Valen’s Vanity Square

My past week was all about flying. Flew to Bali island for a short holiday, came back, unpacked, and repacked for a business trip to Singapore the next morning. Had not even warmed my bed before I got up and left!

But the holiday was relaxing, although a bit tiring due to the scorching hot weather there. I thought it was supposed to be rainy season, so said the weather forecast app on my iPhone and also travelling websites on the Internet. But I ended up two tones tanner, and it is so obvious - there is actually a dividing line on my chest. Dark above the tube top line, fair below. And somehow, I got this weirdly-shaped patch of darken skin tone right on the top of my right arm arm, near to the shoulder. I think it looks a bit like the edge of an umbrella. Haha!

But also during this trip, I think I triggered skin allergic reactions on my face. I suspect the culprit is the make-up remover facial wipe that I used in both Bali and Singapore. For the purpose of travelling light, I bought a small packet of facial wipe, some cheap unknown brand, from the pharmacy. Often, those products, sad to say, contain too much chemicals that are hostile to sensitive skin.

My face started to feel itchy and get mild red bumps on my last night in Bali, but it got more severe after I used it for the third time during my stay in Singapore. Yesterday, I had those eczema-like rashes all around my mouth.

With the help of medicine, the itchiness and rashes are now under control. But the skin where the rashes appeared is now turning dry and flaky. This needs about a week of very tender loving care to recover to its original healthy complexion.

The moral of this episode: my skin can’t take cheap skincare products.

(Now I have solid reasons to spend money on expensive cosmetic brands, haha!)

Miracle! Miracle!

Went for a simple facial last week and I did not end up with itchy rashes on my face at all!

Because of the allergic reactions that I had been getting with my facials, my beautician gave me a very basic facial regime the last time I went in April. Even with just a simple regime comprising cleansing, extraction and a cooling menthol-scented cream (or clay?) mask, I still got hit by red itchy rashes on the face two hours after the facial!

Then I went for another time last week, albeit at a different center now because the one in MV has moved to Puchong. My new beautician did the same routine, except that she gave me calming chamomile sheet mask instead of the my usual cooling cream mask. She applied a new piece of mask for me every 15 to 20 minutes, for three times!

Despite that I was quite anxious all the time, worrying about seeing redness suddenly pops up on my face, I was actually ’safe’ and itch-free for the rest of the day!

So, is the culprit the cooling mask? Does that mean they just have to avoid applying that mask? Or is it because my skin is now so sensitive that I have to switch to treatments meant for sensitive skin? I don’t know yet, probably my beautician will advise me further when I visit for a follow-up this weekend.

Hopefully, everything will be fine from now onwards, and I can once again enjoy my facial - itch-free and stress-free!

Although I haven’t really accomplished a lot in work this week, knowing that I have to work my head off over the weekend in order to meet my deadlines has already made me feel exhausted!

But before the exhaustion hit, I’m just going to enjoy for a couple of hours of relaxing time in facial treatment tomorrow. My last facial was more than half a year ago!

Well, I don’t know if it will still be a relaxing experience few hours after the facial. I’m quite anxious about my skin reactions after the session. I stopped going for facial because my face gets allergic reaction every time I did it. And my skin seems to have become sensitive to certain ingredients in skincare products. I’m not able to identify the specific compounds that my skin is sensitive to, but at least I know that a certain brand of products must be removed from my skincare armamentarium.

I will ask my beautician to administer the most basic facial regime. No special treatment using special plant extract for special function. Just give me cleansing, mild exfoliation, extraction, massaging, and a simple mask (no facial sheet mask though).

If my skin still reacts to the treatment and give me rashes on the face, that’s it. I have to stop using their service. It’s not about having them analyzing my skin and recommend another exorbitant treatment package. It’s not about finding me the best nodular acne treatment or face-lifting procedure. Yes, I do believe that their treatments are effective, but if my skin is not amenable to their treatment because their products contain certain ingredients that it can’t tolerate, whatever treatment I receive will give me the same problem.

If that’s the case, there’s one predicament for me. I have signed up for the package and I still have 12 times of facial treatment sessions! Enough for one year of ’supply’ if I go once a month! So if I’m not able to continue that one dozen times of facial, what am I going to do with them?!

