Favorite beauty items and cosmetics – Part 1, Hair and Skin care

Favorite beauty items and cosmetics – Part 1, Hair and Skin care

As my husband is learning, much to his chagrin, it is difficult to buy me anything that will touch my skin.

“Oh thank you!” I exclaim as I open the Christmas present. “New hand lotion!  I was almost out. Let me try some right now!”

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to get a drink!” (~as I run off to wash that *feeling* off my hands~)

The lotions and potions and cosmetics that work for millions of other women don’t always work for me. It might be that it irritates my skin, causes rashes, or I simply can’t stand the feel of it on my skin.

Over time, things that worked well for me for awhile may stop working, and sometimes I can go back to something that caused an outbreak with no problem this time.

I tend to go back and forth between things that are totally natural and needing to just pick something up off the shelf at the store, due to time, laziness, or the natural things just not working right for me.

So that’s my disclaimer – these are things that are working for me *right now*.   Of course, they may not work for your particular needs, so don’t take this as a blanket recommendation.

1. Shampoo

I go back and forth between Dove Nourishing Oil Shampoo, which is the only shampoo with sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) that I seem to tolerate, and

this L’Oreal Everstrong Sulfate-Free Thickening Shampoo, one of the few sulfate-free shampoos that leaves my hair less frizzy while not causing my scalp to itch (much). Before you mention “No ‘Poo,” know that I am a 5 time “No ‘Poo” attempter and dropper outer.  😉  I sometimes use baby shampoo, but don’t like how my hair looks most of the time afterwards.

2. Face and body soap

Call me a traditional girl, but I’ve tried tons of soap, including fancy/natural/homemade, and nothing feels as good for my particular skin as Dove Sensitive Skin. This works for my extremely sensitive teen daughter, too.

3. Facial Moisturizer

I moisturize my face after my morning shower, and that is enough for my combination skin.   I go back and forth between using a bit of jojoba oil on a damp face (cheap, natural) and Derma E Pycnogenol Moisturizer. The Derma E is more expensive, but it lasts a long time and seems to soak in better/faster then the jojoba. It also has pycnogenol, which is supposed to help facial redness. I can’t say it’s a miracle worker, but it seem to help my perpetually red skin.

 4. Body and Hand Moisturizer

My favorite off the shelf body lotion is Gold Bond Ultimate Restoring Lotion with CoQ10.   The scent is tolerable and it soaks into my hands and body without leaving a trace of “strange feeling” behind (you sensitive people will know what I mean!). I made a “hard lotion” bar for my daughter which she likes, containing shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax, but I don’t like how it feels on me.  I’d love to find an easy to make (or buy), nice smelling *natural* lotion, if you have any recommendations (or samples, hint hint, LOL).

5. Deodorant

I am not typically bothered by different deodorants/antiperspirants, other than wanting a smell I like, but I got weirded out by claims of constant antiperspirant use contributing to breast cancer, so I try to go deodorant free, at least in the winter.  What I use instead, is baby powder, either Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Dusting Powder or California Baby Calming Powder.  The essential oils and absorbant powders and clays keep me stink free and mostly dry. I occasionally need to reapply before evening, but that’s easy enough on days we are home.

6. Lip Balm

Since I consider this my lip moisturizer, I’m putting this here instead of in the next installment of this post, on Cosmetics.  My absolute favorite lip balm, hands down, is Aquafina Hydrating Lip Balm. It slides on, leaves a little shine, and best of all, doesn’t make my lips feel like they are suffocating. Some may be bothered by the slight tingle of the raspberry flavored one. This isn’t chemical free, but it doesn’t contain parabens, which is a plus.

Well, that’s all for the first installment of Irritated Amy’s Special Beauty Items! 😉 Check back next week where I’ll continue on with Part 2, on cosmetics.

What are your favorite beauty items for your sensitive skin?

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