Bridget Hart

Welcome back to the Eczema Diaries! I’ve had break from updating on my skin for awhile because i had a long period of good, clear skin. It was great! I had a hectic summer at festivals sweating, drinking and kicking up mud and dust but my skin was so well behaved! i enjoyed not having to physically stop myself from scratching and even though I knew, I knew it would be back, I thought maybe this might be it, it might be over.

The cold weather has swept the last warmth of summer away along with some other important things and my skin is really letting me know it’s not happy. In what seemed like overnight my skin erupted in dry, flakey patches and one night was so bad, I scratched my face in my sleep and woke up with a nasty scab on my cheek. This was a few days ago, my skin has fluctuated from being dry and mildly itchy to hot and sore. To people who complain about their chapped lips: shut up.

So for anyone else suffering the cold with extremely dry and irritated skin (or eczema) here’s some of my survival tips.

1. GREEN AVEENO IS MY BFF.

   

As someone who has constantly been in and out of veganism, I have tried really hard to find cruelty free products to use on my skin during flare ups and I have never, ever found anything that is affective. The issue with my atopic eczema is that oil makes it infinitely worse, and unfortunately oil is the main ingredient in a lot of ‘eczema miracle creams’. The only things that have successful subdued the itch are Aveeno (the green label) and Diprobase (an emollient that you can get at most supermarkets/pharmacies). After a while of using one or the other, I found it much better to combine the two into a pot, 50:50 ratio. The Diprobase is very thick and can feel a bit greasy whereas the Aveeno is more watery so the two mixed together, for me, creates a really good everyday cream. I’ve been doing this for about six months now and it’s really, really helped.  I take it everywhere with me at the moment, because, well, building a sweat hurts.

2. The Birth of Venus

This mask is the ONLY face mask that I can use from LUSH or anywhere else, short of making my own (which I will get to in a minute).  The Birth of Venus jelly mask is very soothing and cool on the skin and leaves it feeling refreshed and smooth. The main ingredients are lavender, chamomile and sea water. Sea water has proved to be pretty good for flakey outbreaks and although it has a touch of oil in the product, it doesn’t irritated my skin like the other face masks I’ve bought.

3. TURMERIC, ITCH

Everyone is sooooo into turmeric right now and to be honest I’m really into too. Turmeric is great in my porridge, in my curries, in my bedtime tea and on my face. I’m still using turmeric, oats and apple cider vinegar as a gentle scrub for my face. It feels nice afterwards, and doesn’t itch which is always a plus. I’ve started making up small pots of it now to keep in the fridge. Most of my shelf is skin products, coffee and vegan cheese….

4. Keeping the window open

This might seem really weird, and obviously you’re thinking ‘why would I? It’s fucking freezing!’ Well, a lot of my irritation comes from central heating and dust. It’s no coincidence that I get flare ups as the weather changes and the heating comes back on. At night I keep the window open while I asleep to circulate fresh air and to avoid stuffiness.

5. WOOL IS HORRIBLE (AND REALLY BAD FOR YOUR SKIN)

I am really guilty for buying new jumpers every autumn, but in the last couple of years I’ve been getting sweatshirts or hoodies, avoiding anything wooly, or scratchy, or knitted. This has massively reduced the itchiness around my neck, wrists and arms. So if you’re in the market for something warm, get cotton and breathable.

6. Keep your nails clean/ look after your health and skin.

I’ve mentioned this one a lot but it’s really important! Get some kind of cuticle stick or tooth pick or whatever you have at home and dig that dirt out from your fingernails! Every time you scratch or rub your eczema you’re effectively scratching or rubbing more dirt into the infection which could make it worse, or make it spread. Be careful! If you are a low maintenance person, never really bothered with skin health that much, eczema is different, and it requires you to make more effort to look after yourself and maintain cleanliness. It’s not vanity, it’s necessity.

So there’s some tips on how to cope as the weather changes, I hope this might help some of you! If not, keep experimenting! One day we will defeat eczema!