Trialing Products

In the last few months I have been sent numerous products to trial in the hopes of helping my skin get better. I found that full moisturiser withdrawal doesn't work for me, but similarly too much moisturiser doesn't work either and so I've had to develop a happy medium. This however is no easy feat as my skin is perpetually changing. Some days it is much drier than others, other days it is red, blotchy and flaking. There's just no winning. I want to get away from paraben and synthetic products if possible to further aid my body's recovery and so have been open to receiving and trying out natural products.

With this in mind, I thought it would be good to share with you some of my own experiences with the products that have been sent to me. Remember what works for one does not always work for another, we are individual after all. I am in no way trying to sell any of these products, opinions are my own and I was sent these samples for free.

I'm an idiot for not keeping a daily log as I find some of these products hard to recall but I will endeavour to write honest reviews.


Purepotions

I was sent this product pretty much as soon as I had started withdrawal from topical steroids and was very excited to try it as I had seen the duo behind the company on BBC's program, Dragon's Den, and found their company intriguing. I was sent a full sized sample of their Skin Salvation Moisturising Ointment. However it took me months to actually get round to using it as I was worried about it making me worse if I was found to be allergic to any of the ingredients.

I tried out the ointment which comes as a salve. The smell is a bit overpowering but that's to be expected of a natural based product. I wasn't overly keen on the application as it is a lot less moiturising in comparison to the white soft paraffin I had been using beforehand, but I was using it on a daily basis. Looking back it's difficult to say if this product was working or not as for whatever reason I ceased using it... perhaps this is when I entered my moisturiser withdrawal? I forget now annoyingly but there are other eczema sufferers who swear by it. Perhaps after my current trial I will go back to using it...

Haughton Greene

Company, Haughton Greene sent me a 15ml tin of 'Lavender and Mandarin Sensitive Skin Balm' containing ingredients;  Triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil, Cera alba, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) fruit, Helianthus annus (sunflower) seed oil, Calendula officinalis flower extract, Lavandula angustifolia, Citrus nobilis peel oil. Due to the small amount of product I only applied it to a few areas. It was a joy to apply but I was unable to distinguish any difference in my skin.

I dare say this would work for others, but you'd need an awful lot of the stuff if you suffer with problematic skin all over.

Beeutiful Skincare


I was issused with a 15ml tin of 'Healing Balm' product from Beeutiful Skincare. It contained the ingredients; Organic Olive oil, Honey, Cocoa butter, Beeswax, St.John’s Wort in Sweet Almond Oil, Calendula, Vitamin E, Lavender, Tea Tree & consequently Geraniol, Linalool, Limonene. I applied this to my legs as it was only a small amount of product. If I were to use it on all of my problem areas I doubt I would have any left over from one day's use. I can report that it applied nicely and didn't cause any further irritation, however after a week's use I couldn't see any difference in my condition.


As above, it would probably work for others but not if you have as much bad skin as me.

Barefoot SOS

I was recently sent a product to try from Barefoot SOS from their Dry & Sensitive range named 'Daily Rich Body Lotion' which actually contains a much more complex range of ingredients than I was led to believe.

INGREDIENTS: Aqua (Water), Cetearyl Alcohol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glyceryl Stearate, Pentaerythrityl Distearate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Squalane, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Cetearyl Glucoside, Caprylyl Glycol, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Lactobacillus/Portulaca Oleracea Ferment Extract, Limonene*, Alcohol, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Allantoin, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Panthenol, Canola Oil, Stellaria Media Extract, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Linalool*, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Daucus Carota Sativa Seed Oil, Geraniol*, Daucus Carota Sativa Root Extract, Citral*, Citronellol*, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxycitronellal, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Beta-Carotene, Chlorphenesin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Butylene Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Citric Acid. *Naturally occurring within essential oils.

Perhaps this is why unsurprisingly this caused me further irritation and stung a lot when put on some of my more sensitive open areas.

They did however send me another product from the same range called 'Face and Body Rescue Cream', however this seems to contain similar ingredients. I am hesitant to use it, given the stinging that the other cream caused me but I will think on it.



Right now I am trialing Shaloah Skincare so I shall let you know how I get on with that.

