Fancy dress, baths, dates - all are ruined thanks to sensitive skin...
It’s not easy being me. Or you, probably. Living with sensitive skin on a daily basis is a surprisingly difficult task, as anyone suffering regular rashes and reactions will know - but throw in the element of fancy dress and you really do have a problem. Halloween, and other such opportunities, should be fun and inventive, a chance to show off your face paint artistry and make your Facebook profile look far more interesting.
But the mere suggestion of fancy dress sends me into a panic - depending on the theme, I have to think of impressive ideas that avoid face paints, fake blood, body paint, fake tan or any kind of skin-changing product. Props have become my friend; if I can throw on a pair of wings or a crown, perhaps even a Hawaii-style lay or some cowboy boots I can almost get away with it. But where’s the fun in that?
A certain incident one weekend when trialling a tube of seemingly harmless fake blood from the Pound Shop (don’t do it. Even my Bioderma struggled to remove it and I was left with red, itchy skin) led me to think of all the day to day problems we with sensitive skin face; the inequalities, if you will. I thought of 20 - see if you can add any more...
(And P.S. the trick to using fake blood for Halloween with sensitive skin? Put it on bandages and wrap those around your arms/legs. Your skin is safe but you still look broken.)
1. You give away all your presents of bubble bath and smellies. Therefore, you never get to smell nice.
2. Baths are incredibly boring.
3. One spritz of perfume on your skin instead of your clothes results in a rash that lasts at least 3 days (but at least you smell nice for once).
4. You have to choose your outfit based on which reactions need covering up. It makes dating, and hot weather, difficult.
5. The department store spritzer girl is a threat. You hate her.
6. The doctor gets annoyed every time you ask for more steroid cream because they know it means you didn’t just stick to that giant tub of aqueous cream they gave you last time.
MORE GLOSS: The best fragrance-free products for sensitive skin
7. You do not trust the words 'for sensitive skin’ and have a strong hatred of the word ‘hypoallergenic'.
8. Sales people will try to sell you things 'for sensitive skin' that you know full well are not for sensitive skin.
9. You buy said things 'for sensitive skin' in the hope that they suit you, because you really don’t want to use the aqueous cream again.
10. Puffy eyes are a standard part of your daily life.
11. You can't get rid of your spots because spot treatments irritate your skin, giving you more spots or a rash around the spot. You forget this every time a huge one crops up.
12. A spa day is the least relaxing thing ever, because the treatments involve potent oils and lotions, and therapists are either too scared to touch you with them or tell you 'the tingling is perfectly normal’.
13. Tingling of the skin is in fact terrifying and requires immediate action.
14. You wash your lovely blow-dried hair after a trip to the hairdressers in case the shampoo is too perfumed.
15. You have a very real and necessary fear of perfumed toilet paper and sanitary products.
16. You get very angry (read: sweary) if someone sprays a deodorant in your vicinity.
17. Forgetting to pack cleanser for a night away sets you off in tears.
18. You take antihistamines on a daily basis and are therefore in a constant haze of drowsiness, wondering why you're tired.
19. Calamine lotion is your hero.
20. You've spent a zillion pounds on skincare but still haven't found what works with you because your skin decides to react whenever it damn well feels like it, even if you’ve used something before. And so you buy something different…