Dry skin remedies: Followup - YouLookFab Forum

I have found the holy grail!

A few days ago I bought a bottle of Burt's Bees Rosemary and Peppermint body wash. Most body washes are still basically soap in liquid form, but this one has no harsh sulfates. I have been using it since Sunday and it has made such a massive difference.

Typically my skin is so itchy and dry that I actually wake up in the middle of the night with the urge to claw at my skin until it turns red and welted. I squirm in my desk at work to keep myself from constantly scratching myself (not the most professional thing, I think). But the past few days have been perfect. No itching, no losing sleep, no clawing.

I still use Eucerin's anti-itch cream after I get out of the shower, but I find the effect is multiplied by the use of a sulfate-free soap. Eucerin worked fine if I was just lazing about at home, or maybe for a few hours after I applied it and went out...but after a full day of work and walking out in the cold, it would lose effect fast. The new cleanser leaves more natural oils in my skin, so I suspect that is why the relief lasts longer now.

I still feel every bit as clean, but my skin is less tight and scaly. There is also an even more moisturizing body wash, but I thought I'd start with this so I don't *over* moisturize.

Should you decide to try it, bear in mind that sulfates serve 3 purposes:

-They're cheap
-They lather
-They thicken

So this will seem thin by comparison, and it doesn't foam or bubble as much. But this is totally normal. Lather really has nothing at all to do with cleansing capability. It is not expensive (I think it was $8 or $9), but you get less of it than you would most other brands. I wish they made bigger bottles.

Still, I am very pleased. I know a lot of us have dry skin issues in winter so I had to pass this on.

15 years ago

Kari

Veteran

Fantastic - thanks for the recommendation! Are you still using shampoo with sulfates? I can't remember what your current shampoo remedy is.

rute

Thanks for sharinhg Maya. My body skin is dry in the winter and I'm always looking for a good body wash.

I have burt's bee lip balm and love it. I must check if Sephora has the body wash too.

Maya

Kari, I only wash my roots with a nickel-sized amount of low sulfate shampoo because they tend to be greasy (my hair is straighter at the crown). The rest of my hair gets washed with a generous slather of conditioner. I don't really know if this or similar methods work for straight hair, but wavy and curly girls swear by it. I know my hair never looks wavy in my pictures, but that's the point--I've been styling it wrong for so long that it won't bounce back anymore. I need to start taking care of it as though it were curly and I think it will get better over time.

April and Ele both do conditioner only and they have the most gorgeous curls I have ever laid eyes on.

nicoleb

(website)

Maya do you have eczema? Mine skin is prone to it and what you described sounds a lot like what i go through in the winter. I'm glad you were able to find some products that work for you! It can take awhile to get there. A lot of lotions seem to just sit on top of the skin.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

Good tip, Maya!

Kari, I also meant to mention in your thread that I ONLY use Nivea moisturizing cream on my body - have so for 20 years and will not change to anything else. I have very delicate skin that is rash prone as you know and this has worked out the best for my body. I am not at all itchy or flakey - and I use a very mild natural moiturizing soap from Whole Foods. You might want to try it too.

Becky

Thanks for the tip, Maya! I've been having itchy skin problems since the weather turned and need to do something different.

Barbara

My sensitive skin turns itchy the second the weather turns cold.

My remedy: shorter, cooler showers in the morning, using Aveeno Oatmeal soap or Oatmeal Body Wash, following up with Aveeno lotion for extra dry skin after the shower, applied to still-damp skin. It works like a charm, and this lotion is SO good you can actually still feel it on your skin when you shower the following morning. It's reasonably priced too.

Neutrogena makes a fabulous TRIPLE MOISTURIZING shampoo and conditioner. I use them year-round. They are great for dry or sensitive scalp and very gentle to hair.

Angie, I too love Nivea cream, which I discovered living in Europe.

Claudia

After trying Maya's suggestion I have been using Burt's Bees body wash for about a month now and I have to say that even though this has been an exceptionally cold winter and the furnace has been running double duty, my winter skin has never been better. I find I don't itch after showers, and I am having to apply moisturizer less.

Thanks Maya, I am sold on this body wash product.

Anonymous

Maya, thank you for this and your earlier post on the subject, especially shampoos. My hairdresser suggested Biomega shampoo and conditioner (has no sulfate, no paraben, no animal testing). It's helped my scalp alot, although I still sometimes just use conditioner when washing my straight hair.
I'm wondering about laundry detergents contributing to skin itchiness and like to use Zum. It's sold at our Whole Foods. Zum has a body wash too.
Another thing to be aware of is that if your blood sugar is running high, a symptom is contributing to dry skin. In myself I notice that a spot in the middle of my back gets itchy, especially in the winter, if I've had too many carbs (They convert to blood sugar). With the itchiness you describe, you may want to get your blood sugar checked just to rule out that possibility.

April

Maya, I will definitely try the Burt's product -- I hate that winter dry skin!

And thank you for your curls comment <blush>. Remind me never to run into you on a day with high humidity...

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