Ciclosporin During Topical Steroid Withdrawal

I am truly overwhelmed with just how well received my blog is. Everyone I've spoken to or has commented has thanked me for making it... but thank you for reading it! Just overnight alone I've had 200 views! My blog views are growing by thousands week by week and it's just incredibly mind-blowing to see that people from all over the world are gaining some form of solace from my little piece of the internet. I feel like a proud parent :)

You're probably wondering how I've been faring this week? Well since starting the Ciclosporin for the 3rd time last Saturday I can confirm that it is indeed working! Hurrah!!! I still have some rashy and scabby areas but they are no where near as prominent as they were this time last week. I also had a really bad dehydration headache yesterday evening so that has probably contributed to the rash I have today that wasn't there yesterday but I have faith that it will disappear again just as quickly as it came.

It's also nice having that feeling where you can just physically feel your skin is improving. It's hard to put into words but you just know that it's getting better. Yay for Ciclosporin! Without it I doubt I'd be able to face the hard journey of withdrawal on my own.

I took a picture of my arm yesterday whilst waiting to start work to show a comparison of my arm from the week before. It's startling really, but shows with perseverance and the correct level of medication it can get better without steroid usage.

Last week

   

This Week

Hope everyone is having a good week xx

Friday May 31st

*Be warned that there are some potentially NSFW images in this post.*

So on Friday I went to hospital and ended up being there for 3 bloody hours!!! My appointment was at 10:40 but I wasn't seen until an hour and a half later. I then had to get my blood pressure done, go for bloods, a new prescription of Ciclosporin and produce a urine sample which my bladder didn't want to cooperate with. Because I was there for so long I was unable to have a shower before work, leaving me in a right old state. So as you can see by the images below, it was not pretty.

I suppose I should tell you what happened when I saw my derm. Well he told me he read a bit of the article I gave him on Red Skin Syndrome but didn't find it particularly credible - thanks bud! Luckily my derm nurse seems to find it intriguing enough to look into though, so I shall share these articles and blogs etc. with her. 

I've decided to give Ciclosporin a 3rd chance whilst I withdraw because there is no way I will be able to continue to go to work whilst flaring seeing as I'm finding it difficult enough at present with the state I'm in. I'm completely zapped of energy which isn't helped by the fact that I've had to go to work for 6 days in a row and won't get a break on my days off as they are filled with things that need to be done. Ugh. I need to relax. It takes so much effort to preen myself for a short shift at work and by the time I'm home I'm scratching myself to pieces. Really not nice.

Without further ado - here are the promised pictures. Don't be too freaked out by my near-nakedness.

(L-R) Body; Chest, tummy, arms; Tummy/ above underwear line

(L-R) Tummy; Back of knee; Breast; Arm

A truly grimacing sight. 

My belly is so ridiculously awful. It actually looks like an old woman's tummy due to the loss of elasticity. My poor skin.

I'm also pretty wound up today because some complete moron randomly reversed into my car whilst we were waiting at traffic lights. Luckily there's only minor damage but I'm still hacked off. I didn't have a straight thinking head, and even less so because I was dying for a shower so I didn't get his contact details for if anything does occur later on. I swear people just like to vandalise my car for the hell of it. Must have a retard magnet on it somewhere...

Eczema & Staying With Others

Having severe eczema can be really, really frustrating and tedious when divulging in social events. Strict routine is necessary in ensuring that your condition remains manageable so staying at someone else's place can certainly be a chaotic experience.

I've mentioned before on here that my morning routine literally takes me hours. On a good day I can probably decant my routine into around 2 hours or so, but on a bad day... well it can take me basically half the day!

I always find myself getting super frustrated when staying with other people because although they understand my condition, they don't necessarily understand exactly what it entails for me to get my skin preened to a comfortable state. For example, say we have to be ready to leave at 9am I would need to get up at 6am whilst the rest of the party wouldn't even contemplate getting out of bed until at LEAST 7am. However when there are a lot of you,  then they often spill over into your time and if you're not quick and fast thinking enough you can easily see yourself getting to the back of the queue which then causes more distress and panic because you know you won't be getting ready in time.

This weekend just past saw a similar state of affairs, though fortunately there were 2 bathrooms so no one struggled with time-keeping. I was slightly panicky that I was to spend the night in the living room/ kitchen area on an airbed because I knew people would want to use the space first thing in the morning for breakfast and such. With me needing to moisturise, which in itself is the most time consuming part of my routine, I wasn't sure what I would do as you can't exactly walk around in the nude in a house full of people. We came to the conclusion that I would book out the main bathroom for as long as it took me to get dressed and everyone else would fight over the other shower room.

