Keeping It Simple: Hand Soap

One of my biggest eczema problem areas are my hands, so you'd think I'd be more mindful about what hand soaps I use at home. For as long as I can remember, I've just been stocking my bathrooms with sweet smelling foams without thinking about what's in that chemical soup.

Last month, Into The Gloss' Trace Barnhill asked readers "what's you're favorite hand soap?" One of the commenters, Mara, wrote something that was a wake-up call for me.

"I use CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser decanted into a bottle from MUJI. It's relatively inexpensive, pH balanced, fragrance-free, has ceramides (lipids found in healthy skin), hyaluronic acid (humectant), and cleans well."

I have been obsessing over ingredients for months now and had yet to investigate the product I use most on a daily basis. Lo and behold, one of the first five ingredients in my current hand soap was one of the worst offenders when it comes to skin irritation for me: fragrance. Also in the top five is Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) which is in the shampoo that I use and that's fine but I am not doing my skin any favors when I expose it to SLES at least six times a day.

I didn't go and toss out all the hand soap but once the one in our master bathroom was empty, I replaced it with Dial Gold. It's super affordable, surprisingly hydrating, has a ph level of 5.7 (according to Dial's own product catalog, anyway), and the clinically clean smell is inexplicably comforting. Now I just need some super cute soap dispensers to keep me from missing those silly "gentle" foaming hand soaps that smelled like a "winter cranberry". 

It's Been Two Weeks

...Chickity China the Chinese Chicken?

Since my first progress post I saw my primary care doctor, got some refills on my eczema creams and ointments, and I finally emptied my TFS The Smim Fermentation Concentrate Essence. My doctor didn't have any advice for me in regards to skin care so he just refilled my prescriptions to tide me over until my dermatology referral. I replaced The Smim Essence in my routine with the MISSHA First Treatment Essence Mist which I bought at the end of February because of a sale.

I'm already a fan of the essence mist because of it's quick application. With all the time it takes to apply my prescriptions, I embrace any step that takes mere seconds to complete.

Anyway! Let's take a look at how my skin is doing. (Apologies for using different lighting between the two weeks.)