As well as the John Masters Exfoliator, Lovelula also sent me the John Masters Vitamin C Anti-Aging Face Serum … I’m just going to be upfront and say it now….it was absolutely AMAZING! I’ve been using it twice everyday for about 3 weeks now especially on my eczema patches. These patches become extremely dry and flaky so as soon as I cleanse my face I have to apply something highly hydrating otherwise they become red, itchy and inflamed.

John Masters Vitamin C Anti-Aging Face Serum

At the moment my most problematic areas are above my eyebrows, on my cheeks and around my chin. I found the serum very hydrating and soothing and did not irritate my skin, which for me is a very good sign. I’ve spent a lot of money on some products in the past just to find that as soon as I use them my eczema starts playing up! I’m not lucky like many people who can use anything and get good results, unfortunately I’m very picky, or should I say my skin is very picky!

The serum, again all natural and organic, also contains aloe vera which gives the skin a soothing and calming sensation, great for any type of sensitive skin. Another ingredient that stood out for me was glycerin. Glycerin absorbs the water from air preventing it from drying out and at the same time prevents the moisture from your skin from evaporating which is a great bonus for people with dry skin.

Vitamin C contains anti-aging properties as it protects the skin form UV sun damage. This is one of the main factors for premature aging and unfortunately for us (people with dry/dehydrated skin) we have a higher likelihood of developing premature aging due to the lack of sufficient oils in our skin making it more prone to environmental damage. So I think it’s safe to say that anything that will protect us from any further unnecessary wrinkles should not be taken for granted!  

The serum has a hint of citrus and rose, which to me wouldn’t normally go well together but this actually smells nice, it’s very subtle and not overpowering, just a perfect balance of scents in my opinion.

The one criticism I would like to mention, which really has nothing to do with the product itself, but the pump on the packaging. I do love products that come in the form of a pump as I feel it’s so much more hygienic, but with this product I feel I have no control over the amount of the actual product that comes out. One pump is not enough for my whole face but 2 pumps is way too much. Anyway it’s not a major downside just something I thought I would mention.

If anyone is thinking of trying a serum, especially if you have dry skin, I would highly recommend John Masters Vitamin C Anti-Aging Face Serum, even if you don’t feel the need to use anti-aging products, I do believe that prevention is key and it’s something I wish I started years ago (even though I’m only 25!) But due to the nature of my skin, sadly I do have wrinkles and it’s something that I have been conscious of for a while now.

Hope you found this review useful, sorry if it was too dry skin and eczema focused, that’s my skin type and I can only advice you on what’s worked best for me and my skin but I have gathered from speaking to different people with different types of skin that natural and organic products work well on all skin types

Lovelula.com kindly sent me two products full of loveliness, the John Masters Organics Jojoba & Ginseng Exfoliating Face Cleanser and the Vitamin C Anti-Aging Face Serum. I was asked to try them out for a couple of weeks then to give my honest opinion on them and that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this review!

John Masters Organics Jojoba & Ginseng Exfoliating Face Cleanser

As someone who’s suffered with eczema all my life, I’m very conscious of what I use on my skin, especially on my face where the eczema is most problematic and stubborn. I started developing eczema on my face 3 years ago after a very stressful period and haven’t been able to fully control it yet. Since then I’ve been looking for ways to not cure my eczema (because it’s a genetic disease that cannot be cured), but to find ways to control it and keep it happy. I made a conscious decision to use natural/organic products whenever I can as I found them less likely to irritate my ever so sensitive eczema skin.

I have been wanting to try John Masters products for a while but never got the chance to do so before now so you can imagine the excitement that overtook me when I received the products in the post!

Before I use any product, the first thing I do is look at the ingredients, and I wasn’t surprised to see all the lovely natural and organic properties these two products had!

The easiest way to do this is to review each product separately, so let’s starts with the John Masters Organics Jojoba & Ginseng Exfoliating Face Cleanser:

The first ingredient in the cleanser is aloe vera and for an eczema sufferer particularly, this ingredient is amazing. It has a cooling effect which calms itchy/irritated skin. It also has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties which help reduce the risk of damaged skin becoming infected.

