Thank you for the information and all that.
My upper half is better than my lower, which gets the most neglect, but not entirely.
Gentle scrubs don't have any effect on me. They just make me flake up.
My skin care on my body is vigorous and would make any skin care specialist squirm. When I'm in the shower or bath I scrub with the finer side of a paddle foot scrubber. This makes it easier to get my back which is very prone to flaking and it's soooo itchy. Then, because I'm cheap and have to really watch how much I spend on skin care stuff, I just use a body wash with a loofah. Sometimes I shave my legs and it helps with exfoliating.
After my shower, within 5 minutes I slather on some St. Ives lotion. I can't really put on heavy scented products because of a no-scent policy at work, and you wouldn't believe how sensitive some people's noses are there.
I scrub my feet in the shower, but mostly that is done separately. I've tried foot butter, foot lotion, foot gel and I just can't find anything that works.
For my face I have my spa days at home a couple times a week. I use Freeman masks and scrubs because they are affordable and there are tons of varieties. Right now, I'm using the black sugar and charcoal scrub mask, lemon and chamomile clay peel-off mask (stuff freakin' hurts to pull off.), diamond scrub mask (smells delicious and makes my face look like a diamond ore mine), banana-oat mask (smell just like mashed banana, or banana flavored amoxicillin), golden grain mask, key lime scrub. I've tried others but those are my favorite so far. It sounds excessive but it's stopped my face from flaking and I appear more clear and clean.
After, I use lotion. My mom got me a St. Ives winter care basket and it came with a face lotion that I like.
I used to use Spectro Gel and this face gel from Avon.
I've been drinking more water than I used to. About 2 to 3 or more bottles at work because of the horrible dry and hot environment.
Weird thing is that there is a patch of smoothness just above my knee, where I rest the back of laptop when I'm lounging on my couch. The heat of the vent doesn't burn me because it blows out the side, but a bit of heat does hit my leg and it's just gotten rid of the dry skin acne and roughness and hair in just that one patch.
For my hands, I scrub them in the shower and I always keep lotion on me. I found this Cuticle Rehab stuff works really well. My nails are more brittle and tend to break. I stopped biting my nails a few years ago and I'm always painting them, experimenting with nail art and buffing them.
My ichthyosis effects my hair, too. It's more brittle than the average person, and it sheds a lot more. I don't wash my hair everyday, but I have to watch what shampoo or products I use. I always condition, always. I don't think vinegar is going to be kosher on my scalp. I can't use any citric acid or it will cause a painful rash. I once had to stick my hand in a can of tomatoes and mash them up when I was working in a restaurant, my hand and arm immediately formed a burning rash type of eczema. I tried to tell them.
I've heard that baking soda cleans EVERYTHING, except wood and leather.
Other than my extensive skin care products I don't wear very much make-up. No point, eyeliner makes my eyes watery and red, eyeshadow never stays on, lipstick doesn't stay on and makes them chap up, foundation just brings out the dryness in my face and looks blotchy.
I like using lip balms. Aquafina (Yeah, they went there.) came out with their own line of lip balms that are scented and tasty. They work well, too. I do not like those Eos ones. They make your lips worse.
When I just rinse my hair it gets gross. My scalp is a mess. It's oily but flaky. I can't win.
I probably should eat more avocadoes. I've been using olive oil and grapeseed oil. I've been eating more fish than 4 legged animals. Fresh fish. There's nothing like salmon salad sandwiches made with fresh, baked salmon.
I remember my mom just trying everything under the sun that was affordable for her and blaming everything she could possibly suspect for my dry skin. It wasn't until I was in junior high that I was diagnosed and found out it's a hereditary skin condition that my uncles had. It's not as bad as some people have it. It's not like my skin resembles tree bark or an alligator. My best-friend said it was cool because I was like the x-men and I could be like a lizard girl.