I have been talking a lot lately about dry skin and let me tell you, I just about feel like the authority. Ever since I was a kid, I have always had eczema. When I was younger, I had it awful. It was all over my hands and that was the only place, but it was SEVERE. I used to sleep with socks on my hands and vaseline covering them until it just wouldn't go away so my dad took me to the doctor and I got something prescribed. For what seems like all through my teenage years, I didn't get it as bad and only through the winters. Because I hated going and getting something prescribed, I tried to always just use lotion on my hands or vaseline but it never did the trick as well as a prescription of course. For the past couple of years of my 20's I have had it a small amount during the winter just like during my teen years, but this winter it has been the worst it has ever been in my entire life.
I'm sure if you have previously read my posts, you will see that I wrote about a cleanser that burned my eyes. That ended up not being the case. What happened was, I got eczema on my face this year. I don't necessarily know if it had transferred onto my face from my hands, because normally it isn't a 'contact dermatitis' type condition, I think that it definitely just has developed onto my face. This has never happened before and it was BRUTAL all winter long. I have also noticed that if I was to fall asleep without removing makeup (bad anyway), the eczema will flare up even worse.
I am not brave enough yet to share pictures with you of what my eyes look like when they are swollen and red, so I won't do that, but maybe eventually. You may also remember last Monday when I wrote about going to the eye doctor. At that visit, she gave me a new, more 'allergy-friendly' contact solution which seems to actually have helped the situation and that makes me a little happier as well.
Moving into some products to help combat dry skin. Let me start by saying that First Aid Beauty literally is exactly what it says: First Aid. I was using Aveeno for a while which was working fine, but when I started to get the dry skin and eczema on my face, it was all of a sudden not working for me. Perhaps come warmer weather I can start using it again but I have to be honest and say that I probably won't do that again because I have fallen in love with First Aid Beauty. I plan to do a full post about their products because I have just yesterday purchased two more things from the line that I want to try out before I write more and comment.
Neosporin has never been anything special to me. I mean, when do you ever use Neosporin for anything other than cuts and scrapes when you were a kid right? Well, now there is another reason. I was walking down the Cortizone aisle at Target looking for their version of Eczema-specialized cream when I saw the Neosporin one instead. I saw that on the packaging it said 'Eczema Essentials' and I felt like it was a match made in heaven. This is ridiculous but when you have eczema, it's the little things. This stuff is MAGIC. Nothing has helped me the way this has. Not only does it ease the pain of the condition, but it moisturizes with irritation and improves your skin LEAPS and BOUNDS.
Cortizone is in here because I figured I would mention that it's the only thing that works on my face. The Neosporin cannot be put near your eyes, so I have the Cortizone for that. I actually consulted my doctor and she said that Cortizone is fine to put near the eyes so I trusted her and it helps so much. Not only does it reduce the swelling, but it calms the skin and slowly takes away the redness. It does sting extremely horribly when you apply it I must say, but the momentary pain is 5000% worth it in the end. I would definitely recommend Cortizone 10 Intensive Healing Formula, it's safe for the face.
Just a quick statement on the products that I have tried by them though: they are amazing. These products are very tolerant to sensitive skin. The reason why I picked them up is because I heard about them online. I knew that if the brand was called 'First Aid Beauty,' there had to be a reason. When I went and checked the brand out in Sephora, I saw most of it said 'Safe for sensitive skin' or 'dermatologically tested' and instantly I was so happy. I started with just the moisturizer, then I bought the cleanser and then I bought the redness serum and I am obsessed. More to come about them later but for now you shall know that they are eczema friendly products and that makes me happy.
I picked up Mario Badescu 'Hydrating Hand Cream' while I was at Blue Mercury not too long ago and as you can see, I have torn halfway through it. I love this stuff because the scent isn't too bad, which I will talk about with the next product. This doesn't irritate your hands and it hydrates very nicely. I really like the application and I feel like a little bit goes a long way. I think the peppermint element calms and soothes your hands so that makes me the happiest when I know I don't have to worry about something smelling great irritating my hands. This is definitely great to have at my desk at work and another one in my purse or car for on the go. Thank you Mario!
This is my last and final product to talk about. I LOVE this stuff, it's called 'Dream Cream' by Lush. Although now I have found the Neosporin, this was what I first purchased and it made such a huge difference. I immediately got results when I put this on my hand because of the calamine elements woven within the lotion. The one bad thing I have to say about this though is that the smell is terrible. I used to have this in my desk at work because it worked so well but it wasn't user-friendly and it did NOT smell good, so I switched to the Mario Badescu, but I switched right back because this one made a better impact and difference on my skin. Thank you Lush!
Overall, I am so happy that I have found these products as they have made my eczema suffering suck a LOT less. Although there really is no way to make eczema go away if you don't go to the doctor, these products have made the winter a little more tolerable. I am going to get back under the covers of my couch and get ready to watch the newly premiering 'Crisis' tonight, you guys stay here! Send me a tweet and let me know if I'm missing anything. Talk to you soon and thank you for reading!