The other main ingredient is jojoba oil which is great for any type of skin but especially dry/dehydrated types. The beauty of jojoba oil is that it’s very similar to the oils that our skin produces naturally and for those who have dry skin; our bodies don’t produce enough so in a way jojoba oil mimics the natural body oil which makes it easier for the skin to absorb it rather than it just sitting there on the surface. This means that even if you have oily skin, jojoba won’t clog your pores so it’s perfectly fine to use. 

There are a number of other ingredients that are highly beneficial for eczema/dry skin such as ylang ylang and calendula which have anti-inflammatory properties. Which basically means it calms down irritates skin.

It’s also great for mature skin due to the content of rosemary which has a toning effect on skin but also increases blood flow to the areas of the skin when applied. 

The one thing that made me feel a bit hesitant when it came to using John Masters exfoliator for the first time is the fact that it has exfoliation beads, which I knew from past experiences would irritate my skin, however; when I did use it I was very careful not to apply too much pressure with my fingers and when I was done, my face felt so soft, which I was surprised to see. I’m still reluctant to use it too often so I only use it once a week which is the advised number of times to use any exfoliator. Exfoliating too often can leave your skin feeling even drier so as long as you don’t over use it, John masters exfoliator works wonderfully!

Overall it was a lovely product to use and has a really nice citricy scent to it which I love so for me, John Masters Organics Jojoba & Ginseng Exfoliating Face Cleanser gets a big thumbs up!

I just thought I’d post a quick update on my eczema and how I’ve been doing …

I am going to be completely honest with you and tell you that I’ve been very bad recently! Over the last 2 months I’ve let myself slip into really bad diet habits. I’ve been eating a lot of crisps and biscuits and even coke which I don’t normally drink, not for diet reasons but just because I was never a big fan of the stuff!!

Me and my husband have had a busy couple of months (more my husband than me!) and we haven’t has much free time so we’ve been snacking a lot and when we do have time together we like to snuggle up on the sofa, watch a movie and eat more junk!

I’ve not been having much fruit and veg and I’ve noticed my diet has been quite high in salt which is so bad for my eczema! So as you must have figured out by now my skin is in bad shape. I’ve had flare-ups on my face that just won’t go away!!

I have red, dry and itchy patches all over my face but the ones that annoy me the most are under my eyes. I can’t wear concealer because of them and I have bad dark circles that need to be concealed!! But instead now I have both black circles and red patches under my eyes…great!!

I went to a wedding the other day and I looked at the bride and she looked so beautiful! Her skin was flawless and she even did her makeup herself!! I felt quite sad when I saw the picture taken with me sat next to her. I love makeup and I feel very self conscious without it, even worse when I have eczema all over my face! It was a wakeup call for me to do something about it and work even harder to get my skin back to its relatively normal looking state.

Some of the things I’m going to try out are:

1-      Aromatherapy

2-      Drinking more herbal teas

3-      Finding good substitutes for dairy

4-      Drink less caffeine

5-      Eat more “good” oils

6-      Make my own “yeast free” bread

7-      Eat less salt and sugar

8-      Bake more “eczema friendly” yummies … and more!

I will be blogging and making videos about all of these as I go a long so I can tell you what impact it’s having on my eczema

So watch this space as I am back with a vengeance …muhahaha!

Nadia

As some of you may already know, I have eczema mainly on my hands and face with the latter being worst and more of a problem for me with it being the part of the body which is always exposed and most visible to the human eye!

Face eczema is the worst place to get the disease I’m sure most of you would agree with me on that, in particular those of you who have experienced face eczema.

Think about it, you can’t cover it up with clothes like you can with eczema on other areas, plus it’s the part of your body others look at the most so you’re always aware of it.  I’m not in any way  belittling the impact that eczema on other parts of the body may have on your life, all I’m saying is that having experienced eczema on numerous places, face eczema was by far the worst!

My experience with face eczema was a bad one to say the least. I had never had a problem with facial eczema in the past but since it started appearing in 2008, it hasn’t left me alone!

