Two factoids about me, my pretties. Factoid Number One: I have had acne since my teens, and I have quite a lot of pigmentation and scarring, largely due to the fact that I'm completely unable to keep my hands away from my face. Factoid Number Two: My major phobia is Slimy Wriggly Things With No Legs. Think slugs, worms, snakes, snails (Slimy Wriggly Things With No Legs With a House), eels (Slimy Wriggly Things With No Legs That Swim), lizards (Slimy Wriggly Things With No Legs With Legs), frogs (Slimy Wriggly Things With No Legs With Legs That Jump).
Bear with me on this, because these two things are related. Andes Natural Skin Care say they have come up with a product that will both treat acne and clear up acne scarring and the product is derived from, get this, serum harvested from the Helix Aspersa Muller snail*.
Just give me a moment here while I shudder ...
*shudder*
Ok, back to the story. Studies published last year in the Journal of Pharmacology and Physiology of the Skin showed the serum to be effective in both the treatment of acne and acne scarring.
I really, really want to try this product. I hate my acne scarring and would dearly love to find a product that would treat it. But I just know that every time I put it on my face I'd be completely creeped out by the knowledge that there was, urgh, snail juice touching my skin! The question is, does my desire for a treatment outweigh my phobia?
For more on the science behind it, here is an article from Cosmetics Design Europe, and the Andes Natural website is here. I love the multitude of different ways they manage to not say the word snail!
* How do they harvest the serum? Do they milk the snails? Because the mental picture of a whole line of snails hooked up to a milking machine is very funny. And creepy.
Showing posts with label acne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acne. Show all posts
06 May 2009
A new use for an old favourite
I have a confession to make. I'm a Perpetual Pimple Picker (do you see what I did there, with the alliteration?). Ever since my first spot appeared in my early teens, through to the adult acne that still plagues me now in my (late-ish) 30's, I've been completely unable to keep my hands away from them. I'm well aware that this is a Bad Thing - picking spots spreads the infection, can lead to scarring and half the time makes them look worse than they did before I started prodding at them, but I'm completely unable to stop myself.
A couple of weeks ago I developed not one, but two of Those Spots. You know, the massive, painful blind spots that throb painfully and feel (even if they don't look) like a giant beacon shining from my chin. So of course I had to squeeze and pick and generally mutilate myself, until I ended up with a patch of painful, raw, red skin on my chin, even after the pimples had long since gone. After two weeks of trying every moisturiser in my arsenal and even a bandaid (which looked really stupid and itched like crazy) in an attempt to stop myself from picking at the scabbing and help it to heal, I finally, in desperation reached for the Chapstick I always carry around in my handbag, figuring that if it helps chapped lips then maybe it would do something for my poor, sore chin. And what do you know, it worked a treat. The thick, sticky texture of the Chapstick meant that I wasn't tempted to pick at it, and it very quickly soothed the raw skin. Within a few hours the skin was less inflamed, by the next day it was smoother and the inflammation had gone down even further and now, several days later, I have only a patch of slightly pink skin in place of the social life-destroying monstrosity (ok I may be exaggerating slightly) that was there previously.
In future I'm obviously going to try to stop myself from squeezing pimples in the first place, but I'm also going to ensure that I always have a tube of Chapstick handy just in case.
A couple of weeks ago I developed not one, but two of Those Spots. You know, the massive, painful blind spots that throb painfully and feel (even if they don't look) like a giant beacon shining from my chin. So of course I had to squeeze and pick and generally mutilate myself, until I ended up with a patch of painful, raw, red skin on my chin, even after the pimples had long since gone. After two weeks of trying every moisturiser in my arsenal and even a bandaid (which looked really stupid and itched like crazy) in an attempt to stop myself from picking at the scabbing and help it to heal, I finally, in desperation reached for the Chapstick I always carry around in my handbag, figuring that if it helps chapped lips then maybe it would do something for my poor, sore chin. And what do you know, it worked a treat. The thick, sticky texture of the Chapstick meant that I wasn't tempted to pick at it, and it very quickly soothed the raw skin. Within a few hours the skin was less inflamed, by the next day it was smoother and the inflammation had gone down even further and now, several days later, I have only a patch of slightly pink skin in place of the social life-destroying monstrosity (ok I may be exaggerating slightly) that was there previously.
In future I'm obviously going to try to stop myself from squeezing pimples in the first place, but I'm also going to ensure that I always have a tube of Chapstick handy just in case.
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