Health is not valued until sickness comes

‘Health is not valued until sickness comes’ is a very apt quote for my unexpected situation. It’s a year since the world walked into the Corona virus nightmare. I recall watching the news and people of China falling in the streets and being sealed into their homes in absolute horror. It had all the elements of the movie, Contagion.

When the first lockdown came upon us in March and I closed my salon business, refunded the many event bookings I had, completed and paid my 2019/20 tax return to be debt free and started looking for driving or supermarket self-stacking work. This all came to a sudden halt within just two-weeks of the lockdown when I collapsed with an auto-immune disease which led to acute kidney failure. I turned into covid collateral damage leaving me at deaths door, without kidney function and a two-week stint in hospital to recover, with a further four more hospital admissions within 10 months. My life has turned on a sixpence and I am trying to come to terms and get used to my new disability while running a business.

My illness triggered drastic weight loss, kidney dialysis and medication have all taken its toll on my skin. With my fluids intake having to be less than one litre a day it’s been a difficult process not to drink. As a person who used to like a lot of drinking it’s torturous not to be able to knock-back quantities of cool refreshing water to rehydrate my system. I started to notice my skin gradually becoming dry and crinkly. I have lost collagen in the skin and the muscle tone has depleted especially in my arms. As I am unable to assist the problem with internal remedies I turned to researching external options to rehydrate my skin. I have a great love of all things Neal’s Yard and slapped on lots of the wonderfully fragrant body butters, but I wasn’t feeling they were enough moisture feeding the skin. As well as introducing gentle muscle toning exercise I did a little research on natural skin food. I’m trialing out two skincare products for a little extra skin help. I choose Aloe Vera Gel by Fresh Skin and Glyomide B1 Body Cream by Facetheory. The aloe vera gel is 99% bioactive with no colours or parabens and is suitable for all skin types. Glyomide body cream has 9% glycolic acid which helps tone the skin.

I have been using the products for two-weeks now together with natural organic coconut oil that I slap great quantities on when in the bath. Warning: bath well slippery when wet and oily. I feel well – oiled and my skin is improving. I do realise that due to treatment and medication that my skin will not be the same as it was, but I feel a little more confident in how it looks and feels especially as we approach summer and short sleeve weather.

If you have any intensive skin product recommendations please contact me.

Aloe Vera Gel by Fresh Skin bought online at £10.99for a 500g tub
Glyomide Body Cream by Facetheory bought online for £15.99
Organic coconut oil for Holland and Barrett- £10.99 (offer) 920g jar