Before I go any further, I want to show you the only 2 pictures I took of myself the whole period I had bad face eczema and these were before my whole face flared up. I refused to take any pictures for months because of the way eczema made me look.

It does not look half as bad as it actually looked in real life. You can only probably see it on my chin and cheek area but it was also spread around my eyes, brows, over my nose and across my forehead.

My face eczema started mid 2008 when I was going through quite a stressful period of my life. I had lost a lot of weight all of a sudden and my skin went a lot dryer than usual even though it was dry to begin with. The eczema started appearing as small patches on my cheeks and started to spread. I used a number of lotions prescribed to me by my doctor without any sign of significant improvement.

Eventually my doctor prescribed 1% hydrocortisone to use for a maximum of 1 week. I used it and to my relief the eczema patches starts shrinking. But unfortunately that wasn’t the end of the story. I stopped using the cream after the week had past and not long after that the patches started to make an appearance again. I felt so disheartened and so decided to use the cream again. Come 2011 and I’m still using it on and off till this day.

Around December 2009 I decided I had to stop using steroids because of all the negative press they were getting. Theories about it thinning the skin terrified me. I didn’t want to look like an old woman at the age of 23, so I refused to continue using it and boy did I suffer the consequences!

The eczema kept spreading until my whole face was swollen, flaky, itchy, red and uncomfortable. I would wake up in the morning and my eyes would be swollen. Even applying moisturizer was an awful experience. It was so irritable that even a strand of hair touching it would make it feel so itchy which drove me to cut off my long hair off. I was less than thrilled about that!
I had to endure all that until around March-April 2010 when I decided to start using the cream again. I was told that because of my face eczema and the way it was making me feel, it was actually making it worse which made me feel worse leading to my eczema getting worse leading to…well you get the picture. Also, after countless visits to my GP and Dermatologist, I was told that I shouldn’t keep avoiding steroids as the longer I leave it untreated, the more likely the inflammation will cause irreversible damage in the form of thickened skin and deep wrinkles. So I started using it again and have been ever since but on and off like I mentioned earlier.

How the face eczema affected me:

I’m not a loud, outspoken person by nature; in fact I’m quite shy and reserved. So something like this was bound to affect me emotionally. I’m not the type of girl that likes to be seen without makeup. Even though I don’t wear much makeup, just having a bit of mascara and lip colour makes the world of a difference to me. Once my face eczema became sever I was no longer able to put anything on my face. To make things worse, this happened during my last year of Uni which was stressing me out enough on its own. I was so ashamed to leave the house and couldn’t stand people looking at me. When people would talk to me I would look away. I felt so ashamed of the way I looked. Even my dad used to make comments like “your face is red” or “Stop playing with your face it’s so red!” which didn’t help so I would try to avoid him as much as I could.

My face felt soooo hot. It felt like the blood in my face was boiling, but I always had cold hands and feet which suggested to me that I either had bad circulation or My body was imbalanced. To sooth the hot/itchy feeling I would carry around a bottle of water and since this happened during the winter months, the bottle was always cold. I would press it against my face to cool it down or I would even just use my hands to cool my face down because my hands were always freezing.

Share your experience with me if you have/had face eczema:

It was an awful experience and I know for a fact that many people with eczema go through similar experiences if not much worse. I just felt I had to share my experience with you so you all know that you’re not alone, even though majority of the time it does feel that way. Please share your experience with me and let other eczema sufferers know they’re not alone.

Thank you

Today, I thought I would write you my first eczema diet recipe.

If you read my previous blogs, you will know that I’ve recently found out I’m intolerant to dairy products, and since then I have decided to take action and change my eczema diet.

Guacamole Recipe

I wish that eczema and diet were not related at all, I love food and I find it very hard restricting myself to certain types of food and staying away from other types. I love sweet, carby yummies! I know they’re bad for me in general let alone for my eczema! But as long as I’m “good” most of the time then I feel it’s fine to treat myself

Changing your eczema diet to suit your food intolerance is difficult at first I won’t even deny that! But once you get used to these changes, which may take some time, then it’s not too bad. I am still getting used to my changes but I’m also having fun finding new foods to try out!

Anyway, so back to the eczema diet, I want to talk to you about guacamole! Which is an avocado based dip.

