Random

[dancerjodi]

I love remote starters
and Peppermint coffee
and alpaca knit hats
and a happy, playful kid

I forgot I had a meeting in Needham from 12-2 yesterday, so I had some time in the afternoon to get groceries, some semiperm hair rinse, and time to color it before picking up Miss Thing at daycare. You can still see some of the short/wiry white hair, but overall it is more uniform. Doing this reminds me of my college days, where on a regular basis I put a semiperm auburn rinse into my hair every couple of months or so. Such a special time of my life.

My skin gets super dry this time of year, and I end up with spots of eczema around my neck. Folks in my family (Mom's side) tend to have skin type issues, which I've mostly avoided until I've gotten older (though thankfully mine are minor in comparison - I've avoided the raw red face, cystic acne and psoriasis). It is always this time of year that the itchy/rashiness starts. I've switched to more sensitive/fragrance-free products for my face at least for now. Burt's Bees has a newish line of stuff, that I picked up a cleanser and night moisturizer from, and I'm liking. I grabbed a Eucerin SPF 30 moisturizer for the days yesterday.

Does anyone want some Oil of Olay moisturizer? I have the classic pink stuff (I have used at night) and the SPF 15 for day. Come get it from me or off of my porch! It should not hurt to put on moisturizer (and this time of year, it does)! I'm sure it is doing no good for my dry, rashy skin on my neck. I think I am reaching a good balance of natural products, good companies, cost and ease of aquisition.

I have a lot of tubes of hand lotion, all with lovely smells and the associations that come with that. In the early days we used Burt's Bees lavender baby stuff with Mina, until she herself had rashy issues and we've moved to fragrance free stuff. Whenever I open the bottle I think of her first few, awkward baths and the snuggly nursing baby times. I was using the Olay pink stuff because the smell reminded me of my grandmother Demi. I have resisted purchasing new things of hand cream because we have SO MUCH of it. So far, my hands are dry but not rashy/itchy, so I've resisted for that reason too. What to do what to do? I want to take good care of my biggest organ and set a good example to my daughter. It is basic stuff that once habit, isn't a big deal to maintain. The beauty regime was just not a big one in my house, and vanity aside, I want to provide a healthy example to Mina. Oh boy, do I wish we used more sunblock through my life. I don't look like that truck driver in the recent New England Journal of Medicine report, but I am surely showing spots and lines on the left (driving) side of my face. All of a sudden I am looking (relatively) old, though I'm mostly blaming parenting and lack of sleep/water/care for that one. ;)

Ballet class is tonight. We've finished learning the first new routine of the year, and are re-learning one we performed back in 2003 (I think)? Thank goodness for videos from the recital. I loved the costume we wore in the show that year, so I'm hoping we can repeat that.

At some point this weekend I'll be cooking a new mac and cheese recipe that has butternut squash in it. I cannot wait to try it! Perfect weather for comfort food. We should make some kind of soup to freeze too, maybe.

Mina is going to Cobblestones Saturday morning http://www.cobblestones4families.com/ to visit an old friend (a woman in the neighborhood that was in the new Mom's group last February at the http://www.mspp.edu/community/freedman-center/ with me and I haven't seen since she went back to work and left our Monday group at Cobblestones). It will be nice to catch up with her and get the girls together again. After a nap, we'll head to Harvard Square for Brian's haircut and perhaps dinner? Anyone want to meet up there? Our appointment is at 4:00, so it would be an early one. I think I have a coupon for Fire and Ice, so that is a possibility. The last time we were there with Mina was my birthday, and I nursed her in the dining room under a cover. A woman nearby made a point to thank me for doing it, and said that she had great admiration for me doing it so long, when she had reached the 5 month super squirmy point (she gave up doing it for her son at 4 months). I still think back on that with a smile and hope I can be supportive to a nervous new Mom someday. Far too many people scold women who are trying to just feed their kid in an awkward situation. I was lucky to never incur that kind of wrath, but I know far too many people that have (even when covered up).

