Category Archives: Skin

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Two months = a whole new me?

3. March header

On the 2nd April, I began a new way of eating. I’m deliberately not using the word diet. It comes with negative associations and is usually about weight loss. I’m not trying to lose anything. I’m trying to change my mindset, my habits and achieve a healthier body that’s more resilient to stress and the effects of stress, like eczema.

Because I’m serious about making a change, I told plenty of people (lesson #1 in how to follow through – tell everyone and make failure public and embarrassing!). So I figured I’d explain myself by answering the questions I’ve been asked. That way you can skip to the bit you’re most interested in…

You’re doing what now?

For two months, I’m cutting out all refined sugar. And I’m going to switch some of my old favourites for alternatives to achieve a more varied diet and some new ways of thinking. I eat a lot of bread and wheat-based carbs like pasta. Even if you go wholegrain, it’s still mostly sugar in a different form. So I’m going to try other grains like spelt, buckwheat, rye and quinoa instead, as well as eating a few more pulses like lentils and beans. I also drink a lot of cow’s milk, which I’m going to switch for goat, almond, oat or rice milk. I’m going to ENSURE that I’m eating 5+ portions of fruit and veg every day, with an emphasis on the veg. And I’m going to make sure I eat a homemade breakfast and lunch EVERY DAY.

I’m using two books as inspiration – James Duigan’s Clean and Lean Diet and Dale Pinnock (The Medicinal Chef)’s Clear Skin Cookbook as inspiration. They’re worth reading. Links below if you’re interested in finding out more.

Why now?

Because I’m toxically stressed and it’s time to start dealing with it positively. If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll know I’ve spent the last 18 months retraining, holding down a full-time job with hellish commute and trying to buy and sell a house in a recession. These are not stress-free experiences. Nor are they over. That sustained stress has had a pretty negative impact on my body. It’s made my eczema and seborrheic dermatitis the worst it’s ever been. It’s made me feel depressed and angry for sustained periods. It’s taken away my ability to rationalise my problems. I mean, who cries because they got stuck at a temporary traffic light?? Unstable, stressed people, that’s who. That stress isn’t going away any time soon and even moving house (please, please, please, please) and getting my new career plan back on track isn’t going to cure me of stress. It’s going to introduce a whole new range of stressful experiences that I haven’t anticipated yet. So I need to be more resilient to stress. I need to take better care of myself.

I’m also one of those ‘healthy’ people that because they know a lot about being healthy kid themselves that they manage it a lot more than they actually do. What I know and what I do are NOT THE SAME, no matter how much I kid myself. So it’s time to walk the walk.

4. April header

And I need to give thanks to two people who were my catalysts for change.

First, Gemma at Buff Beauty. I’d been thinking about making a bigger commitment to being healthy for ages. Then I read her post on the 14th March about breaking the habit. I love those moments when you’re feeling a certain way and someone comes along and puts your thoughts into words. Her post helped me realise that I’d been embedding some really bad habits, like rewarding myself for having battled another difficult day with sugar or a nice ‘easy’ – i.e. unhealthy – dinner. And I bought the James Duigan book she mentioned and discovered a way of thinking about food that really resonated with me.

http://buff-beauty.com/breaking-the-habit/ So thanks Gemma. I always get something positive from your lovely blog!

Secondly, my husband. The Man with the Camera. Because he’s agreed to do all of this with me. This is HUGE. There’s really little point changing my mindset if we end up with different ideas of normal and keep conflicting. It also means there won’t be sugary food in the house tempting me when I’m at my weakest. And it’s worth noting that he agreed to do all of this even after me pointing out that this would mean GIVING UP SUGAR IN HIS TEA. I nearly fell off my chair. I knew he was one of the good ones.

Why James Duigan and Dale Pinnock?

Because it’s not about faddy exclusions or the kind of menu planning that requires a university degree. With the exception of sugar, which I already know to be the food-devil in appealing packaging, nothing’s really out of bounds. It’s about sensible choices and appreciating the impact of the food you put in your body. I should point out, I’m not actually following the 14-day diet programme in James Duigan’s book – just the principles behind how you should eat.

Do you think you have food intolerances?

In a word, no. If I was intolerant to things like dairy (lactose) or wheat (gluten), I’d be seeing some hard-core digestive symptoms like bloating, indigestion, nausea or cramps. I believe my skin problems are stress-related; cortisol is the most harmful thing I (involuntarily) subject my body to on a daily basis.