Staying with friends in student places is the most difficult as you can't hog their bathroom but at the same time you don't really have any where else to go and carry out your routine.

I just find that eczema is such a demanding condition, turning people into selfish beings, because I know that if I didn't follow out my routine to a T I would be uncomfortable for the rest of the day and wouldn't feel like I could enjoy myself because the necessity to pander to my skins needs would be too much to bear.

I hate that it has so much control over my life in this way, but the only way to get it to a manageable state is to preen it to perfection so that it can get better and easier to control. Vicious circle. It also makes me feel so guilty that I do have to be selfish but rather that than getting unbearably ill.

Documenting My Skin 02/03/04 of March

Today I've woken up and my skin isn't so good. Yesterday I could feel my skin becoming tight and weepy when I got home from work but Shane's parents had driven him back from his Silverstone Half Marathon Race so we went out for a meal. Prior to leaving the house I took one of my Hydroxyzine antihistamines which can make you drowsy as hell. By the time we got in I zonked out on the couch for around 3 hours before dragging myself up to bed, somehow managing to take a photograph, and remaining asleep for a further 9 hours! Must have needed it.

Luckily I haven't been rota'd in for work tonight so I'll use today as a recovery day which I definitely need. I'm having to constantly moisturise after all.

                       2/3/2013 Morning                                          2/3/2013 Night

 

                   3/3/2013 Morning                                                3/3/2013 Night

4/3/2013 Morning

       I thought I would include a close up of my face this morning as it looked rather lovely and grim. Sorry that the pictures don't all match up and what not, I really can't be chewed today. Just need to relax and be kind to my skin!

Eczema and Beauty Products

Following on from my previous post I thought I'd talk about beauty luxuries that people without skin conditions take very much for granted. This was provoked by someone underlining some of the things they themselves have had to give up, and a lot of the things I, myself have never actually been able to use or very seldom use.

Make-up, perfumes, nice smelling beauty products including bath bombs, shower gel, bubble bath, shampoo/ conditioner etc. etc. are all things that people generally spend so much money on as a means to make themselves feel good. Most of the products listed are my body's idea of hell, especially if applied directly to the skin. In the past I have been able to get away with some brands of make-up and still use some of them now, providing it's just on the eyelashes/ eyebrow area but as I said in my previous post, my skin burns and weeps now if I try to apply some of the products I used to use. Perfume is another one I try to get away with as it just smells lovely. Instead of applying to the skin I will just spray it from a very close proximity onto my clothing.

The other things such as bubble baths, bath bombs, shower gels etc. are things I've pretty much never experienced because I know the effect they will have. Well, other than using "Matey" bubble bath as a small child but my mum realised it was pretty rotten to my skin so that ceased instantly. People used to find it weird when I said all I washed with was water but in truth that is all that was acceptable for my skin. Nowadays I will use Hydromol as an additive either slathered on in the shower or put into a bath as an aid to my drier than dry skin.

Shampoo and conditioner can also be a nightmare just to those with sensitive skin, so you can perhaps imagine just how bad they would be for an eczema sufferer, especially with added ingredients such as lanolin (also found in many other beauty products) which derives from sheep, a notorious allergen for sufferers. The only brands I've been able to use in my life are Vosene, L'Oreal and Pantene Pro V. The likes of Fructis and Head and Shoulders have had such an adverse affect that I would never contemplate using them again, even if the ingredients have probably changed within the last 15 years! Better to stick with the safe ones if you manage to find them!

It is frustrating also when someone who doesn't know you well buys you one of the above as a gift and for fear of being ungrateful you just have to accept it and give it to someone else. Nowadays if I have a Secret Santa or whatever I'll tell whoever is organising it to tell my Santa not to bother buying them. Better than having a wasted gift though isn't it?

I do sometimes see beautifully made-up people and wish I could have what they have. Nice skin, being the bottom line. So that I can wear make-up to enhance my features, smell nice and truly feel indulgent.  My idea of 'indulgence' is to lay in the bath tub with the shower on my feet and to just relax and smother myself in Hydromol, but this isn't really indulgence, rather than something I have to carry out every day just to cope and survive.

How do you indulge yourself?

Edit: I would only use different products if I was having a prolonged flare-free period, yet as it has been more than 6 months since my last 'clearer skin episode' I dare not use anything that could make my current situation worse. But thank you for your given suggestions, I may try them in the future! :)