Sunday is my nephew Mason's first birthday party in NH. I cannot believe our babies are so old! Toddlers! It will be nice to enjoy the party and see folks again, without having to worry about coordinating it all. And snow! Maybe they will have some and I can bring Mina out to play in it? We haven't yet done that, because she was sick during the last storm.

Mina went another night sleeping well. I know it can't last forever, but for now, I'm happy to be on the other side of the cold/teething funk. I am so not looking forward to molars.

Comments

[alonewiththemoon]

In your spare time (ha!) you might want to consider seeing a dermatologist for a skin allergy workup. You might remember me complaining about the three days of having my back all taped up, but it was entirely worth the couple days' discomfort to get some real answers about what does and doesn't irritate my skin.

The allergist/dermatologist I saw had nothing good to say about any Burt's Bees products :-/ The Mayo Clinic recommends Lubriderm Fragrance Free as a good basic hypoallergenic moisturizer and products by CeraVe for cleansers and cream-type moisturizers. Also Cetaphil. Those are both available at most drugstores or supermarkets.

The bad news on sunscreens is that there's pretty much nothing but straight zinc in a tube that is good for people with skin allergies, and that's not a terribly great solution. For non-sweaty weather, I use Bare Minerals Skin Veil powder with spf25, and that works pretty well. I have yet to find a waterproof lotion sunscreen that I don't react to at least a little, but I figure some itching and bumpy skin now is better than skin cancer later. I think I've been using a Kiss My Face product, but it's been so long since I've used it that I don't remember.

[dancer.livejournal.com]

I've seen a dermatologist twice for some really bad/sudden rashes. They even biopsied the blisters (and I have scars from those). In both cases, the results were inconclusive. My issues are so rare/random and weird, that they didn't know what to make of them. The first time was years ago, right after Brian and I had decorated the gazebo in the back corner of my grandmother's yard for Xmas. There were lots of plants over there and I had been walking through them, so they thought it may have been exposure to something there (though not a poison oak/ivy/sumac or anything recognizeable that they test for). The second time was during the end of my pregnancy. It was so bad, moved all around my body, but didn't look like the regular pregnancy rashes that women get. They thought it was related to massive edema, then an allergy to something in particular, and ultimately they just said "I don't know - put cortizone on it". The cortizone did not help, but the California Baby Calendula lotion did, sort of. Eventually it just went away.

Both cases were in the dead of winter - cold, windy, dry skin. The hormones in pregnancy surely didn't help. It has to be winter related! I was trying to think of if it was diet related - maybe more junk around the holidays? But I'm well past that point now.

I wouldn't mind doing the skin test if I thought I'd get something from it, but after 2 minor surgical experiences that scarred me and tought me nothing, I'm skeptical. :/ Skin is a tough one . . . could really be anything medical, autoimmune, stress, food. Whatever. It is frustrating.

RE the Burt's Bees - These are new "sensitive skin" and fragrance free products. They aren't the cheapest either, so I may try some of those other brands instead. Getting fragrance free, easily accessible, not too expensive and not tested on animals: a challenge. This is the cleaner I bought http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/472000/Burt%27s_Bees_Sensitve_Facial_Cleanser/. This is the night stuff http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/472003/Burt%27s_Bees_Sensitive_Night_Cream/ . And the day cream http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/435593/Eucerin_Everyday_Protection_Face_Lotion_for_Sensitive_Skin%2C_SPF_30/ . I have an appointment with my PCP for a regular checkup, so I may see what she thinks about it. My midwife did suggest I see a particular allergiest who was specialist in derm issues a while back and e-mailed him to see if he thought I'd be a good candiate to meet. I'm not sure if I care that much about the issue at this point.

I do use the everyday minerals stuff for my regular makeup and love them!

[alonewiththemoon]

"Skin is a tough one . . . could really be anything medical, autoimmune, stress, food. Whatever. It is frustrating."