But I do think I have the wrong attitude to ‘staple’ foods like cow’s milk or wheat-based products. According to James D, wheat contains a substance called phytates, which binds to minerals preventing them from being efficiently absorbed in the gut. If that’s happening, the amount of wheat I’m eating will definitely be stripping some of the vital minerals from my body and I need those minerals to keep my skin healthy. If I make the food I eat a bit purer, a bit more balanced, and a bit more varied then I expect to feel a bit healthier. That’s just common sense.

I have no intention of cutting out anything in the longer term. No, ‘I’m never eating wheat ever again’ because I don’t need to be that extreme and it makes me feel sad, which is a TERRIBLE way to start building a new mindset. Some people, including those suffering from the autoimmune condition coeliac disease, really do need to cut out gluten in all its forms. I don’t and I’m grateful for it. I think – to quote Elmo, who could probably tell me to do just about anything and I’d consider it – it’s about revisiting what I regard as my “sometimes foods”. If I eat wheat a couple of times a day, then it might start to have an effect on my overall health, particularly if it strips away some of my essential minerals. If I eat it occasionally, then it’s really not going to do any harm at all.

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What are you hoping to get out of this?

Healthy habits. That’s it. That’s the reason for the two month window. I reckon that’s long enough to find some new foods, develop a new mindset when shopping and learn how to cook some new things. After that, I won’t need to reach for the pasta after a long day because it’s the only easy option available to my frazzled brain. It will no longer BE the only option. I’ll have a new repertoire of healthier options that are just as easy.

Shouldn’t you try yoga (or similar) for the stress?

Yes absolutely. Yoga and meditation will certainly help and I intend to do both those things. But because I’m not eating properly, I can never find the energy. If I get the food bit right, I’m hoping to have the oomph and motivation to focus on all the other things that will help reduce the stress.

What happens after the two months are up?

Not much. In fact, the less significant that milestone is, the better. I don’t want to get to the ‘finish line’ gagging to go back to normal. I want to be able to easily maintain a healthier balanced diet because the way we’re shopping and eating by then will have BECOME the new normal.

We’ll bring back everything in moderation, including a bit of sugar every now and then I’m sure. We’ll just be starting from a totally new place and thinking in a new way.

Will you be writing about it?

Yes. I’ll try to check in weekly to update on how it’s going and foodie discoveries I make along the way. But if you’d be particularly interested in hearing about anything in particular, let me know.

If anyone out there has had experience of eating the James Duigan way or just mixing it up a bit in the kitchen, I’d love to hear from you. There’s strength in solidarity!

For now, I’m off to eat an apple. Instead of a bar of chocolate. It’s one choice at a time people…

James Duigan – the website (which is a bit more about the exercise programme than the food stuff) and the book

Dale Pinnock – the website, and the book

Photos © Natural Beauty Cabinet. Please do not reproduce without permission.

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Separating my eczema from my emotions

I feel like any prolonged absence from the site should come with some kind of explanation and so this post is my attempt to provide it, before normal service is resumed. This time the usual excuses about being busy, tired or just downright lazy don’t really apply.

I’ll explain.

Regular readers will know that I’ve spent the last year holding down a full-time job (complete with lengthy commute) while retraining in aromatherapy and holistic massage. That came complete with exams, practicals, essays, weekend classes and lots of reading and revision. On top of that I kept the blog going, I kept on top of the house (with a great deal of help from my husband) and I even saw friends and family on occasion. I was riding high. I was perhaps a little smug. I might have even thought inwardly that I was a bit superwomany. ‘Look at me doing it all. Aren’t I amazing?? Tomorrow I might get up at 4am and make biscuits before going for a run!’

In some respects, I was healthier than I’ve ever been. Holistic massage is hard work; way better than any gym membership. Spending all that time talking about lifestyle, stress, biology and health rubbed off on my own life. I ate quite well. I tried to get enough sleep. I made every effort to look after myself by getting lots of exercise. I needed to be well otherwise I wouldn’t get through it all.

My first round of exams finished and my eczema flared up badly. It was definitely a reaction to the stress and strain of the exam, and the previous months. Normally I would have taken a step back and let myself recover but instead I got really low. I did decide to have a rest, but unfortunately I took a break from being healthy too and stopped taking care of myself properly. After my second round of exams, the eczema became even worse. I suffer from atopic eczema. I’m lucky that it doesn’t crack or weep. But it can cover large areas of my body (at its worst my upper back, thighs, arms, chest, neck and lower legs) and it itches so badly that I’m often forced to choose between the itch and the stinging pain that comes after I’ve scratched it to pieces. Fellow eczema sufferers will be only too familiar with that blissful 10-second respite you get when you give in and just scratch until the skin breaks.

