Skincare For Sensitive Skin& My Battle With Eczema
My mother always used to say me, in that very Chinese way, that in a way I was lucky to have eczema. People with small problems like skin issues donāt end up developing big problems like cancer, she would say. Though I donāt necessarily share my motherās irrational optimism on this issue, Iāve since learned to live with the everlasting blight that is atopic dermatitis.
Basically, for all the lucky people out there donāt know what it is, what this means is that I have insanely sensitive skin that is prone to breaking out in red, itchy rashes whenever it sees fit. This might mean that there are allergens in the air, an approaching cat or dog ( both of which Iām allergic to), I might be wearing a particularly itchy sweater that I just had to buy against my better judgment, or that my skinās just decided to f*** with me on that particular day. Either way, when I have an eczema āflare,ā my face and arms and basically everywhere will turn into a huge blotchy mess of redness. Times like these, I look not unlike a pepperoni pizza.
Believe me, I have tried every single ācureā out there. I put ācureā in quotation marks because, as everyone has or had this condition knows, there is no cure for eczema. Thereās only temporary relief. This usually comes in the form of topical steroids, which sounds scary but isnāt so muchāyou can buy hydrocortisone 1% over-the-counter now at most drugstores, actually. But after a while, I realized using this stuff on my face on a regular basis just wasnāt a long term solution. For one, steroids can cause atrophy, which, to put a rather gruesome visual in your head, means the medication eats away at your skin slowly so it becomes thinner and thinner. Not OK. So I went searching for other solutions.
Since then, Iāve switched to using immunomodulators, Like ProTopic:
which purport to have less immediate damaging effects but actually have been rumored to cause cancer ( howās that for irony, mom?). Not the best deal, but sometimes I need medication to curb the flares. Recently, Iāve been trying to use medication only when I have to, relying on other non-medicated skincare solutions to tide me over the remaining time instead. Here are some of my favorite products for very sensitive skin.
1.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Aveeno Moisturizing Lotion
This stuff has been my tried-and-true lifesaver ever since I was tiny. It contains oatmeal, which sounds really cool, though I donāt quite know what the oatmeal does and donāt really care. Thereās no active ingredient in this lotion, it feels absolutely amazing, it contains no fragrance and absolutely no irritants, and best of all- IT ACTUALLY MOISURIZES. The bottle says for 24 hours, but with extremely dry skin like mine, you do have to reapply every 5-6 hours, Iād say. But that is nothing. Nothing else I have ever used, from the very tippity top prestige to the lowest drugstore, has ever even come close to this in its comfort and moisturizing properties. Sure, there are way heavier crĆØmes out there that moisturize just as well, but they also feel incredibly heavy and sticky and awful. Aveeno feels lightweight and amazing, and it is seriously moisturizing. Best of all, the bottle says lotion but you can use it on your face too. You canāt go wrong with this one. Trust me, even if I ever switch out my whole skincare regime to $500 caviar crĆØmes or whatever, I will never give up on Aveeno.
2.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Darphin INTRAL Soothing Cream
This I would probably call a high-end equivalent to Aveeno- Darphin is a prestige Parisian skincare line that caters mostly to spas but has a consumer interface too. Their sensitive-skin line, Intral, is seriously the best. Iāve used their face crĆØme, and though it is slightly not as moisturizing as Aveeno, it looks high end, smells nice, and is completely not irritating even if you smooth it over open wounds. Only downer: this stuff is really expensive. If you donāt have to have prestige, Aveeno is the way to go.
3.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Eucerin Bath Oil
When I first tried this golden bottle of bath oil ( recommended to me by my dermatologist, actually), for some reason I thought it smelled like fish oil. Which is pretty unpleasant, if you think about it- slathering fish oil all over your body- but for some reason that made this bodywash even more appealing to me. This probably has to do with my being Chinese and my grandparents popping fish oil pills like their gold in front of me all the time. But yes, even though this bath oil smells like omega oils, it actually feels amazing on and really moisturizes your skin in the shower. Eucerin is another great drugstore line tailored specifically for people with sensitive skin. I use this when Iām having a particularly bad flare, but most of the rest of the time I cheat and put perfumed stuff all over me in the bath instead. Iām a terrible patient.
4.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Estee Lauder Verite Moisture Relief Creme
Estee Lauder Verite is something Iām a little bit on the fence on, only because I donāt think itās moisturizing enough for the winter months, but it looks absolutely amazing ( like soufflĆ© in a delicate matte glass pot), and feels super luxurious and non-irritating on, so I would still recommend it, maybe for the summer. Before you say Iām vain, I think the way skincare looks is actually super important, because a lot of skincare is about the user experience and the way the product makes you feel. If I canāt get fragrance in my skincare, it better at least look good going on, right? Thereās also a whole line of Verite products which I havenāt tried in their entirety, but the crĆØme is pretty solid. If you must use in the winter, combine with a rich serum by La Mer like La Mer The Concentrate. That, however, will be the subject of my next post.
P.S I will add more to this post as I discover more.