That was a great thing about my allergy testing--it also included things used in food, household cleaners, clothing dyes, etc. I learned that I am pretty highly allergic to the most commonly used preservative in butter and margarine (previously I thought it was just the fats and oils that made me break out) and the bleach used to create white flour. Which together helped explain why a birthday cake from a bakery will always make me break out (bleached white flour in the cake, butter in the frosting) yet the same sort of cake made at home won't (I've always used unbleached flour and if I use butter it's organic, preservative-free stuff). And no scarring involved, just a bunch of red lumps that mostly went down within a couple of days. The butter/margarine preservative one lasted nearly a week, though!

A while back, my chiropractor suggested that I take omega-3 supplements, fish-based not flax seed-based, to help in muscle growth. I don't know if the omega-3 made a difference in my muscles, but within a couple of days I noticed a big difference in my skin, hair and nails. So that might be something to try, especially if you think omega-3 might be lacking in your diet in general. Trader Joe's sells capsules with all the fishy taste somehow removed.

[dancer.livejournal.com]

"I learned that I am pretty highly allergic to the most commonly used preservative in butter and margarine"

Oh boy, what a revelation!

Since this is only an issue a month or so out of the year in random years, and the extent of it is dry, itchy excema-like skin, but 95% of the time I don't have any problems, I just haven't looked into it yet. I did have an allergy test years ago (where I learned that I was indeed highly allergic to rabbits), but none of the normal irritants showed up. I've hesitated to do much else since then, because I'm not sure I'd change my life drastically for something that happens every few years or so, only for a couple of weeks (we have ruled out the chemical cleaners and use mostly natural and unprocessed things so that may help). It is nice that my issues aren't pervasive, but I think they are more frustrating to me in a way, because they don't stick around for long enough for anyone to make sense of them. :)

I'm going to talk to my PCP about it all when I see her in a couple of months. I haven't had a regular physicial with her in quite a while, so I'll have my list of random things that aren't too pressing, but make me kind of go hmm, and wonder what they could develop into later.

How did you go about seeing this derm (or was it an allergist)? Chronic issues and just finally sought out the help?

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it. :)

[alonewiththemoon]

No problem! I know how frustrating these things can get. I had chronic issues that were getting worse, due to my using products that I didn't know I shouldn't, and mentioned it at my annual check up. As luck would have it, my PCP had had similar issues during the past year, and she referred me right to her own specialist, who I think was a dermatologist but I'd have to look that up to be sure. I remember she was at Tufts Medical in the Theatre District, though. After the skin testing was done, the specialist went over the list of products I was currently using, and ruled out pretty much everything except my deodorant and laundry detergent, and then gave me a big list of products that did not contain anything to which I tested allergic. The Mayo Clinic maintains a big product database, which is very helpful but somewhat limited since the data in it depends on companies voluntarily sending in info. I also got a bunch of handouts regarding the cosmetic/cleaning ingredients to which I reacted, along with all the different names they can go by, so that I could do my own ingredient list checking. That's been especially helpful with sunscreens, which contain a lot of junk, as well as things that are beneficial to most people (like bisabolol, or chamomile extract) but quite irritating to me (and anybody else with ragweed allergies).

[goat.livejournal.com]

For super dry winter hands I like olive oil or Shea butter. I know derms recommend cetaphil and other mild drug store brands but I feel they are mostly full of junk. I like to use EWG's skin deep database online for a profile of a products hazards before purchasing.

[goat.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see from another comment you're already using skin deep. Yay!

[dancer.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of more natural/pure ingrediants. Olive Oil may not be practical to have at my office (typing with greasy fingers, ew) or on the window sill above my kitchen sink. Maybe shea butter may be a good alternative. I know some folks love coconut oil (since it is solid) for this use too. It is just not something I've messed with often.

I love skin deep! I wish they would come up with a smartphone app!

[goat.livejournal.com]

Coconut oil could be good, but may not be rich enough for the cold, cold new england winter. Worth a shot, in any case!

I'd love a skin deep smartphone app.