As well as the eczema, I get seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp. That flared up with a vengeance. Imagine fire ants all over your head. It’s like that. But with dandruff, which does wonders for the self-esteem. Seborrheic dermatitis can also affect the skin on your face, particularly in the oilier zones on the forehead and either side of the nose. So my face got inflamed and sore. I could cover up the skin on my body but I couldn’t cover up my angry, red face.

Now chronic skin conditions like eczema and seborrheic dermatitis aren’t life-threatening. But they do impact on your health. First they disrupt your sleep. Temperature fluctuations increase itchiness, so my nights became long balancing acts. Too hot and I’d wake up itching and be unable to get back to sleep. Too cold and I’d get goosebumps, which would trigger more itching. The less sleep I got, the more rundown I became. Colds, minor bugs, I was a happy home for them all. Mostly though, my skin affected my mood, becoming a depressing barometer of everything I was feeling.

Eventually, at near breaking point, I ended up in my GP’s office chasing prescriptions for steroids. And feeling like an utter failure. I was nearly a qualified holistic therapist. I wrote a blog about natural health and beauty. How could I possibly maintain any credibility if I used steroids? I managed to keep my eczema under control for long periods at a time. I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. The steroids worked brilliantly. Within days I was sleeping properly and my skin was loads better. But I was still so down on the steroids, angry at the fact that they were the only thing working and I failed to notice that, apart from a few token efforts, I wasn’t fixing any of the underlying problems.

The problem with negativity – that ‘why me??’ attitude – is that it’s endlessly self-supporting; it feeds quite happily on itself. I’d worked really hard for a long time but I’d ended up very unhealthy. I was doing overtime at work so I couldn’t carry on completing my treatments. I was stagnating, it was pointless. We’re trying to sell our house and after nearly a year we finally had a buyer. Then we didn’t. He pulled out, just after we made an offer on a great new place. My fresh start was gone again; my new career was on hold once more. It was all so unfair. I was so unlucky, nothing ever went right. Down and down.

At one of my lowest points, someone whose opinion I value said something that stuck in my head. She suggested that my emotions were being completely dictated by my circumstances, and that wasn’t a healthy place to be. I’ve been pondering on that for a little while and I realised that she’s right. As my skin got worse, I tied my emotions to the state of my eczema. A bad skin day meant a bad mood day. Then it got bigger. Anything going wrong at all meant a bad mood day. Losing our buyer triggered the biggest bad mood day of all. But of course I can’t control those things, in the same way as I’m realising I can’t always control my skin. It was pointless to tie my emotions to them. If you look for bad things, you’ll always find them. If your mood is dependent on there being no bad things ever, you’ll always feel low.

I’m normally a pretty upbeat, optimistic person but I lost sight of that a bit recently. I’m also a massive control freak, struggling to deal with the idea that I can’t always influence the big things. However, in the face of a lot of things I can’t control, I can control my emotions. I can control the way I react to those things. So I’m going to try and remember that. I’m sure I won’t succeed all the time. But it’s a start. And I feel a lot more positive about that than I have about a lot of things recently.

If you’re still reading, then thanks for sticking with it! I really don’t want this to be a dragging, depressing post – the fact I’m even writing it feels like a good step forward. So I’ll end with some things that might just help someone out there who’s also been using up all their precious energy hating their skin.

Don’t let your eczema rule your emotions.

Listen to your body; it’ll tell you if something isn’t quite right. And when it does, don’t ignore it.

Look out for your whole self. Sometimes you need to make a difficult decision in order to safeguard your health. If moderate use of steroids, under the supervision of a doctor, eases your symptoms so that your sleep, mood and overall health improve then they are the right choice. You will be much better off overall. I’ll always choose natural options to manage the health of my skin in the long-term. But when it flares up again, as I appreciate that it will, I will occasionally use steroids to avoid reaching the extremes I’ve managed recently. They can help to control the worst of the eczema, in order to buy me time (and precious sleep) so I can start fixing the imbalances that are causing the flare up in the first place.

Never make the mistake of thinking that eczema – or indeed any other chronic condition; I’ve spoken to IBS sufferers who’ve experienced many of the same emotions – is a failure on your part. It isn’t. How you handle it is a much truer measure.

Thanks again for reading and do come back for a few more posts this side of Christmas. I won’t make any crazy promises about posting everyday but I do have some great things to tell you about that are helping my poor long-suffering skin.