My husband introduced me to guacamole last year when he made some for me. I never liked avocados before that and refused to eat them. It was something about the texture that I wasn’t fond of. Like my mum always says to me, if you don’t like something that’s healthy, just think of it as medicine! It’s a good theory but it never works on me (haha)! Ok so I’ll show you how I make guacamole then I’ll explain why it’s good for you to include it in your eczema diet. You will need:

Eczema Diet Recipe – Guacamole Ingredients:

2 avocados, ripe

Onions (amount depends on your taste!)

Olive oil to taste

1 lemon

1 tomato

Cucumber (as much as you want!)

And finally salt and pepper to taste

So basically what you do is, spoon out the avocado with a spoon and add to a bowl, this should be easy if the avocado is ripe. Cut the onion, tomato and cucumber and add to the avocado, sprinkle with salt and pepper then add the juice of one lemon, then mix…and that’s it! You’re done! Wasn’t that easy J

You can eat it with carrots, crisps, crackers, rice cakes, bread, or just on the side with your meal. What I like about it is that the avocado and lemon taste so cool and refreshing…oh and that it’s super healthy of course!

So why is guacamole good for an eczema diet?

Avocado is great for your health in general. It’s a fruit which is high in natural fats and oils. Now I don’t want you to freak out when I mention fats because it’s the good type of fats! The high percentage of fatty acid helps keep your skin “plump” and moisturized. The oil it contains prevents the skin from drying out which is something anyone with eczema could do with. It also contains vitamins C and E which are also good for the skin in general.

Onions help strengthen the immune system; a strong immune system should help reduce eczema flare-ups and minimise the chances of your eczema becoming infected.

And finally the lemons, tomato and cucumber are good for your health in general. They’re packed full of vitamins and minerals.

Are you now ready to introduce guacamole into your daily eczema diet?

Let me know if you have tried it, if you like it or you want to try it after reading this.

Dandelion Coffee

As you may already be aware of, diet can have a great impact on eczema. There are many foods linked to eczema, these foods being most likely to trigger a reaction in your body’s immune system to which the skin will react. A change in your Eczema Diet can massivly help your skin.

my first Eczema Diet substitute blog:

I know how difficult it is trying to cut out foods completely from your diet. I went through a phase when I eliminated wheat, dairy and eggs completely from my eczema diet and all at the same time because I was so desperate and didn’t know what else to do. I found it very difficult as I found not eating very much and feeling low on energy and moody, so I stopped after a short while of trying.
Today I wanted to talk about another eczema diet food, or rather a substance found in foods which is linked to eczema and that is…caffeine!
I’ve heard and read many places that I should stay well away from anything with caffeine. Apart from the fact that it affects your nerve system, it’s a substance that can cause inflammation and you want to stay away from those if you have eczema. Instead you should introduce more foods which are anti-inflammatory. Luckily I have come across a substitute which is similar to coffee, but instead of being bad for you it’s actually really good for eczema. What am I talking about? Dandelion Coffee!
I came across dandelion coffee when I went in a vegan/organic shop and have been enjoying it for over a year now. It doesn’t taste that much like coffee as you can imagine, but it’s not bad at all. It’s made from dandelion roots and you can get it in the form of dry roots which you would have to grind down or granulated just like normal instant coffee.
Dandelion is a flower that grows in the wild and is considered to be a type of weed which would normally grow in your back garden, you know those plants which you can’t wait to pull out of the ground and throw in the rubbish! Aren’t you glad that now your weed can be put to very good use!
Dandelion has many benefits for the skin and has been used in the past to treat liver and kidney conditions. It has been named a “blood purifier” due to the fact that it helps the liver; kidney and bladder get rid of toxins in the blood. A weak liver can be linked to eczema flare-ups. So adding dandelion to your eczema diet can do nothing but good for your skin and body as a whole!

The one I prefer to use is instant dandelion coffee. All you need to do is add hot water to 1 teaspoon of the dandelion coffee then add milk to taste. I prefer to use oat milk as I’m slightly intolerant to dairy, but you can use milk, rice milk, soya milk, almond milk…whatever your preference is. Try to avoid adding sugar; if you have a sweet tooth, why not try honey instead… it’s sweet and good for you

Are you ready to improve your Eczema Diet?

