excited about.  Yesterday my skin was burning up to such an uncomfortable temperature – nothing that I tried, even an ice pack, helped to cool me down.  I think this means that it may be infected, which of course is not ideal, but it will emphasise to her that I have been suffering for some time now.

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas, and I’ll update you on my trip to the specialist next week! 

Ice pack at the ready 

I just can't seem to make it shift :(