Skincare Addiction
I have long suspected that I have an addictive personality. Analysts at ANZ could probably point to my credit card as a textbook example of someone with a shopping addiction. I spent half of my twenties eschewing any sort of illicit substance, alcohol included, because I recognised the slippery slope of dependency. Now, thanks to a social network, I now have a new addiction. Skincare.
Reddit has come and gone from my life many times over the past ten years, mostly for entertainment purposes. It came back again a few months ago when I was looking for advice on a dermatitis breakout and has kind of stuck around again since then. Who would have thought that asking 'does anyone know what this thing on my lip is' would totally change my day to day life, and my bank balance.
Prior to my skin attacking my own face, I was the kind of girl who used Dove soap and that was pretty much it. My skin was perfect and I never had a worry. Maybe it's getting older, but I turned 29 and almost immediately my skin flipped the fuck out. Out of nowhere I broke out in pimples and developed severe perioral and seborrhoeic dermatitis. My Dove soap had betrayed me and the squeaky clean feeling of Sodium Laurel Sulfate would soon be dead to me.
Clear skin having never been a problem for me, my confidence was suddenly shattered. I couldn't bring myself to leave the house without makeup or wear black or go more than a day without washing my hair. These things are all the opposite of what my life is usually like. I felt as though everyone was staring at my red, raw, flaky skin. Or judging me for looking like I had herpes. Or watching me scratch my irritated scalp. Or staring at the flakes of skin shedding off my body at an alarming rate. Probably they weren't, I've always been fairly aware of how self-involved everyone else is, but I was now so self-involved I was anxiously obsessed with it.
The thing with dermatitis is it is largely speculative how you actually treat it. My doctor prescribed me hydrocortisone cream, which made my skin even worse than I could have imagined. She tested me for everything under the sun, and eventually referred to me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist prescribed me hydrocortisone cream, so I gave up and went in search of answers myself.
Enter Reddit and the r/SkinCareAddiction community. I asked around and was pointed towards the evil of Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) as the potential culprit. Out went my trusty Dove soap. Followed by shampoo, conditioner, hand wash, body wash, laundry liquid and eventually the actual offender, toothpaste. Slowly, over the course of FOUR MONTHS my skin started to recover. My seborrheic dermatitis is all but recovered, the perioral persists. Escaping SLS is like trying to not drink chlorinated water in a city. I keep accidentally exposing myself (and therefore my poor, irritated lips) by washing my hands with soap in bathrooms. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to be the kind of person who brings their OWN soap to work/other locations, but rest assured when it does I will be the first to mock me.
The Dove Beauty Bar sized hole in my heart was soon filled by the SCA community. It had been my trusty cleanser, moisturiser and makeup remover for close to twenty years, and without it I was open for anything. Anything started as a cleanser and a moisturiser. Then a makeup remover. Then a second cleanser. Then a toner. An exfoliator. A moisturising oil. A cleansing oil. A clay mask. An anti-ageing serum. A Niacinamine & Zinc serum. A Vitamin C serum.
I am now the kind of girl who comes home, plastered at 3am, and drinks two litres of water and manages to meticulously go through a six-step skin care routine, because it's actually become more important to me than sleep. And I'm not even remotely ashamed about it. One drunken evening I forced my sister to drink the water, take a pro-biotic and massage Rose Hip Seed Oil into her face before bed, all while lecturing her on the importance of make-up removal, NO MATTER WHAT.
I now spend my time giving advice to those similarly afflicted with dermatitis, and providing hope where I can. I'm no hero, but I can save a soul from damaging their moisture barrier with Aldi Pink Grapefruit Foaming Cleanser. I have become an honorary chemist, researching the impact of mixing different ingredients and using little eye droppers to carefully apply complicated mixtures to my face. And I love every second of it.
The addiction is real. But in a world of chaos, injury, heartbreak and change, it give me immense pleasure to have consistency. No matter if my housemate moved out, or I'm unable to walk, or I stayed out until 3am having the time of my life, or if I had a shitty day at work - I stand in the bathroom, cleansing, toning, patting serums into my skin gently and just have a moment of total peace. Sad, probably, simple, yes, but skin care addiction is saving my sanity.