And in the meantime, I’ll continue trying to keep problems with my skin on the surface, where they belong.

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It’s detox month!

I decided a little while ago to give March a theme. And the theme is detox.

I don’t believe in post Christmas/New Year detoxes. January is a miserable enough month as it is. The pre-holiday dark and cold continues without the sparkle of Christmas, family and parties on the horizon to keep us going. There’s no point in punishing yourself for holiday excesses at the exact moment when you’re feeling a bit fragile and low. And why deprive yourself of warming, comforting food at the exact moment when your body (not to mention your soul!) needs a bit of nourishment?

Things look quite different by March. We’ve usually had a tiny hint of the warmth and sunshine to come. The world around us is picking up a bit, with tantalising hints of green and the magical emergence of snow drops, crocuses and even – I saw some the other day! – daffodils.

Things feel a bit more hopeful and a bit brighter. Hibernation is over and we’re all blinking and yawning as we emerge from our homes.

I usually eat reasonably healthily but, like anyone, I have good and bad patches. My resolve weakens a little at the tail end of winter. I always wake up one sunny spring day around March time feeling the need to shed both clothes and bad habits.

It’s the perfect time to focus on getting back on track. The perfect time to look inwards (physically and mentally), to shake things up a bit and turn over a new leaf. It’s so much easier to succeed when you’re piggybacking on the right mental attitudes, rather than trying to push through against all your inclinations and instincts.

So in March I’ll be embarking on a period of detox. But don’t be put off if the word ‘detox’ makes you want to hide under the bed. I don’t do ‘mean’ detox. Deprivation and self-flagellation just don’t float my boat… I’m going to focus on simple, positive ways of pepping up your system and helping to prepare yourself for spring. I’ll have a go at a simple system ‘cleanse’, make some plans for a general diet overhaul and look at some good detox supplements, as well as a couple of products that will help to perk up your body on the outside to support the good things going on within.

It’s my own inner spring clean!

It's nearly blossom season!!

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The facts about oil (or why words don’t always mean what you think they do)

I learned an interesting thing about oil on one of my recent course weekends and thought it was worth sharing. I use natural plant oils in the kitchen and as part of my skincare routine but I wasn’t aware of how they were produced, focusing instead on weeding out the mineral oils and choosing products free from paraffinum liquidum.

I’ll start with olive oil, one of the most commonly used culinary oils and a good option for homemade skincare. It comes in a bewildering array of different types but the difference in type and price isn’t just about the quality and complexity of the taste.

Most of the cheaper ‘refined’ oils use heat in the extraction method. The heat damages the nutrients and delicate lipids in the oil, such as linoleic fatty acids (which help to make up key organs in the body, such as the brain, nervous system and liver), vitamin E and polyphenols (potent antioxidants).

The irony is that ‘refined’ commonly means to make purer, more sophisticated and/or effective. However, in this instance, it means almost exactly the opposite. It’s also worth noting that chemicals are often used during heat extraction and traces may remain in the end product. It’s not harmful, just kind of empty. But purer and more effective it definitely isn’t.

Whatever type of oil you’re buying, whether it’s for consumption or for skincare, the key words to look for on the label are ‘cold pressed’/'cold extracted’, ‘unrefined’ or ‘mechanically-pressed’. Oils extracted in this way are mechanically pressed and won’t be heated over a certain temperature during processing, so the nutrients are retained. Extra virgin olive oils are produced in this way and it may state that they are processed using only ‘mechanical means’ on the label.

The downside of buying cold-pressed oils is that they will be more expensive. Cold-pressing produces a lower yield of oil and therefore the production cost per unit is higher. But you are getting considerably more for your money.

The other thing to be aware of, particularly if you splash out on a better quality oil, is storage. To minimise oxidation and prevent your oil from degrading, make sure you don’t buy more than you can use in two months, keep it cool (for example, if you’re storing it in the kitchen, don’t keep it right next to the oven hob), and buy/store it in a dark bottle where possible to protect it from strong light.

You may still wish to buy a bottle of refined oil for cooking – refined oils are cheaper, will keep for longer and if you’re just using a splash to prevent things from burning or sticking, this is your best option. But it’s worth using high quality, cold-pressed oils for drizzling over salads, pasta or other such things. It’s a great way of adding extra goodness in the form of omega-3 and 6, both of which are essential for optimum health.

It’s also worth noting that some oils, such as flaxseed, should not be cooked with as the heat will break them down and reduce the efficacy of the oil.

Have fun reading the labels when you’re next at the supermarket! And below are some recommended suppliers for skincare and massage oils:

Neal’s Yard Remedies / Oshadhi / Materia Aromatica / Melvita / Quinessence

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Forever Living Aloe Vera

Today’s post is long overdue. Way back at the end of May, I met up with Amy Blakeman who is a distributor for Forever Living, a company who make a range of skincare and make-up products based on renowned skin healer aloe vera, and whose USP is their use of a patented stabilisation process to extract the aloe vera gel.

Many products contain aloe vera, often amongst many other ingredients. What Forever Living claim makes them special is that they start with the pure aloe vera gel, adding minimal additional ingredients as required. The aloe vera is not an afterthought. It’s the core of their products, in almost every case.

The patented stabilisation process allows them to extract the gel in a way that ensures it retains maximum purity. It is then cold-pressed to avoid the loss of efficacy through heating. Forever Living claim their unique process ensures the purest form of the gel, leaving it as close as possible to the natural sap taken straight from the plant.

Amy now represents the company because she believes in the products and their effects. She has strong ideas about healthcare – much like me! – and was well-informed and keen to help.

Forever Living sell a range of products covering the more traditional face and body care (moisturisers, lotions, gels, masks and creams). Some of these products combine the aloe with bee propolis, renowned for its anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and healing properties. I tried a sample of the Aloe Propolis Creme which combines aloe vera, bee propolis, chamomile and vitamins A and E. The cream has a very light fragrance that is reminiscent of honey but creamier. It is quite sweet and might not be to everyone’s taste but I quite liked its powdery hints of marshmallow (and The Man With The Camera told me I smelt nice as he walked through the door shortly after I tested it!).

Forever Living’s product info mentions that the cream creates a protective barrier on the skin and this is exactly what I can feel after applying. It’s quite a thick waxy cream but rubs in very easily and leaves a non-greasy film on the skin that would act as an effective barrier against dry weather. Even more important, I can’t rub off this layer: many products that leave that protective film can be rubbed off in little rolls if you try hard enough. Which I hate. This didn’t happen with the Aloe Propolis Creme, and I tried!

There’s no suggestion that the Aloe Propolis Creme is designed exclusively for face or body and I can see so many uses for it. It would be great for persistent dry patches, wherever they occur. I very much want to try it on the rosacea patches either side of my nose, particularly when they’re flaky as well as red. It would also be brilliant for mild eczema where my skin loses moisture really quickly and can get itchy and bumpy.

My one criticism is the price. I’d actually love to lather it from top to toe for a week or so, to really test out its effects but at £14.56 for just over 110g, that could prove quite expensive. Instead, I’ll use it more sparingly where it’s really needed.

While it’s quite common to find aloe vera in skin lotions, I’m really drawn to Forever Living’s more unusual uses of aloe.  There’s a fluoride-free tooth gel, aloe deodorant sticks and lastly, aloe gel drinks.

When I asked Amy what one product she would recommend starting with, she mentioned the aloe vera drinks. Taken as a supplement, aloe gel aids digestion, supports the immune system and protects the skin. It’s high in many essential vitamins and amino acids. Amy recommends a daily dose, taken first thing, of between 30 and 60ml. While it doesn’t taste great, it can be mixed with fruit juice or yoghurt to hide the bitterness. Apparently you can expect to see results (improved digestion, healthier skin) in 4-6 weeks.

I’m intrigued enough by the gel to want to give it a go so will take it for the next few weeks and report back.

In the meantime, you can find out more about Forever Living via Amy’s site here.

Ingredients: Stabilised aloe vera gel, glyceryl stearate, propylene glycol, cetyl alcohol, PEG-100 stearate, lanolin, sorbitol, dioctyl adipate, octyl stearate, octyl palmitate, allantoin, bee propolis extract, lanolin alcohol, dimethicone, tocopherol (vitamin E natural), beta carotene (provitamin A), disodium EDTA, camomile (anthemis nobulis) extract, triethanolamine, ascorbic acid, diazolidinyl urea, methylparaben, propylparaben, fragrance.

 

 

 

Ingredients: Stabilised aloe vera gel, sorbitol, antioxidant: ascorbic acid (antioxidant), citric acid, potassium sorbate (to help protect flavour), sodium benzoate (to help protect flavour), xanthan gum, antioxidant: tocopherol (antioxidant).

A quick note: while bee propolis can be very beneficial for people with congenital or allergic skin conditions, don’t use it if you’re allergic to bee stings or bee products. Some of Forever Living’s products also contain lanolin (including the Aloe Propolis Creme). While pure lanolin is unlikely to be an irritant, some allergic reactions have been recorded.

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In the red – dealing with rosacea

Just recently, I’ve noticed that my skin doesn’t behave quite like it used to. In the run up to the wedding (a mere 16 days from today!!), I’ve been taking really good care of myself. Lots of time in the gym, I’ve gone back to Lent’s no-sugar regime and I’m making a really concerted effort to get more, good quality sleep.

But it’s been becoming depressingly apparent that my skin is getting worse. A good diet, exercise and sleep, combined with a good skincare regime should mean a lovely, glowing face but it just isn’t right now. Or rather, I’m getting the ‘glow’ but in all the wrong ways.

I’ve made reference in the past to the ‘hot spots’ either side of my nose. I wasn’t entirely sure what was triggering them but had noticed they recurred reasonably regularly. The patches get a bit hot, inflamed and slightly itchy. Then over a few days, they appear to ‘heal’ resulting in drier, flakier skin in those ares. I hadn’t given much thought to what they might be, nor had I paid much attention to what set them off.

Then I had a bit of an epiphany after a weekend when I got caught out in the sun for a couple of hours. I was wearing plenty of sunscreen so I didn’t burn but my face got very dry and very warm. Shortly afterwards, on Monday evening, I had a particularly heavy gym workout and got nice and hot. My skin went haywire. Those red patches got bigger, angrier and really, really prickly; a bit like something was permanently tickling at my cheeks. For days afterwards, those patches felt hotter to the touch than the rest of my face. I looked at the symptoms online and came to just one conclusion.

Rosacea.

I was unaware that I tick many of the boxes. Strangely, it’s not unusual to get rosacea for the first time in your early 30s. The most prone age group are pale-skinned women, aged 30-50. Some of the most commonly-reported triggers are sun exposure, heavy exercise and stress (planning a wedding while trying to sell your house anyone?). Turns out that now, when my face gets hot, bad stuff happens. So far, it’s a pretty mild version of rosacea, limited to facial redness, a stinging sensation, roughness of the skin and some flakiness or scaling. More extreme symptoms can include bumps and pustules (giving rise to the misleading term ‘acne rosacea’), thickening of the skin and eye irritation.

More upsetting was the consensus on treatments: antibiotics and steroids. “I’ve been here before!” cries the voice in my head. I spent years and years seeing doctors about my eczema and was prescribed all manner of steroid creams, paraffin-based emolients and even antibiotics a couple of times when it became infected. They worked in the short term, but the eczema would always come back. It was only ever a temporary solution and a fairly harsh one at that. Over time it pushed me towards the natural path that I now try and follow. In the last 12-18 months I’ve started using natural oils as body moisturisers and have had the longest ‘eczema-free’ period in years. I also feel for the first time that I can control my skin, rather than relying on prescriptions and feeling like it was calling the shots.

So the rosacea was a blow and I had a day or so of self-indulgent ‘why me’s’ before just getting on with it.

I’ve got the eczema under control.

If this rosacea business is here to stay, then I will do the same thing. Minus the steroids and the antibiotics.

There’s lots of advice out there for people who might be prone to rosacea. In the spirit of ‘prevention being better than cure’, the best place to start is with the triggers. The National Rosacea Society has a very informative website with a page dedicated to triggers, and this list of the most common factors. See the sun at the top? It really underlines the point I made in my previous post about avoiding the sun when it’s at its most fierce. It also makes an interesting case for mineral over physical sunscreens given that the number 1 skin objective is now going to be keeping my skin cool.

Now I know that I need to be even more careful not to get caught in the sun. I’m not about to start keeping to my house and living as a recluse. But perhaps I really do need to start carrying around the big old hat just in case I’m caught without shade.

I’m also going to have to take preventative measures in the gym. As much as I might want to say ‘bad gym’ and stay home, I’m actually really enjoying being fitter and more toned. So I’m going to start carting around a facial spritzer (see here for some favourites) and regularly spraying my hot, sweaty face. I’ll probably keep one of my spritzers in the fridge so I can grab an ‘extra cold’ one before heading to the gym.

I’ve also done a bit of research and discovered that natural stars when it comes to rosacea include aloe vera, chamomile and licorice. So I’m going to keep an eye out for those things when scanning product ingredients lists.

