A follower of my blog contacted me to see what was up! I have been MIA since October 2013.
I wish I could say it was because I had nothing to write about: that I had no flares and no symptoms. The answer is I have been overly focused on two things:
One is my show that I am producing and it has devoured my life. Take a look at the website and reels I created:
www.everythingbutthecat.net
Next, I set out to plan the bestest vacation with my bestest girlfriends. I hadn't been on vacation since 2011. It was time to pack up and get out of town: to Europe!
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/smashingtriotakeseurope
Since Europe disrupted my eating patterns (I am really sensitive to the carrot family and I'm allergic to dairy from cows...) I had one of the worst flare ups ever.
To combat this I had to make sure the SPF was at 50, drink plenty of water, and of course try for a normal diet as per my stomach.
I'm trying to find new ways to be gentle to my insides and outsides, as a recent trip to my dermatologist (an annual check-in because they know nothing to help me except for those terrible overly expensive creams that only irritate my skin) I realized I have been eliminating chemicals from my beauty regime.
You can look back to old posts, but basically I have been doing baking soda and used coffee grounds as a cleanser and exfoliate. Yes I use scent and fragrance free Aveeno and Garnier cleansers too, in rotation, but I want to lessen that too.
Check this out:
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ you can find your beauty products on the Environmental Working Group to see how hazardous it is to you and the earth. Hidden lead in your lipstick? Chemicals you didn't think existed in your foundation? This will help you find what is triggering your flare ups!
This will be an endeavor, I know. But the research and due diligence you do now will be worth years of flare-up free skin :)
Let me know what gems you find and what are you using to combat and soothe your skin.
