Wyrd Wednesday - Footloose

Today I'm dealing with a touchy subject (no, not talking about fetichism here, you sickos!! :p), because I know most people hate to see feet pics on a blog and to make things worse, I'm gonna talk about sick feet.

I've mentionned a couple of times that I'm suffering from eczema, and while beauty blogs usually make you believe that the biggest skin problems you can have is dilated pores, I've decided to talk about it. I remember how bad I felt when I read a blogger comment her FB page "lol, I received a partnership offer from an association of psoriasis sufferers, hello glamour, you can forget me!!", and how good I felt when Helen from Just Nice Things mentionned her heavy skin problems on her blog, and I guess I'm not the only one to feel that way. It's also easier for me to talk about it now since the worse is behind and it seems I've finally found a long-lasting cure!

Sooo, let's get back to the beginning. In 2002, I started to develop skin problems of two very distinct varieties: rash and eczema. I won't talk about the rash mostly because it was treated with medication and is almost non-existant now (I might have an itchy spot during my period or when I have tight clothes, but it's not really a bother anymore). The eczema was another story. 

I suffer from a very particular form of eczema called Dyshidrosis, and I must have seen ten doctors, none of which had any clue about it, let alone know how to treat it. In the end, it was my Minnie who found out what it was, and she also found the best remedy. 

The big problem with dyshidrosis is that the skin is at once very damaged, which needs deep moisturizing, and blistering, which needs to dry and heal. So if you moisturize, your skin will be healthier and thicker, but the itching will be unbearable because the blisters can't heal. And if you don't moisturize, the blisters will heal but your skin will be ultra-dry and cracking. Usually, dermatologists prescribe corticosteroids creams, but it was a catastrophy for me, and the only thing that worked was a mix of Vaseline (for moisturizing) and aspirin (for treating the blisters). It wasn't the most practical thing (have you every tried to walk with Vaseline on your feet??), but it did make the blisters disappear. Of course, all my skin problems had a psychological and stress origin, so the biggest treatment was finishing PhD and moving on with my life. But that wasn't enough. My eczema is mostly located on my pinkies (the biggest bother being that it deforms my nails) and on my feet, and there it remained a problem until a while ago. My soles were still very dry, crackling often and the apparition of horned layer was multiplied by ten. I spent the last winter applying pure shea butter on my soles every night with socks on, and it didn't do a thing. So I was ready to spent yet another summer hiding my feet, both because they were ugly and because walking around with open shoes could provoke cracks in less than an hour.

But then a miracle happened, and thanks to Yoko, I heard about the cream OPI Soften : AHA calluse skin softener, with green tea extracts, and non-abrasive alpha hydroxy acids, it's supposed to melt dead skin. I gave it a try and was astonished at the result. First thing is that it penetrates quickly: ten minutes after you've rubbed it on your feet, you can walk away. The smell is quite discreet, it smells of ... cream!!, which is quite a change from many footcreams that smell of peppermint (it's fine for the feet, but the smell stays on the hands, yuck!!). And it does work wonders: my feet healed completely in a couple of weeks. Then, stupid me thought "OK, things are better now, I can stop playing the luxury girl that orders her cream from the US, let's go back to a more accessible product". That was a big mistake and it really proved that this cream is what I need. So now I've learned my lesson and I now have 500g of cream waiting in my stash!!

And yes, last summer, for the first time in ten years, I bought flip-flops and showed my feet! So as a conclusion, I would say that skin problems are not a fatality, keep trying products, one might work in an unexpected way!

I've kept the worst for the end, so that if you want to skip the pics, you can leave now!!

The nightmare in 2009 : my feet at the worse, a combo of super dry skin and irritation.

  

2010: things are better, but still, my skin was peeling and irritated

 

And that was this morning. As you can see, my soles are now almost completely healed: I still see some defects, but I'm the only one to see them, and a couple of months more using that cream will finish the job!

Special Friday - Funky Feet

In the future, I want to set up a different section for Fridays, but it'll require some work so it's not for right now. But anyway, today's a special day so it requires a special post. Beware, if you don't like feet pictures, move along, especially as those were taken late at night to keep a trace of a very unique pedicure.

So today's Minnie's birthday, she's turning 29 and here's a cheesy pink glittery pic for her: 

Minnie one of the most special persons to me in this world: we are not biologically related, but she's a truer family member than anyone who shares my blood, we've been through so much together that we're bounded for life, as sisters are. Since we now share a flat, I can test a lot of beauty things on her, especially in terms of nail art. Her real name is not Minnie, but seeing as she's a huge Disney fan, it's a nickname that most people are using. So of course, Disney nail water decal were something she couldn't pass on (and we had them thanks to Tenshi, big hug to you), and here's the pedicure she had when we went to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland Paris:

This was my first try at toe-water-decals, it was late at night so it's not perfect. Moreover, I didn't see at first that the smaller decals were not all the same and applied them in a different order than on the sheet, and it was a mistake. So, room for improvement, but still, the result was really funny and nice. Since we had superb weather at Disney, she was able to wear flip-flops and show off!!

As you can see, the trouble with such images is that it's quite hard to have them in full, especially on the toes, but even if some the characters were cut, the result is nice.

So once again, biggies hugs to you sweetie and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY