June Renew: Day Fifteen
Smooth and Successful
My nighttime skincare routines are still going halfway thorough June. My skin has never felt so soft, whether it’s my face, my hands, my legs, everywhere. Turns out, if you form a beneficial habit, you see the benefits first-hand.
I still get pimples places, on my face or my derriere, but some things just can’t be helped as much as they can be prevented. I just want to keep this all going, as I feel like I’m just doing what’s necessary to keep myself at ideal levels. I’m sure if I went the rest of my life without lotioning my face at night, things wouldn’t be that much different from where I’ll inevitably end up. But I know I’ll feel much better taking care of things and making things as soft as possible.
But I know there’s things that will be out of my control, no matter how much I hand it to myself for keeping up these preventative measures.
A Rash of Feelings
There’s a rash forming on my hand. It started last week, looking like a weird little frowny face a few inches away from my thumb. At first I thought it was a bug bite, that something had nipped me possibly in the office. But it’s spreading. They’re like tiny little pimples that I fear may spread even more. It’s not so itchy, the cortisone cream my friend gave me seems to be helping. But what exactly is it? A contact rash? Did I rub up against something? Or is this just my natural state now; a woman with chronic skin issues?
I want to say this is the only problem, but there’s other things to notice. Like no matter how much I keep my legs lotioned or prepared with chub-rub blocker, I still get a heat rash all over my inner thighs. They’ve never once been smooth like I’ve been conditioned to have them be. And there’s nothing it seems like I can actually do about it except lose some weight so my thighs don’t touch. But this all-of-a-sudden bumpy ride I’m on from head to toe makes me wonder if the chafing is actually worth it, and if I can expect even more weird body changes as we go on.
Quit Yer Itchin’
My friend says allergies can suddenly appear. He one day woke up to find he couldn’t eat hazelnuts anymore. My mom had something similar where she developed allergies to grapefruit juice, shellfish, and nail polish. As for me, I had trouble when I realized I can no longer drink alcoholic cider, or else I break out in hives. Probably stems from my childhood apple juice allergy, something I still can’t drink to this day.
I guess the most important lesson for this is to remember that I’m not inviting all these changes. Just like I can’t necessary help a heat rash, I can’t be mad at myself for collecting another breakout. It doesn’t mean I’m gross or dirty or diseased, it’s just something that happened. I’m taking care of it. It might be best if I don’t overthink this one. My hand will heal, my skin will keep getting moisturized, and I’ll be on the lookout for the next bodily happenstance that seems to be plaguing my epidermis.
I wish I could be perfect, and I’m not. But I’ll get as close to it as I can, if you don’t mind the occasional razor burn, I suppose.