Sometimes I get a bit paranoid, worrying that things will happen if I don’t do this or that. So I decided that I should bring along my allergy medicine with me to work everyday, you know, just in case. And thank goodness I did!

Really, the cause of my skin allergy remains a mystery. I didn’t use facial mask this week, neither I went for facial (no more facial appointments during working days for me). But it just happened!

Two days ago, my eyelids and the corner of my lips started to feel itchy after having lunch with my new colleagues. These are the areas that are prone to itchiness and red bumps whenever the allergic reaction kicks in. Quickly I took my antihistamine to calm down the itchiness before things went bad. But the redness and slight swelling, though mild, remained till today. Now. Jeez, I really need a permanent allergy relief solution!

I’m truly puzzled. What triggered the reaction? Was it my sister’s bedding (I slept over at my mom’s place in my sister’s room)? Was it because I ate eggs over the past few days? Was it the eye shadow I put on to work? (But I didn’t put eye shadow around my lips!) Or was it stress, which quietly creeps in once I started working?

I have no clue. All I know is that I will avoid eating eggs, peanuts and seafood this week, and put minimal stuffs on my skin. *Sigh*

vv

Went to the pharmacy to get my allergic medicine during the weekend. I showed the pharmacist the prescription my doctor gave me - an antihistamine and a steroid. Antihistamine is to stop the itchiness, while steroid is to relieve inflammation and swelling (i.e. the bumps and rashes).

The itchiness subsided two days ago, but there was some redness on the skin yesterday. Today, my skin looks pretty much back to normal. What I noticed is that the skin around my eyes and eyelids tend to become dry and flaky after the allergic reaction, may be because I scratched the area a lot. I know the best eye creams won’t be of any help now, as I need to use eye gel according to the pharmacist.

When I told the pharmacist how my skin allergic reaction happened the first time, and how it occurred again 2 weeks later after my facial, she said I shouldn’t go for facial so soon since the first incidence. And she also advised to avoid allergenic foods, such as peanuts, eggs, prawns, etc, for the time being. Eeeks, I already have had those. Anyway…

And on the skin care aspect, she told me not to use facial cleanser that has bubbles (I think she meant foamy facial cleanser), but simply rinse my face with clean water (not sure if I want to follow that), and use gel-base moisturizer. I wonder if Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid moisturizing lotion is considered a gel-base moisturizer. I’m using it now and it doesn’t appear to cause any problem.

I have to be careful with my other skin care products this week. No facial mask from now onwards. No facial treatment in the next 4 weeks. I’m going to start on a new job next week, and I don’t want to meet new colleagues with a face with rashes all over. Haha!

Jeez, what’s wrong with my immune system? I thought my previous favorite facial mask was the culprit to the skin allergic reaction on my face. It seems that even my facial treatment is giving me problems!

Went for facial yesterday. Everything was fine after that, my complexion looked more supple and my pores were reduced. So, I window shopped, had my afternoon snack and coffee, waiting for hubby to meet me for dinner at the shopping mall.

About 2 hours later, I started to feel itchiness on my neck, face and around the eyes. And there were small bumps and big bumps emerging on my face, too! Oh no, it’s here again. The allergic reaction!

I didn’t have my allergic medicine with me, and my face just becomes redder and had rashes all over. I couldn’t do anything but sat in the ladies washroom (there’s a make-up area with sofas) and waited for hubby. I didn’t want to walk around and scared away the patrons of the shopping mall. Haha!

I still can’t figure out what causes my suddenly sensitive skin. Facial masks that I have used without problem, facial treatment that I have undergone for more than a year, they both now trigger skin allergy on my face.

I don’t know if that means I can’t ever go for my facial again (but I still have 12 more treatments in the course!), or they just have to change the type of treatment to suit my current skin condition. *sigh*

If I had acne and blemishes now, I don’t think I would even bother to look for the best acne treatments, coz I have a more urgent problem to deal with now - a sensitized skin. As to exactly what my skin is sensitive to, I don’t know! Other skin care products that I’ve been using don’t seem to trigger any undesirable reaction so far.

Looks like tonight I have to visit the pharmacy and get some anti-allergic medicine in case a flare up happens again!