If you have, or are thinking of cutting out coffee from your eczema diet then I would highly recommend you try dandelion coffee. It’s the closest thing to coffee I have found and since it’s widely used as one of the natural eczema remedies, that’s more of a reason for you to try it! If you live in the UK you can buy it from Amazon.co.uk or if you’re from America Amazon.com is the place to find it

Hi guys, I know I’ve been away for quite a while, but I’m back now! And this time for good!

This is my second video and I thought it would be nice to do my first product review. But it’s not just any product, it’s THE product as far as I’m concerned…if that even makes sense?!

The product is Virgin Coconut oil. I’ve blogged about this before but thought I’de blog about it on youtube as well. So…here’s the video….ENJOY !

Oh and by the way, I just found out that the YorkTest FoodScan 113 food intolerance kit has been reduced from £ 265 to £199! So if you want to try it out it’s best to go for it now! The offer is only on until the midnight tonight so you better hurry! I’m so sorry for the late notice but you still have time!

YorkTest FoodScan 113 food intolerance test

Thank youuuuuuu

So I received my YorkTest FoodScan 113 results in the post this morning, I have to say I was really excited but felt quite uneasy at the same time. When I opened the envelope, I wasn’t sure how to react to them, whether to be happy or slightly disappointed. I feel like I’m going to contradict what I said in my previous post and how disappointed I felt when I got the results of my previous food intolerance test.

In the results letter, there were 2 pieces of paper and 2 booklets. The first paper was a letter explaining the results and what else is included in the rest of the letter. Attached to it is a card with the foods I should be avoiding. The second paper is the list of all the 113 foods that were tested, and how my body was reacting to these foods. The good news is that most those foods I showed no reaction to what so ever. The list was in 2 columns and at the top of each column were the numbers 0 to 5. Anything between 0 and 1 means there is no or a very mild reaction that you can ignore. Between 1 and 5 showed a mild to strong reactions.

The results of my FoodScan 113 test:

In my case, these are the foods I showed a reaction to:

Between 0 and 1: Chicken, Coconut, Soya bean and Sunflower seed

1: Blackcurrant, Cashew, Crustacean Mix and Yeast

And at 2: Cow’s Milk.

And that’s it…thankfully! None of the foods were shown in the stronger reaction columns. I was dreading milk and wheat being in the danger zone because I love them so much! But at the same time I knew at least one of them had to be there! Well… I guess I should look on the bright side; at least I’m ok to have wheat!! I love my bread!

So basically, the results told me I should stay away from milk first of all, and if I can I should avoid the number 1 foods listed. I love milk so much it’s in so many yummy things! Even in foods you don’t expect to find them in! I love cheese as well. I’m not a big meat eater and I eat a lot of veggie meals so cheese was one of my favourite savoury things to eat! Oh welllll…it’s not the end of the world, eh?!

Yorktest also sent me 2 helpful booklets. The first was a FoodScan 113 food diary and a results guide book.

YorkTest FoodScan 113 food diary booklet: This basically contains a weekly diet plan for you to fill in over a 12 months period. You should avoid the foods that you showed a reaction to in your results (in my case milk, blackcurrant, cashew, shellfish and yeast) for 12 weeks, and then if you wish to, you can re-introduce these foods to your diet. Hopefully by doing so you’ll be able to tell whether or not eliminating these foods affects your eczema and any other symptoms related to your food intolerance. The diet plan is a great idea because if you have a plan in front of you and you know what you’ll be eating throughout the day, you’re less likely to go off track and be tempted to eat the foods you’re not supposed to eat!

YorkTest FoodScan 113 results guide book: This guide helps you make a start on your new diet plan, it gives you advice on where to start and how to plan your new diet, what changes you should make, how to make sure you incorporate everything you need in your diet to maintain good health and how you can substitute one food for another.