I’ve even discovered that you can be as DIY as using tea bags. One website advocated dunking chamomile tea bags in tepid water, lightly squeezing out the excess and sitting with the soggy tea bags on your red patches for 10 minutes. That might sound pretty horrible, and I definitely won’t be trying that down the gym, but I’m going to give it a go in the privacy of my own home.

I should point out that I’m currently entirely self-diagnosed and while I wouldn’t normally recommend this as a course of action, I feel that my symptoms are mild enough to experiment a little with home remedies before deciding whether a trip to the doctor is absolutely necessary. I should also point out that many people experience far more severe symptoms than I currently do and I wouldn’t spend a second judging them if they decided to use either steroids or antibiotics. You pick the path that is best for you and that gives you the best quality of life.

I’m going to try to get a handle on my ruddiness the natural way and will report back in a few weeks time to let you know how it’s going.

In the meantime, if anyone out there is already a dab hand at dealing with rosacea and would like to pass on some tips, please do share them in the comments.

In the absence of a rosacea-related picture, have a picture of one of my happy places. There is no room for skin woes here...

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Skin prep for summer, part 1 – body brushing

It’s not long now till holiday season is officially upon us and like many people, I’m less than brilliant at maintaining my limbs when they’re encased in winter layers. I’m not really a tanner – fake or otherwise – and I have no real problem with blinding the odd passerby with the flashing brilliance of my pasty white legs. But I do feel much better if that glow is the result of well-tended, healthy skin.

Today’s post is the first of a three-part series on skin prep for summer exposure – the natural way – and I’m kicking off with dry body brushing. Part 2 will cover natural body scrubs and part 3, body moisturisers.

I needed a bit of convincing on the body brushing thing to begin with. It just sounds weird and I couldn’t quite get the image of horse grooming out of my mind. It’s really doesn’t look that dissimilar. However, with a bit of will power and 2-3 weeks of religious ‘grooming’ behind me, I can really see the benefit.

The benefits of skin brushing are down to two distinct effects. Firstly, gentle skin brushing has a mild exfoliating effect, lifting away dead skin cells and smoothing the surface, helping to prepare the skin for any products you will apply later. Secondly, it helps to eliminate toxins by increasing blood flow to the skin’s surface and stimulating the lymphatic system – the body’s waste disposal mechanism. The two things combined really do lead to clearer, brighter skin over time.

There are two really important things to remember about skin brushing. Number 1 – be gentle! Repeat after me….’I am not a horse. I am NOT a horse.’ Even if you don’t suffer from sensitive skin or an inflammatory condition like eczema, there’s no need to be heavy handed as dead skin cells slough off surprisingly easily. Number 2 – always brush towards the heart. This action allows you to work with your circulatory system, rather than against it, and also ensures you’ll be brushing in the direction of lymph glands where toxins can be filtered out.

Start brushing on the tops of the feet and gently work up the legs and over the buttocks and hips. Brush your arms in the same way, starting at the fingertips and moving up to the shoulders. I tend to avoid brushing my chest area because the skin there is really delicate and I also avoid any bits that are particularly prone to or suffering from eczema (for me that’s usually the top of my back).

Choosing a brush is a very personal thing. Some bristles are quite stiff and spiky, others are softer and more pliable. I’m a softer brush person but try out a couple on the back of your hand or forearm and see what you think. Natural bristles are best, either way. You can also choose between a palm-held brush or one with a longer handle. I prefer the control of a palm-held brush but many brushes have a longer detachable handle so you can get the control while still being able to get at the small of your back without dislocating a shoulder.

My favourite brush is Liz Earle’s, for feel and adaptability. (£7.40 from Liz Earle’s website.)

Some other good options out there include:

Green People spa body brush £10.75, available at Lovelula.

Neal’s Yard body brush, £8.75, available from the Neal’s Yard website.

Temple Spa’s ‘Giving It The Brush Off’, £16, available from Victoria Health.

The Body Shop’s body brush round, £7, from The Body Shop stores and website.

Come back on the 16th for body scrubs…

Update: for Part 2 of ‘skin prep for summer’ (body scrubs), see here. And see part 3 (body moisturisers) here.

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Silk pillowcases or ‘how to justify fancy bedding’

If I tell you I like to sleep on silk pillowcases, it might suggest that I’m a bit of a princess. To which I’d reply ‘And what if I am??!’ but I’d also tell you that it’s a part of my skin and haircare routine and it helps me get the best out of my products. Cotton pillowcases are all well and good but they are like little sponges. Overnight, a good proportion of your, potentially pricey, moisturiser will end up in your pillowcase, particularly if you’ve applied it right before going to bed and it hasn’t had a chance to skin in.

