Tried and tested

I have always had very diva-esque skin. Pale and fragile, it easily scars and I still have the marks of a nasty case of chickenpox over 10 years ago. I don't tend to use make-up very much to disguise my skin's faults; I feel odd in foundation, blusher or bronzer. Even so, I have bought and tried plenty of products to pamper my skin. They either irritate it further, just don't work or maybe I'm not using them right. So on the whole, I suffer through always dry, sometimes spotty, sometimes flaky, sometimes itchy and always diva-esque skin.

At least most areas of our skin have hair, sweat glands and sebaceous glands to try to protect and serve some. Our lips, on the other hand, do not and thus need extra attention. For as long as I can remember, I have had chapped lips and for almost as long, a super-sized tub of Vaseline has been a permament fixture at my bed-side (as well as a pocket version to keep handy). However I find Vaseline to be ineffective and started to use other products, such as Carmex or any other salve available. Even so, this winter my lips were constantly in pain and these supposed remedies were not helping, although I had now become addicted. I perpetually reeked of cherry Carmex but my lips were still sore.

Perhaps there is an element of immunity to these chemical-filled lip balms, because they worked at first but then the magic seemed to wear off. If any of you readers are scientists, please enlighten me. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, fed up of the overly saccharine smell of the Carmex, smily texture of the Vaseline and the constant pain I bought this organic Neal's Yard Lip Formula. It was a little pricier than my usual stuff but definitely the cheapest in the high-class pharmacy I visited.

And let me tell you, this stuff is heaven. It smells delightfully yet subtley of shea nut and rosehip (I didn't know what that smelt like 'til now, either) and definitely relieves the pain. The best part, however, is that I don't seem to be addicted. I can go for several hours longer without it than any of the other products I have used, and I am happy to report that I have gone the longest without Vaseline for several years. Maybe I'm just being cynical, but doesn't it seem like most non-medicinal 'healers' are more concerned with getting you hooked and selling more than actually fixing your problem?