For now, anyway.
Reddit has come and gone from my life many times over the past ten years, mostly for entertainment purposes. It came back again a few months ago when I was looking for advice on a dermatitis breakout and has kind of stuck around again since then. Who would have thought that asking 'does anyone know what this thing on my lip is' would totally change my day to day life, and my bank balance.
Prior to my skin attacking my own face, I was the kind of girl who used Dove soap and that was pretty much it. My skin was perfect and I never had a worry. Maybe it's getting older, but I turned 29 and almost immediately my skin flipped the fuck out. Out of nowhere I broke out in pimples and developed severe perioral and seborrhoeic dermatitis. My Dove soap had betrayed me and the squeaky clean feeling of Sodium Laurel Sulfate would soon be dead to me.
Clear skin having never been a problem for me, my confidence was suddenly shattered. I couldn't bring myself to leave the house without makeup or wear black or go more than a day without washing my hair. These things are all the opposite of what my life is usually like. I felt as though everyone was staring at my red, raw, flaky skin. Or judging me for looking like I had herpes. Or watching me scratch my irritated scalp. Or staring at the flakes of skin shedding off my body at an alarming rate. Probably they weren't, I've always been fairly aware of how self-involved everyone else is, but I was now so self-involved I was anxiously obsessed with it.
The thing with dermatitis is it is largely speculative how you actually treat it. My doctor prescribed me hydrocortisone cream, which made my skin even worse than I could have imagined. She tested me for everything under the sun, and eventually referred to me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist prescribed me hydrocortisone cream, so I gave up and went in search of answers myself.
Enter Reddit and the r/SkinCareAddiction community. I asked around and was pointed towards the evil of Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) as the potential culprit. Out went my trusty Dove soap. Followed by shampoo, conditioner, hand wash, body wash, laundry liquid and eventually the actual offender, toothpaste. Slowly, over the course of FOUR MONTHS my skin started to recover. My seborrheic dermatitis is all but recovered, the perioral persists. Escaping SLS is like trying to not drink chlorinated water in a city. I keep accidentally exposing myself (and therefore my poor, irritated lips) by washing my hands with soap in bathrooms. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to be the kind of person who brings their OWN soap to work/other locations, but rest assured when it does I will be the first to mock me.
The Dove Beauty Bar sized hole in my heart was soon filled by the SCA community. It had been my trusty cleanser, moisturiser and makeup remover for close to twenty years, and without it I was open for anything. Anything started as a cleanser and a moisturiser. Then a makeup remover. Then a second cleanser. Then a toner. An exfoliator. A moisturising oil. A cleansing oil. A clay mask. An anti-ageing serum. A Niacinamine & Zinc serum. A Vitamin C serum.
I am now the kind of girl who comes home, plastered at 3am, and drinks two litres of water and manages to meticulously go through a six-step skin care routine, because it's actually become more important to me than sleep. And I'm not even remotely ashamed about it. One drunken evening I forced my sister to drink the water, take a pro-biotic and massage Rose Hip Seed Oil into her face before bed, all while lecturing her on the importance of make-up removal, NO MATTER WHAT.
I now spend my time giving advice to those similarly afflicted with dermatitis, and providing hope where I can. I'm no hero, but I can save a soul from damaging their moisture barrier with Aldi Pink Grapefruit Foaming Cleanser. I have become an honorary chemist, researching the impact of mixing different ingredients and using little eye droppers to carefully apply complicated mixtures to my face. And I love every second of it.
The addiction is real. But in a world of chaos, injury, heartbreak and change, it give me immense pleasure to have consistency. No matter if my housemate moved out, or I'm unable to walk, or I stayed out until 3am having the time of my life, or if I had a shitty day at work - I stand in the bathroom, cleansing, toning, patting serums into my skin gently and just have a moment of total peace. Sad, probably, simple, yes, but skin care addiction is saving my sanity.
For now, anyway.
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