Another great feature of FoodScan 113 food intolerance test is that you get 2 consultations with a BANT (British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy) registered nutritional Therapist. You can make an initial appointment as soon as you get your results. In this appointment, the therapist will go through the results with you and help you create a new diet plan that suits your needs. The second consultation will be booked a month after your initial consultation to review your progress.

I’ll be seeing my consultant soon and will have a new diet to follow, which at the moment seems a bit daunting. I guess I just don’t like change

I can honestly say I’m glad I took this test, it definitely beats going to a clinic to have it done, it was so simple and I could take it from the comfort of my home and in my own time! But the best thing about taking a food intolerance test that has been tested in a proper lab is that it gives me so much certainty. I now know for sure what it is I need to avoid, and most importantly for me…what I don’t need to avoid! I used to spend so much time worrying about what I should eat and what I shouldn’t. Is this food causing my eczema or is it not? I’ve heard some people are intolerant to this food maybe I shouldn’t have it! I don’t need to do that anymore! I can eat all the things I’m not intolerant to and enjoy it without feeling guilty. It’s like a weight taken off my shoulder…that’s by far the vest part of taking the test!

So this is my review of YorkTest FoodScan 113 food intolerance kit. Hope you guys found this helpful. I would definitely recommend this test if you think food intolerance may have something to do with your eczema flare-ups.

Hope you all have a lovely week

I wanted to share with you all some simple natural eczema remedies that can hopefully help with your eczema.

I’ve been searching for natural eczema remedies for a couple of years now whilst at the same time learning more about eczema as a condition. I’m thinking of making a series of these so if you like this post then let me know so I can do more

Eczema Remedies:

Cucumber: You probably all know about the use of cucumbers to treat puffy sore eyes, well it turns out that cucumber contains a hormone which gives it ant-wrinkle properties which is particularly good for around the eyes where the skin is a lot thinner and more sensitive.

Chamomile: Chamomile is a God’s gift, especially for people with eczema. It contains anti-inflammatory properties which means it helps calm down inflamed skin, which as you all know is one of the main characteristics of eczema skin.

• There are countless numbers of chamomile based creams out there which are 100% natural so that’s something to consider.
• Drinking chamomile tea is also amazing for eczema!
• Once you’ve used the chamomile tea bags to make a delicious skin loving hot drink, you can place the used tea bags on your face to help calm down any itchiness and redness that may occur due to an eczema flare-up.
• You can add chamomile essential oil to your favourite creams and moisturizers to give them that anti-inflammatory quality.

Avocado: Avocado is another eczema friendly food. It may be high in calorie compared to other fruits. The calories come from the oil it contains which is extremely hydrating whether you take it internally or apply it externally to the skin. Add it to your salads, or I prefer to make it into guacamole…yum!!

Avocado is also good used as a face mask. Mash half an avocado and mix it with your favourite oil (olive oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil…etc), place on the face and leave for 10-15 minutes then rinse off. The avocado and oil are highly hydrating and hopefully you should be able to feel the benefits after applyig the mask.

Rose water: Rose water is an amazing substitute for face toners. If you get the food grade rose water, it’s 100% natural and is gentle on the skin. Place some rose water on a cotton bud then gently wipe your face after cleansing. Oh and you can get rose water from any Middle Eastern and Indian grocery shops.

Lemons: Lemons are a great alternative to manufactured exfoliators. They contain antiseptic properties as well as vitamins C and D. Because it’s highly acidic, I wouldn’t recommend this if you have chapped/broken skin. It’s definitely good for eczema sufferers who have oily skin and blemishes due to its antiseptic properties.

For a lemon exfoliator, all you need is half a lemon and some sugar! Squeeze the half a lemon onto a cotton pad until it’s generously soaked then add some sugar. Rub the cotton pad on the face slowly in circular motions, then rinse off. Again, because of the sugar granulates, you may find it irritating if your face is inflamed so if you feel this may be the case then maybe you should avoid it all together.

Do you want more eczema remedies?

Hope you guys found this helpful and useful. Let me know if you would like me to do more of these eczema remedies posts. And if you have any of your own, please do share with us here or send them to my email address eczemaskinremedies@hotmail.co.uk and I would be delighted to share it with everyone.

Thanks for reading