While in Korea... Beauty and Skin Products from abroad

SO I recently went on a trip to South Korea and I experienced their OBSESSION with skin care. For those that live in Ontario you will understand when I say: take all the Starbucks and Tim Hortons and change those into makeup and beauty stores = that's Seoul, South Korea. They were EVERYWHERE. My travel partner and I pretty much went into every one of them (she was fascinated with their products and became a little obsessive herself!)

Now people around me know I have a skin disorder so she knew I wouldn't have as much fun playing potions class in every Etude House we came across. But I was willing to try things that were for sensitive skin... and a face mask or two because they just looked lovely! I tried a tea tree oil mask and I have to say it was GREAT! Take a look:

It was super hydrating and cooling and I never had a breakout or irritated skin after. I liked them so much I got a second pack of them to take home. Roberta, my travel buddy and makeup Yoda, recommends doing them every week (or every other week if that sounds too much to someone like me!)

I have also been trying their SoonJung line and so far after a week no bad reactions and no irritation.

I also picked up one of these (well not this exact one, I bought mine for about $3 in a Daiso in Seoul...) 

And it's a great way to not use pad products/something reusable and better for the environment PLUS it just uses warm water to take off your makeup. For me, less is better with my skin, so to just use water or a tiny bit of light soap like Neutrogena Naturals is great. I highly recommend adding this to your arsenal!

I will repost on more of the products I'm using from Korea, but so far I like how light and non-irritating they are. The makeup all include SPF too which is a necessity with me being a ginger (and the DWD). The ones I am looking forward to are: Baking Powder cleanser, more sheet masks, and this Face Blur.

Having DWD means I deal with a lot more redness and spot treatment than most, and sometimes all the products can be overwhelming so I often just... don't do anything. But it's fun to play with makeup again and build confidence around looking "pretty". It's not an everyday thing for me but having healthy skin should be - I am looking forward to learning how to clean and hydrate my skin in a helpful way as I age with DWD.

UPDATE JAN 23 2020 - I have been back for almost two weeks and I LOVE that face pad, it has become a daily ritual and so great. The SoonJung line has been nice but not exactly an improvement, but still nicely hydrating and not irritating me. The Baking Powder foam cleanser stung the first time I tried it so I steered clear of it since. The sheet masks are still my #1 favourite from this trip!

Winter Flare Ups: Living with Darier's White Disorder in all seasons

Each winter I am reminded why I hate the cold weather: it's dry here in Ontario and I run my humidifier constantly, but it is never enough. My scalp gets flaky and my skin gets flares easier. But this year a NEW thing has happened :( my face is getting dry red patches that itch and have a mix of acne and flare up bumps = NOT FUN.

dry patches are new and I hate them

I am trying to treat it with a mixture of things as I am finding one cream is either too heavy (Vitamin E cream and a new one I tried from LUSH called Celestial) and takes away the redness/dry spot but leaves pimples, or it dries out the pimples and soothes the dry skin but leaves flaky dry skin (Vitamin A cream, Polysporin, and the Germolene).

UPDATE: Celestial didn't work out, it was too heavy and left me breaking out** I ended up using it as a hand cream.

I hate winter.
(And yet I prefer it to summer? Ugh, scratch that, I just hate my stupid skin.)

Granted I'm also highly stressed lately and have been consuming more sugar than normal... I need to focus on getting back into a routine of meditation and low/no sugar intake as my back has sprouted red "wings" and the front of my torso is sporting red blotches here and there. I am feeling very defeated.

I have been going to the gym somewhat regularly so sweating and friction of the workout clothes might also be contributing, and they have a hot tub there which is chlorinated so that could be helping or hindering me as well; I have heard that chlorine helps some of us with DWD and people go swimming in pools to help keep flares down.

I am going to go back to 2x 100 mg magnesium a day - one in the morning and one before bed to see if that helps, on top of my regular Vitamin B + Pine Bark Extract mix in the morning. It could be time to mix in Vitamin D (cloudy winters are not making this fun either).

So just a reminder that it's not always the same thing day in and out that works - sometimes you have to bang your head against the metaphoric wall and try to tap into what's making the flare and fix it on the fly.

Happy winter everyone :/

Magnesium as treatment: An article and some thoughts

Image source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6134490/


Posted in the Darier's White Disorder group on Facebook was an article from a naturopathic doctor, and then a comment from someone who has used Magnesium orally to help combat the symptoms of Hailey Hailey disease which is similar but different to Darier's White Disorder. Here have a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hailey%E2%80%93Hailey_disease


Here's the article👉: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6134490/ 

What I found interesting: "therapeutic regime of oral magnesium (300 mg/day)... In June 2017, a trial of oral magnesium chloride 300 mg per day was started. Within 1 month, significant improvement was seen in lesions" 

I take 100 mg/day as recommended by my family doctor - I'm starting to increase my dose (but slowly as there is a laxative side effect to consider! From 100 mg to 200 mg a day (one pill in the morning and one before bed. What a happy accident to have the Magnesium prescribed to me for my headaches, meanwhile its been possibly helping my skin disorder!

