I took this picture nearly two weeks ago, when I felt like I was at a beauty cross roads. How should I treat my skin? Should I zap it hard and fast with the latest advanced results cosmetics, or should I be more gentle and try to make as little impact as possible?
Recently I'd been choosing to take baths instead of showers, as I found them very beneficial in starting my day in a relaxed way. I also found that my hair wasn't gettting as greasy as usual. I'd just got into using Lush products and other various bubble baths, crystals, soaps and shower gels in the bath and I was enjoying the experimentation.
However, for someone who sufferes from sensitive skin with eczema, I wasn't watching my skin closely enough it seemed...
I'd recently purchased the Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation, which I'd been wearing every day since as I was so made up with it, though it appeared that it had broken me out in a lot of spots. After a week of use, I was sure that it wasn't a coincidence, as I had broken out on my neck where I had been taking down traces of the foundation to blend seamlessly, and I rarely get spots there. After posting my concerns on Specktra, some users advised that I probably wasn't taking my make-up off properly. As soon as I read that I knew that was the case: I couldn't be lazy and rely on make-up wipes and a few swipes of toner with a cotton wool pad anymore. So I was covered in painful spots, not a great feeling, but little did I realise my skin was about to get a whole lot worse.
In my last Manchester haul I showed the Lush products I'd treated myself to, including a Floating Island Bath Melt and a Tender is the Night Massage Bar. I was feeling pretty raw what with my sore face, so I settled into a hot bath with the bath melt and then I used the massage bar afterwards. I remember thinking how painful the skin on my back felt, so I applied some more product there and thought nothing more of it.
The next day I did the same and by the end of the day I felt as if my skin had been scratched by a tiger :( So the next day I set off into Manchester desperate for some relief! I was planning on going into Lush to see what gentle lotions they had, though on passing by Boots on Market Street, I saw that Clinique had a Bonus Offer on. I remembered they had just come out with a new spot treatment, so I decided I was going to go extreme and zap my spots with a shock harsh treatment! I picked up the Anti-blemish Solutions 3 Step System at £25, which includes:
- Cleansing Foam 50ml
- Clarifying Lotion 100ml
- All-over Clearing Treatment 30ml
By the time I got to Lush, I was £45 lighter from the Clinique splurge. I picked up a Sakura bath bomb and browsed the skincare closely. I asked an assistant for some help, describing how painful my eczema felt as well as the trouble I was having applying pretty much anything to my face at the moment. She was very helpful and recommended several gentle products for me and demonstrated their uses and benefits on the back of my hand. She said I could pretty much use anything in the store without any trouble, save for anything containing lemon or lemongrass, as that would be too acidic for my skin. No more Dragon's Egss for me then :/
Of course Lush has a natural approach, so when the assistant was talking about not using make-up wipes and avoiding harsh chemicals, I gulped as I clutched my plastic bag filled with Clinique. I like the natural philosophy, but I was desperate and needed results now. She depotted several samples for me:
- Dream Cream Body Lotion
- Charity Pot Body Lotion
- Ultrabland Cleanser
- Celestial Moisturizer
I didn't know how I was going to fit the Clinique 3 Step System into my existing morning and night rituals. I liked using my Decleor oils, but it was clear that they weren't the best fit for my skin woes. I concluded the only thing for it was to commit to the System morning and night until the acne had cleared. By the second day of using the system, I woke to oil free skin, I couldn't believe it! It took less than 5 days for the acne to clear. By 6 days, I was starting to wince at the thought of using the stuff though, as my face was beginning to feel tight at night, so I started to switch in different day or night creams as I felt appropiate. I was going to push using it for two weeks, though the clarifying lotion that I was using twice a day was burning the skin on my fingers it was that strong! Now I'm using the different products as I like, but if my acne acts up again, I'll revert back to the 3 steps again for sure.
It wasn't until a few days after my Lush and Clinique haul that I realised just how bad the eczema on my body had got. Save for my lower legs and face, I was completely covered in a raised red rash, painful to the touch of even my clothes. It was a severe allergic reaction. My Mum suggested it was probably down to all the products I'd been using in my baths recently. I had to agree, the rash even went up to my neck, like where the water would reach if I was soaking in a bath. I was beyond even steroid lotion relief, so I was given a strong steroid cream by my GP and told to take anti-histamines.
It was Sod's Law: I tried to take care and pamper myself and it ended up backfiring! A week on and the eczema is clearing well. It reminded me how careful I need to be with my skin and it made me think about what choices I'd like to make moving forward.
I can't say with certainty that it was a specific Lush product that gave me the reaction, or a combination of a few, as it could have just been a culmination of the stress my skin obviously felt. I've been looking at a lot of natural beauty and organic blogs and videos since. Although I wouldn't be prepered to limit myself and be a martyr to natural beauty only, I'm finding some of the points about conventional beauty products to be very interesting. The most surprising thing for me was my ignorance about essential oils: I'd always considered them to be 'good' for you, so I'd have never considered them to be a possible irritant. An overload of essential oils could have very well contributed to my allergic reaction.
At the moment, I'm exploring my taste for differnt make-up looks, though it seems that the 'natural' look is an enduring favourite of mine. The products I reach for most often tend to be multi-taskers, like highlighters or cream products. Hence I'm interested in exploring rms beauty further, which is a raw beauty line.
Skin and body care wise, I'd like to simplify my routines and products, though I suspect it will take me a while to break my preference for 'smellies'. Lessons have been learned though, hopefully!
- Kerry :)
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