Summer Skin Care: Part One
One thing I really can do when low on spoons is shop. Home delivery is absolutely the friend of anyone disabled; everything from Just Eat groceries, to Amazon, to Tesco Whoosh is employed to normalise the household and keep up with family needs and demands.
My present obsession on the purchase front is a summer update to skincare. To write this obsession down, I’ll need more than one blog page, so this is going to be all about how the whole obsession started. I’ve always taken some care of my skin, even as a teenager; moisturiser, tanning creams, a little foundation or tinted moisturiser and lip balm. No sunscreen though; it was never considered a need in the UK when I was younger, same as Vitamin D. We were told to just get out in the sun through the summer months. One of my Nanna’s favourite admonishments is to “put a little face on, it’ll make you presentable and keep you looking young”. We did as we were told, but I also realised years later that she’s probably right. More on that next time.
Summer means more hydration is needed, and often lighter creams, though my skin becomes very dry so I can manage heavier products. Anything gel like or for oily skin just irritates and makes me itch my face. I prefer my products to have a decent weight. On top of that, my disability results in skin-based symptoms. I grow lumps, have skin irritation, eczema patches, and dehydrated areas. I’ve had many internal and external growths surgically removed; these removals are a significant part of the 12 (yes, 12!) surgical interventions I’ve had. I also have some larger pores on my face, odd tiny areas can break out despite the dryness of my skin (mainly if I use anything that irritates). Every product I use absolutely needs to be adapted for sensitive skin, and be free of irritants. I mostly work this out by trial and error; use a sample once (never buy before trying if you can possibly avoid it), leave the sample on a small area for 24 hours, and then see what happens.
Korean and Japanese skincare products (and food!) are of course huge right now, and I believe rightly so. Some of the products available are just gorgeous. So some of these have been on my major wishlist; what have I bought, and which ones have I stuck with?
This is the one that started my love affair. I became obsessed with Dr Jart+ Cicapair Soothing Color Correcting Treatment when I trialled it at the Sephora store opening in Meadowhall, and I broke my own cardinal rule, instantly buying the travel pack of products. I am overjoyed I did this, because there were three items in the travel pack. A mini of the color correcting treatment shown here, a small foaming cleanser, and a tiny bottle of the intensive repair cream. As part of my skin (concerns? issues? life in general, as my skin is completely normal to me??) I have a light facial Malar rash. I have APS with the Lupus antibody (I do not have Lupus). I had therefore just ended up thinking that facial redness was a basic part of my life, not something I could control.
I was completely wrong, and I wish I had known I was wrong before I reached my 40s. I put this on in Sephora and it was like a bizarre miracle. My skin instantly cooled and the redness vanished. It was a revelation. So, is this cream a permanent part of my routine now? No, amazingly enough, it isn’t. I gradually realised that to use this cream, I would need daily make up. Just the CC cream alone controlled the redness, but it washed me out too; people asked me if I was well when wearing it. I do still buy and use this cream, if I am looking to use makeup over the top, including an additional tinted moisturiser. The travel pack was expensive though, so I decided I was going to make time for my morning and evening skincare routines again, something that had fallen by the wayside in a life where getting out of bed and making coffee often takes effort. And of course, I used the rest of the Dr Jart+ products in the pack. For me, the one that really works, and is well worth the money, is this one, the Dr Jart+ Cicapair Intensive Soothing Repair Cream. This really works, and after a few weeks, controls redness long term.
That was it, I was hooked. Nothing in the UK that I had used in 4 decades had worked. I wanted a set of Korean skincare, and on my down days, obsessively watched YouTube videos reviewing Korean and Japanese skincare products. Not gonna lie, I bought waaaayyyyy too much, though I did try and buy tester and sample sizes unless one of my daughters (dedicated skincare aficionados’) had personally recommended the product to me. I took time to re-establish a good morning routine, so that I could actively test the products I bought over a length of time, as I had with this one.
I’m now testing these out, so will give an update at the end of the process to let you know how I get on…
