Oh Skin, Wherefore Art Thou?

As a beauty blogger, I'm often not very precise in the way I use words, especially I probably don't use them the way a medical professional might. So, sometimes when I use the words sensitivity and allergy, I may not be accurately describing the skin condition that I'm suffering from. I've never gone for an allergy test because I have my doubts about them but maybe one day I may do it. I do have mild ezcema (diagnosed) and sensitivities (contact dermatitis also diagnosed before), very dry and easily irritated body skin, and easily irritated facial skin and scalp. Often I'm also confused about how things from the same origin or of similar make affect me in different ways. Take the Face Shop paper face mask trauma I suffered from recently, which resulted in a mild sort of contact dermatitis. I am unable to isolate exactly which ingredient affected me. Maybe it is as one comment suggested the different percentage of an ingredient that caused the reaction. As I ponder on this, I realise one strange thing: When I eat very acidic citrus fruits lemons, grapefruit or oranges, and if the juices come into contact with my face skin, eg. my chin or the corners of my mouth, I get a very bad reaction, which includes a burning/stinging sensation, and later, bumps and peeling like contact dermatitis. However, I do not get any bad reaction from citrus essential oils. Then I notice this - if my skin is over cleaned eg. I use too harsh scrubs or cleansers that strip the oil and moisture from my skin, my skin reacts to everything, even a change in the temperature (eg. going from warm exterior to aircon room or vice versa). Maybe the key is, like I mentioned to someone, I just need to keep my skin's oil, moisture and ph balance. When I get some time, I'll go visit a dermatologist, but meanwhile, I'll continue to crack my head over this mystery. © Copyright. All rights reserved.