Products used!

Here are the things I am using right now: 

Moisturel Therapeutic Lotion amazon link

Bragg organic apple cider vinegar from amazon

I bought it at Sprouts but I think the brand should not be hard to find. I believe the only requirement is that it be organic (so it's not as opaque as the non-organic). Although I have to say that the non organic kind worked just fine for me. 

She Butter Hand Creme L'Occitane

I can not say enough good things about this wonderful cream. The problem? It does not really help during flare-ups. I'm still going to keep it around and recommend it to friends, I just have to find something else for these bad times. 

Nivea creme amazon

This one is very inexpensive and last time that I had a bad flare-up worked well. You can also find it at Target and Walmart, which is a huge plus. It leaves my hand feeling soft and smooth. I did not keep using it after I originally ran out because I did not like some of the ingredients and was hoping to find one that had less harsh things but alas...

100% Pure honey buttercream Here it is from Dermstore

I bought mine at Ulta but I'm pretty sure Target carries the brand. As an awesome bonus it is crielty free and vegetarian. I've only used it twice since buying it today but I do have high hopes for it. 

The next couple I have tried in the past but have not been good enough to repurchase: 

Eucerin Intensive Repair from amazon

I love Eucerin and only stopped using their body lotion because of the parabens and my serach for more natural less harsh ingredients. The hand cream was ok and it probably works great for most lucky people without eczema but I had to keep searching. 

Aveda hand relief from Aveda- travel size

I got this one as a free sample and decided to try it. I love the Aveda Be Curly line for hair but this hand lotion did not work at all. I like the way in smells and I am sure it is great for a lot of people but it irritated my skin. I keep getting free samples of it and I take them because I never refuse something that's free but I should probably start giving them away to friends and family :) 

Thant's all for hands. I just have a couple of more soaps to try before before I can pick a favorite, although I am pretty sure I know what it will be. That journey, while still in progress has already been more successful. 

Lots of love and itch relief! 

~Cynthia   

Again...

I'm going through a horrible flare-up. So bad that even the steroid cream is not working. I've decided to not use the cream at all. Right now I'm taking Zyrtec and Bragg organic apple cider vinegar. To make things worse it's been really hot this week in Souther California. 

For the part month and a half I've been super careful with my hands. I use gloves to wash dishes and clean. My bedsheets get washed at least once, sometimes twice a week. I carry hand lotion with me everywhere and use it every chance I get. As much as I love hand cream from L'Occitane it might not be helping at all. In the past I've noticed that Nivea Creme has helped so I went out and bought some today. I also bought the 100% pure honey almond hand buttercream. So my search for the right hand cream continues... I just hope that I can control things in the next couple of weeks before I go on a trip abroad. 

On the other hand (no pun intended) the eczema on my legs appears to be under control. I still prefer the Body Shop body butter for moisturizing but I have been using Moisturel Theraputic Lotion and it is quite wonderful. I put in on right after the shower and it absorbs quickly without being sticky or feeling weird. It has no smell and it keeps my legs moisturized even if I forget to reapply it. 

Hopefully my hand will be under control soon. 

Eczema Hell

After two weeks of really horrible hand eczema, my right hand middle finger got so bad that it hurt and woke me up in the middle of the night. Even in my dreams I was scratching my hand and searching for eczema relief. The Apple cider vinegar was giving me some relief and did eliminate the mild eczema but I finally had to give in and use the steroid cream. Two days after starting the steroid cream I was able to sleep through the night and while my skin looks flaky and super dry the blisters are disappearing. This is what my finger looks like today:

There are a few things that are probably to blame for the bad flare-up. I am a graduate student currently working on a dissertation so stress is a constant. In addition, a week ago I cleaned the vacuum filter, and cleaned and dusted my entire apartment without using gloves. I am very clean and organized but I do clean everything once a week. In the part I have not noticed a correlation between cleaning and eczema flare-ups but in this instance I think the cleaning, especially the dust exacerbated the eczema.

A couple of days ago, I was going crazy and just waned to rip the skin from my hand. It’s an awful feeling and I am so glad that it’s finally getting better. I know that I have to be careful with the prescribes steroid creme but I am SO happy to have it, it really saved my week. 

From now on, I am going to stop using the steroid cream and focus on moisturizing. I’ve been trying several different hand lotions. Including: The Body Shop’s Almond Hand and Nail Butter, Aveda Hand relief, Eucerin’s Intensive Repair, Nivea crème, and L’Occitane en Provence’s Dry Shea Butter Skin Hand Cream. I am trying each one more at least a couple of weeks and I will post full reviews once I am done trying them all. In the past I have used Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Crème and Boots Expert Sensitive Moisture Boots Hand Cream. The Boots Expert worked great but Target always seemed to be out of it so I decided to try something new. So far I have to say that I really enjoy some of the creams but L’Occitane and Nivea are my current favorites and at the moment I am using Nivea crème. 

Hopefully, my right hand will be back to normal soon!

Summer hopes and vinegar

I live in California and I hate to gloat but it’s basically summer here. As an “eczema sufferer” this means my eczema is about to get worse. It gets worse in part because of sweat and clothes that don’t let certain areas air out. For me it also means small bubble like blisters in my hands. I hate them because they itch like hell and it makes shaking hands embarrassing. I get them during the winter but they are worse and more constant during the summer. During this time I usually use my steroid cream like crazy but even that only helps so much because I try to not over use it, plus almost as soon as it disappears it comes back. The other thing that makes my eczema worse in the summer is shaving. I want to wear shorts and skirts more often, this requires shaving and the constant shaving irritates my legs and the eczema leaves them supper itchy and red.

