I thought I had developed an OCD for lip balm. I actually get worried if I leave the house without any, as my lips get so dry & painful. Then I saw someone else on here post that they can't put it down, which has made me feel more normal. Thank you !!
The thing I don't get is that I have painful dry, itchy hands (only the backs though), lips that crack & feet that are cracked & look really gross, but acne & greasy skin on my face. How is that fair!!
I did however just find a new soap for the bathroom that helps my hands, so now they don't have the old, thin wrinkly look & just get itchy & dry. I found a soap without any SLS in it (ts what makes soaps lather, but can be drying & trigger eczema in some people).
I guess this is just a rant really about my crappy skin, but I am also wondering if anyone else has this issue, & what they do about it??
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bob1kat
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I have to use lip balm every day. I have extremely sensitive skin, Dove beauty bar I use for face and body as bubble baths and shower gels etc give me thrush and cystitis type sensitivity. I have a dozen hand creams on the go all over the house. I have bought cheap to dear and this cheap and cheerful one is by far the best. superdrug.com/Superdrug/Sup...
I just to buy dove as well, then I saw a documentary (cant remember which one) that explained the link between SLS in soaps & hand issues. I picked up a new soap in waitrose (the only supermarket I could find one) for £4 that was SLS free & my hand symptoms have improved. I figured it was worth a shot & really glad I tried it.
I have sooooo many lip balms its become a running joke. My partner even keeps on in his jacket if we go out. lol
p.s. thanks for the link - I pick some up when I'm in superdrug.
Try to buy and use non-petroleum based lip balm if possible.
Petroleum products work by placing a barrier across the skin there as other oils while they also make a barrier allow some water across them. You need to water to keep your skin moist.
My brother in law is a beekeeper and he makes pure beeswax lip stix. But I have hardly used it since I switched to low carb/high fat diet.
I never use shampoo, I wash my hair with silicone free conditioner and lots of rubbing. Occasionally I'll do a sugar scrub, adding brown sugar to my conditioner.
Some recent research has shown that hand hygiene is almost entirely due to the rubbing/scrubbing action, and that soap does very little. So I only ever use soap if I have something greasy on my hands. I buy Aleppo soap, which is olive oil and traditional ingredients, no SLS or other nasties. In the shower I use a body scrubber thing - like a giant pan scourer but gentler, obviously and again no soap.
I've been doing this for over a year and my skin and hair are hugely improved. And no-one has complained that I smell (I did ask my nearest and dearest who looked confused!).
Well it may sound it, but I guess I wasn't that happy with the results I had before. I itched constantly, had dry frizzy hair.
Its only drastic in comparison to the norm, and that has never really motivated me. My back still itches a bit (old lady skin) but basically I feel and look heaps better. What is so drastic about that?
OK, if I stand back dispassionately I buy my thyroid NDT on the internet because I feel my doctor is selling me short. I eat exactly the opposite of what our delightful, commerce led government recommends, and I stay clean without soap. Maybe a teensy bit unconventional.
No shampoo means no shampoo. I use a cheap silicone free conditioner, currently Tresemme (un)Done , for cleansing. Shove lots on, and scrub the scalp for about 5 minutes. Then rinse. Then I use some special detangling stuff (Kinky Curly Knot Today) and no comb, just fingers till its clear of knots and leave it in. As a leave in I use Yes To Carrots Pampering on top of the KCKT. Its amazing how much conditioner curly hair needs!
No hairdryer, just blot off the excess moisture and leave to air dry.
There's a book by Lorraine Massey called the Curly Girl Method, comes with a DVD so you can see how to do it. And a facebook page called Curly Girl Conditioner Only for Women.
Does it make your hair feel weird when you first stop using shampoo?
Would any conditioner work, or should I pick up something that's designed for use alone?
Currently I have to condition twice with two different types just to get my hair to unclump after washing. Then I use three different post conditioner products to get a comb through my hair. I would love to have things get a little easier.
No my hair felt fine from the start, and began to look fantastic within a week or two. And I hadn't sorted out the best products for my hair at that point.
The basic problem is silicones in your conditioner. They build up and then the only way to get them out is to use sulphate shampoos which are really drying. So then you use more silicone conditioner and the vicious cycle builds up.
So you start with a last wash to remove residual silicones. I used washing up liquid but any sulphate shampoo free of silicones will do.
Then you condition. If your hair is prone to matting then the KCKT is really worth the trouble of buying it (On Amazon) and you only need a little bit, on really wet hair. To start with it is going to take time and patience to get the tangles out but resist the temptation to put a comb through because it breaks the hair. In time its the work of a few moments. And obviously you also need to experiment with different products to see what suits your hair.
For me it has so been worth the effort (and expense!) of working out what works, and my hair looks fantastic nowadays.
Dry heels use Flexitol, fantastic stuff and keep using after problem solved say once/twice a week flexitol.co.uk
Dove works for me because I can't have perfume, aloe, lanolin, oils, coconut, honey or scrubbing products. There are more! If I react to a product it means red raw skin and a migraine! I can only use one men's deodorant on the market so I'm stuffed if it gets discontinued as women's ranges are too highly perfumed and anything with aloe makes me look like I've been in a fire! I can't use until the end of the canister either as the gas gives me a terrible migraine. I might have to look at those deodorant rocks.
I must admit I still use shower gel. But since working out my SLS sensitivity I'm gonna have to rethink all my shower & hair products as well. Honestly don't even know where to start. (sigh)
I use lipsalve at night and lipstick during the day. In the house I can wear all the brighter shades that I wouldn't dare use outside. If I don't wear anything on them I will start biting my lips because they FEEL dry. Wearing lipstick stops me doing that.
I recently bought a stick of Burts Bees lipsalve, but quite honestly I'll be very glad when I've finished it because it makes my skin itch if I should take any over my lip line by mistake.
I could never go out without my eyes and lips done even though it's getting harder to focus on doing my eyes. Lol
I turned 70 in February and to celebrate I got a dragonfly tattoo on my wrist. That was done a few days ago, I'm so pleased with it.
(On my 80th I have a fancy to do a wing walk, a few years ago at an air show watching the Utterly Butterly wing walkers on their yellow plane was fascinating).
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