Here's what someone said in the group as a comment and I found really helpful: 

"I have been intimately involved with this protocol for people with closely related Hailey Hailey disease since the original Borghi case study in 2014. At this point, several thousand people with HHD follow this protocol, most with considerable success.

It does not stop outbreaks, but it does limit their frequency, size and greatly speeds healing.

Several things have been found through testing to be important that were not uncovered in the original case study.

The first is that the dose of magnesium that appears to work best is 6 mg/kg of body weight when you have an active outbreak reduced to 4.5 mg/kg when there is no outbreak to maintain the protective effect.

Dosing based on weight rather than the standard approach which is based on age and sex is much more effective. Although based on weight, the dosing is roughly equivalent to 100% of the Recommended Daily Intake for magnesium at the full 6 mg/kg dose.

The other difference that was found to be important compared with the original case study is that this works best when you maintain vitamin D in a range of 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L). To maintain the higher end of this range requires a daily dose of vitamin D of roughly 7,000 IU/day. While this range and dosing is considerably higher than that recommended by the national standards organizations, it is perfectly safe as long as you have normal kidney function. Although 4,000 IU/day is the official Upper Safety Limit, the same standards body set 10,000 IU/day as the No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL). Another way of looking at the safety of this dosing is that the body will produce between 20,000-30,000 IU of vitamin D from sun exposure.

A number of people have added Vitamin C to this regime although there are no studies, formal or informal showing that this makes a difference in Hailey Hailey.

The original case study was based on the use of magnesium chloride, but there has been extensive informal testing of other forms of magnesium and all with the exception of magnesium oxide and hydroxide seem to work equally well.

Some people are very sensitive to the laxative effects of magnesium, but there are several simple steps that minimize them. The first is to switch to an amino acid chelate of magnesium such as lysinate, glycinate and so on. The second is to split the dose in two and take half in the morning, half at night. It also helps to drink an extra glass of water when you take the magnesium effectively lowering the concentration and thereby laxative effect.

Happy to help anyone interested in adopting this regime. Given the success for Hailey Hailey, there is every reason to think it will be useful for Darier's"

Are you using Magnesium too?

We can't always blame the heat...

I have lived through three natural disasters while on vacation.

1. Hurricane Irma

2. out ran a tornado in Florida

3. I just visited Japan during a heat wave so intense they proclaimed it a natural disaster...

I was really scared for my skin. So I took everything I needed  plus sunscreen (which I use Neutrogena SPF 30 moisturizer and LIFE Brand Sunthera SPF 60 Spray). I even learned from the locals and bought a sun umbrella/parasol, an imabari (or Japanese face towel made for you to wipe the sweat from your face, which was always dripping), and a fan.

at Itsukushima, also known as Miyajima, a small island in Hiroshima Bay
It was in the 40 degree celsius range that day

Throughout the trip I tried to stay hydrated but water sometimes just didn't cut it, so again, learning from the locals, I bought Pocari Sweat to replenish electrolytes. Most of the time I felt like I was on a boat, the horizon always tilting from my heat exhaustion. Many Japanese people would stare at me and I can only wonder if it was just my red hair they were looking at or if their inner monologue was "why would you come here in the summer?!"

I pushed through. It was an amazing trip with highs and lows, but never the lows being in temperature!

But I didn't have a flare up... Sure I had a few red bumps where ever there was friction like on the backs of my knees, under my bra line, and yes even in my groin creases. but never on my neck and back were I usually get my flare ups.

I stuck to my supplements, stayed away from dairy, was on top of hydrating, and used my vitamin A cream each night (stashed in the refrigerator to make it extra calming from the cold!) and used Germolene for spot treatment on the places that had bumps from sweat and friction. Plus having cool showers with no soap, just rinsing at the end of the day was a great way to feel a bit cooler before bed and cleanse my body too.

Case in point:

that sheen is from sweat and sunscreen

Note no flare up in 40 degree heat at Fushimi Inari Taisha

No burn and no flare in Harajuku!

I was going to fight my partner in going to Japan in the summer due to my disorder, but I said no, my disorder doesn't define me - and I'm so glad I did! Granted it was still a crazy idea to go in the heat, but who could have known it would be record breaking and as terrible as it was. 

Still, I'm glad I didn't let my skin dictate what adventures I can go on, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my fears about the heat and my Darier's was unfounded.