I am not sure that I will ever be able to avoid all of this but I’ve been doing some research into what things help other people. I know to keep my hands washed and moisturized but I recently read that apple cider vinegar has helped some people so I decided to try it. Here is my experience:

The first time that I tried it I dabbed toilet paper into the vinegar and placed it on my finger for 10 minutes. There was an immediate relief of the itching and the next morning there was some reduction in the size of the blisters. The next night I left the apple cider vinegar soaked toilet paper on my finger and part of my hand for 30 minutes and two days later those blisters had almost disappeared. I stopped using the vinegar and focused on moisturizing my hand. A couple of days later new blisters appeared in a different part and I’ve been using the steroid cream for comparison. Unfortunately, it has been really hot and it’s been impossible to keep things under control so I’m trying out the vinegar again.

I am not sure if my early success with the apple cider vinegar was just a placebo effect or if it’s really going to help but I am hopeful that this will make my summer more enjoyable, even if my hands will be a bit smelly :) I also plan on doing more research and will post updates. 

Have a great day!

Soaps

I am not sure if most people put very much thought into their soap purchases. I know I never did. Even after I found out about my eczema, what soap to buy did not rank high on my priority list. The first dermatologist  I went to, told me that I could not use any scented soaps and to stick to plain ones. I think he gave me a list which included Dove and so up until a month ago I've been using Dove for sensitive skin.

About a month and a half a go I was talking to friends about skin care and they were shocked that I was using Dove. Apparently is has some of the worst chemicals ever. That conversation got me thinking about soaps and about trying different types. My current dermatologist had given me a few samples that I never used and so I started with those. The first I tried was Vanicream. I only used it for a couple of weeks but it was good while it lasted and I will probably go back to it at some point.

For the last two weeks I have been using Sebamed cleansing bar. It is made in Germany and cost me something around $5 on amazon, which pricey but if I like it and order more the price is better. I am also thinking that if it really helps I am willing to pay a bit more than normal.

After two weeks of use, I think it is a good cleansing bar. Unfortunately I think I need a soap that moisturizes a bit more intensely.This one dries out my skin a little bit which would not be a problem on someone with normal skin, but I don't have normal skin. On the other had, I love the clean feeling I get when I use it. So far it has worked over all because on the intense body butter that I am using. If I can't find anything better then I will come back to it. The next one I'll try is a paraben-free all natural cleansing bar. More to come.

My new favorite thing

I just went to Sprouts and bought a bunch of cool new things. They were having a sale on all health and beauty products but I will write about those later This post is going to be about my new favorite thing: The Body Shop’s Aloe Body Butter.

I’ve stayed away from body butters because they usually come scented and perfume will really irritate my skin. However, three weeks ago I went into The Body Shop to explore and one of the sales women suggested that I try their Aloe Body Butter. This particular body butter is advertised as “hydration for sensitive skin,” and “with hand-cut community fair trade organic aloe vera from Guatemala.”

I like a lot of the Body Shop products because they are not tested on animals and they try to be an ethical company. I have some of their make-up, brushes, divine calm body lotion, and deep sleep pillow and body mist.

My routine usually starts with a hot shower, which is bad but I have not been able to give them up. Shaving really makes the eczema flare up but I live in California so I do it once or twice a week when it’s nice out and I want to wear shorts, skirt, or dress. When I get out of the shower I pat or air dry then I immediately moisturize. My go to moisturizers have been Aveeno and Eucerin but I got a bit tired of them and I’ve been trying different things.

The first time I tried the Aloe Body butter it felt super rich on my skin and my legs felt silky all night. That was great but the real test for a lotion is one or two days after shaving when hair is growing back and the eczema is trying to flare up. The body butter did not prevent any itching the first time but the itch did not become a full-fledged flare up, which was such a great win in my book. After a week and a half maybe two weeks I shaved again and this time there was very little itch at night and it went away when I took some allergy medicine and reapplied the body butter.

The one drawback is that the container does not last that long. I always apply a generous amount after my night shower and then in the morning again. This means I go through lotions and creams quickly. In the container that the body butter comes in, it lasts me about a month. Over all the Aloe Body Butter gets a solid A and I’ve already been back to the Body Shop and stocked up on it. 

Backstory

I've been living with eczema for a long time. As a young girl we though I was just allergic to grass but as I got older the bumps and redness on my legs kept getting worse and worse. We did not know what it was and the itching was just unbearable. I should have gone to the dermatologist earlier but my family did not have the money and a dermatologist seemed like too much of a luxury. I do remember talking to doctors about it and getting pills to help with the itch (I don't remember which).

As a result of the eczema and my constant scratching my legs looked horrible. As a result, I was always too embarrassed to wear shorts, skirts or dresses. Not being able to wear these things did affect my self esteem. It sucked to see girls looking cute in any of those clothes because I knew I could not.

The first time that I went to a dermatologist was about 7 years ago and he finally put a name to what I had and gave me a booklet with tons of information. He also game me steroid cream, which helped a lot! My eczema gets so severe that at times that the cream is the only thing that helps. However, the biggest help was being able to name what I have. This allowed me to research it and feel like I have some control. The dermatologist advised me that I could only use certain types of soaps and lotions and stressed the importance of moisturizing.

The next big breakthrough for me was meeting my current dermatologist. She advised me on better soaps and lotions, warned me about overusing the steroid cream-which which had caused discoloration behind my knees- and game me tips on dealing with the itch. Ever since then I have been researching how other people deal with their eczema and trying different products.

I am writing this bog to share my experience and and the different things that work for me. I am in the middle of picking a new body soap and trying new lotions and I want to share reviews as well as have  a place where I can keep track of everything that I am trying.

I have found that each person's experience with eczema is different and what works for me might not work for someone else.