Silk has a much less drying effect on the skin, allowing your moisturiser to go further. Its slippy surface also means that your skin is less likely to get all lined and crumpled overnight; far fewer pillow ‘imprints’ in the morning and less wrinkles (hopefully) in the longer term. The slippy effect is also beneficial for your hair, helping to smoothe down the cuticle for shinier, less flyaway and staticky hair on waking.

On top of all that, silk is a better temperature regulator so you’ll have a cooler face and scalp in the summer and a warmer one in winter. I find this particularly helpful as my hair is thick and the skin on my scalp is prone to a type of seborrheic dermatitis that is often triggered when I get too hot at night.

If silk bedding stills seems a bit too extravagant, remember that only the topside of your top pillow needs to be silk to get all those beneficial effects. All the rest of my bedding is cotton. At least until I win the lottery and then it’s silk sheets and cashmere blankets ALL the way…!

There are lots of places to get silk pillowcases but I particularly like (and use) Silk Perfect. They produce pillowcases with a silk upper and cotton underside (the Silk Perfect Pur), which prevents the pillow from sliding around too much. You can get two for £22 which I think is pretty reasonable.

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Bare-faced

Today I’ve been musing on skin.  Our ‘real’ skin; the cold, hard truth of what lurks under all the serums, creams, foundations, highlighters and bronzers. We all layer so many products on our faces on a daily basis but it’s a bit like planting a garden. If you don’t figure out what kind of soil you’ve got, you may just plant all the wrong things.

I also wanted to reveal the truth about my own skin. I’m hoping to use naturalbeautycabinet as a forum for exploring in more depth the variety of natural and/or organic beauty products that are out there. I’ve got recommendations I’m keen to make, brands I love and a few ‘natural’ heros that I think are worth championing. But it’s more helpful for any (eventual!) readers out there if you understand what kind of soil I’m working with. I’m hoping it’ll make it easier for you to decide whether a product might work for you too.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my skin. As someone whose skin is quote-unquote troublesome, it can feel like a bit of an obsession at times. It’s even created some kind of weird schism in the way I talk about my own skin - ’my skin’s doing this’, ‘today my skin’s decided it doesn’t like that’. Sometimes it’s in danger of becoming a separate entity from me entirely; one that I have little or no control over. Like a hyperactive kid or a relative that you love and rely on but don’t necessarily like all of the time.

There are four skin types: dry, oily, combination and normal. But that doesn’t cover all the bases. On top of that, there are four main skin conditions. Sensitive skin tends to flush easily and can react to products or environmental stimuli (usually sun, wind or intense cold in my experience). Dehydrated skin (not the same as dry skin) produces sebum but is temporarily lacking in surface moisture, either because of harsh products, extreme weather or just not drinking enough water. In mature skin, the cell renewal rate slows down, wrinkles form and sagging begins to occur due to the loss of supporting muscles, collagen and elastin. Congested skin occurs when your pores are blocked and sweat and/or sebum become trapped.

At any one time, you’ll have a skin type but you could also have one or more of the skin conditions which also need to be catered for. I’ve had all of them at one time or another (with the exception of mature skin and that’s going to catch up with me eventually…!).

The good news is that the right products really do make a difference. If you haven’t figured out your own skin type yet, it’s well worth doing. The quickest way is to leave your skin completely bare after cleansing so it can revert to ‘type’. If it quickly feels tight, uncomfortable or flaky, it’s dry. If you get shiny patches of sebum, it’s oily. A combination of the two is fairly easy to call. And if your skin stays plump and velvety then you’ve probably got normal skin, excellent genes and I’m writing this through gritted teeth.

Knowing your skin type and any conditions you may currently be experiencing means you can target the products you use. You might find it pays to use different products on your t-zone (forehead, nose and chin) to the ones you use on your cheeks. Trial and error might show that different products are required at different times of the month.

For the record, I have dry skin with a tendency towards sensitivity and redness but usually only a couple of times a month. I’m also prone to dehydrated skin, particularly if I know I’m not drinking enough water. I have fine lines on my forehead and some starting to form around my eyes. The products I write about will always be ones that I have tried personally and am happy to recommend. But if you have oily or combination skin, don’t disappear! Just be aware that you may need the lighter version if one’s available. I’ll always try and point this out where applicable.

The most important thing is to try things out for yourself, preferably before you buy if possible, so you can be sure they work for your skin. Many companies are waking up to the importance of free samples. I’ve come away with some excellent hoards just by marching up to beauty counters and asking.