Skin Care ‘Checklist’

Hi dea friends,

Deanna’s life path has been punctuated by her search for a solution to her skin issues, the eczema that has influenced her journey, and inspired the birth of dea.

What are you putting on your skin? 

Many products are full of chemicals or even natural ingredients that have been proven to aggravate skin conditions. Sometimes this can crop up out of the blue once your skin reaches a threshold, or some people are the ‘canary in the coal mine’ and react very sensitively to something the rest of us may tolerate in small quantities.

For example, my mum is allergic to coconut, however it took her years to figure out that many dishwashing liquids, shampoos, and hand creams contain a coconut extract, Sodium Coco-Sulfate that will aggravate her skin - including organic brands! We also know some people are allergic to essential oils such as lavender and calendula which is found in many skin care products. 

What follows are just a few of the things Deanna has found to look at when her skin has a flare up.

Consider what is in your: 

Personal Products	Household cleaners	Garden Products
Soap Hand Sanitizer Shampoo Conditioner Deodorant Hand cream Face products Toothpaste Wipes Essential oils Sunscreen Menstral products (think bleaches and perfumes) Beeswax	Dishwashing liquid Surface cleaners Bleach Wipes Glass Cleaner Car cleaners Insect sprays Air fresheners Perfumed tissues and toilet paper	Sprays Pesticides Bagged potting mix Plants and pollens Fertilisers Paints Solvents

 

Try eliminating one thing at a time and reintroducing a month or two later to see if it makes a difference to your skin.

‘The Chemical Maze’ is a fantastic resource you may find useful when buying products. It lists hundreds of ingredients found in food, personal care products and household cleaners and outlines any potential risks they may have.

Sensitivities are very individualised and can change as we age or suffer various stressors.

A few other things you may want to consider when trying to soothe irritated skin are:

• The quality of your water, especially what you are washing in. Is it high in chlorine?
• The quality of your air. Are you spending hours in drying air conditioning? Do you have air fresheners or insect sprays in the air around you?
• Are you stressed? This can be a major driver in many aspects of ill health including skin.
• What you are eating and supplementing with - we will have another more specific blog on this topic 

And of course:

• What are your clothes made of and what have they been dyed with? 

The chemicals found in textiles can be incredibly toxic and irritating.
Read about how we do things differently at dea here.

Before you head to the doctor or pharmacist for the steroid cream to mask your or your child’s skin rashes or eczema, try looking to see if you can identify what could be causing your skin to flare up first.

We would love to hear what has worked for you, comment below to share anything you found that helped or hindered healing your skin.

Love dea xx