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.