How do you deal with the heat and your Darier's?

Do you have monster nails?

Warning, I don't holdback and talk about how gross my nails can get because of DWD...

I have always had terrible nails. I have never not picked at my nails and throughout my life they look like raw meat: red, chapped, falling apart... I rarely have anything that goes past my finger to form a "nail" as in they never grow that far. I always thought it was my anxiety, as a coping method I pick my nails, especially if there is any hangnails and that happens ALL the time.

I recently saw in the Facebook Group that nails get the Darier's White Disorder treatment, meaning they get messed up. Now my thin, brittle, red, chapped fingernails make more sense. And my toes, oh dear, it's like a Victorian monster down there! Frankenstein's toenails! They grow weirdly, like on angles, split, ingrown... it's just, gross. And so my anxiety sets to work and I usually pick them down to the quick/cuticle. I used to paint my fingernails to give them more structure, but working at a historic museum I can't have painted nails as it's not exactly accurate :P But my toenails are ALWAYS painted so they don't look so gross, though it is weird to paint toenails that grow every which way - I usually trim my toenails down as far as I can to avoid splitting and showcasing those weird Franken-Nails. 

I have found that with the supplements I take to combat DWD it does end up helping my nails, (and hair!), as things like omega fats and zinc are good for that. My love of eating fish (hello sushi) helps too. But then I did a google search and found this:

Biotin (a.k.a. vitamin H) can improve hair that is splitting or thinning as well as strengthen weakened nails. Taken with zinc and the corticosteroid clobetasol propionate, biotin has even been used to treat alopecia, an autoimmune skin disease marked by the loss of hair.

Has anyone ever tried using Vitamin H as a supplement? I think I may have to ask my doctor about this! 

I also read somewhere that DWD nails are also susceptible to build up under their non existent nails and I have to say I believe it - I mean look at mine: I barely HAVE nails and I am typing all day so how do I get gross stuff under there?!

These are actually quite healthy for me with little to no splits and hangnails. I guess putting the zinc back in daily really helps. 

Do you have really sore or gross nails too? What do you use to help it?

IT WORKS! An Update on how it's going

Update: all the changes and tweaks and ongoing therapy is working itself out! I'm not "cured" or anything but it is a helluva lot better than a few months ago when I had to hide under scarves and cry from the pain...

Right now this is what it looks like:

 

Not too shabby! Of course the pink bumps are never going to be completely gone (or never say never? *hopeful*) but this is so much better than the red rash and open weeping sores I had this winter.

SO! What is my line-up of therapy and goods to bring my DWD under control? I'm so glad you asked:

-no cow dairy
-the least amount of sugar
-lots of water
*I do drink coffee, tea, and drink cider and wine but always in moderation/occasionally






Daily
-50 mg Pine Bark Extract pill
-Vitamin B (either B2 100 mg or a B100 complex) pill
-15 mg zinc pill
-100 mg magnesium (doctor said it will help with my headaches)
-lavender pillow mist + frankincense/lavender oil mix on pulse points (great for anxiety and to sleep)
-meditation 5 mins (needing to get this up to 10 in 6 months)
-Vitamin A 10000 IU pill (at night)
-Vitamin A cream (on affected area at night)
-SPF 15 or higher (depending on season and outdoor activity but ALWAYS at least 15)

Sometimes
-Multivitamin
-Vitamin D (on cloudy/stay inside days)
-probiotics
-CBD pills for anxiety; situational
-Germolene for spot treatment (when the pink bumps become redder)

So there ya go! That's what I'm doing, remember to talk to your dermo and/or doctor or health care professional when trying new things - and on that note what is working for you?

I haven't had to use Germolene in over a week! And I am glad of it, this stuff is potent and shouldn't be used daily.

I am drinking soy milk instead of any other dairy alternative so I can try and keep my hormone levels up too, at least that's the idea - I don't know if it's helping at all but tofu and soy milk are a part of my diet since I left birth control for an IUD.

I hope this helps you on your journey to wellness!

A video update! Things are improving with these three things...

So the past few months have been trying to say the least, and everything translates to my skin - you know that saying wearing your heart on your sleeve? Well I wear my "heart" aka stress on my neck, as that's where my Darier's manifests the most.

So I tried:

Bio Oil = fail.

Recovery Balm from Saje = fail.

So next I went back to what I know: lower sugar, no dairy, less stress (isn't that always the goal??) and of course the tried and tested supplements. I went back to taking Vitamin A gels at night, Zinc 15 ml at lunch, and ok, I admit, something new....

I vlogged about it! Check it out:

I ordered Germolene on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B008D0MLGA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Darier's White Disorder Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/21860644983/