Family Inheritance: Rosacea I hate you

So My Grandmother, My Mother and I all suffer from Rosacea. Rosacea is a painful and ugly. “Rosacea (pronounced “roh-ZAY-sha”) is a chronic and potentially life-disruptive disorder primarily of the facial skin, often characterized by flare-ups and remissions.”- http://www.rosacea.org normally treated with a cream, either SigmaCort or Rozex (prescription medicine). While being cranky during my last flare up I started looking into using oil to fight the Rosacea Demon. I put in an YLEO order but while I was waiting I purchased some Pure Jojoba Oil from the chemist and crossed between using it and an old tube of Rozex I nicked from my mum (because I couldn’t be bothered going to the doctor to get a script) – Anyway it did the trick and I found the Jojoba Oil instantly soothing.

I started of researching Rosacea and its causes, then natural essential oil remedy’s and that turned into looking at acne remedies as well. I found that generally speaking Rosacea occurs mainly in women over thirty (hmmm I got my first attack at 16). And apparently it gets worse with age (that’ll piss my mum off when I tell her). There are topical antibiotic medications and even oral treatments for really bad cases. I think my mum has a flare up about once a year and I generally only tend to get it when I’m stressed out and emotionally spent. Apparently mild Rosacea is actually really common, but most people confuse it with ache or eczema. I think for the most part (non-doctor opinion) that eczema medicated creams won’t do any harm. I have a cousin who had bad eczema when she was younger, she was given SigmaCort to treat it, my son was given SigmaCort to treat his skin when he was a newborn and I’ve been given SigmaCort for Rosacea, so same/same. But when I got my first attack at 16 I thought it was ache and put a Clean & Clear tonic on it and burned the f**k out of my face making it ten times worse. Moral of the story; you don’t want to treat Rosacea as Ache and you’ll bloody well know it if you do, but if you think it’s eczema and treat it so you’ll probably be fine :-P.

My plan for my next flare up:

Rosacea: I’ll try a two part pure Geranium Essential Oil, ten part pure Jojoba Essential Oil mix applied to area regularly /as necessary. And also swap out my morning and night moisturiser for Pure Rosehip Essential Oil during the flare up.

Ache: I’ll try a two part Tea Tree oil, ten part Jojoba Oil mix applied to area regularly /as necessary (and if it is Rosacea not Ache the Tea Tree oil won’t cause super burn problems).

I gave some of the oils to my mum to try as well, but obviously I can’t give you any results /thoughts until my mum or a have a flare up.

My reasoning behind the oils I picked >>

Geranium Oil: The anti-bacterial properties of the oil! And the aroma of the oil has a calming effect (like I said stress tends to bring it on in me, so the calming effect would be welcome) Apparently Geranium oil helps to stimulate the lymphatic system (I don’t really know much about this), but it boosts the skins natural ability to fight inflammatory skin conditions (that part sounds good eh).

Rosehip Oil: It is Liquid Magic! It’s packed full of nutrients, it’s naturally an anti-inflammatory and has some “retinol” thing in it that promotes the growth of healthy skin cells (Woop Woop). Rosehip oil is fantastical for treating numerous skin problems.

Jojoba Oil: Also Liquid Magic! So apparently skin suffering from rosacea can’t produce enough sebum (had to look up what that was). Sebum helps to hydrate the skin and act as a natural barrier to nastiness. Jojoba oil with its magical sebum-like properties of will help to counteract that. AND the anti-inflammatory properties of the oil will help to reduce the swelling of the skin (can I get a ‘Hell Yeah’).

Tea Tree Oil: Tea tree oil is a powerful antimicrobial agent, BAM! it Naturally Kills Bacteria! Kill them greasy puss ball pimples.

I hope that made sense and maybe some one finds it helpful, or at least maybe interesting LOL :-).

Lavender and Frankincense Part Two

This is a progress post following me trying Oils in my Face moisturiser.

After the amazing results I’ve had with putting YLEO’s Lavender into my body moisturiser (blog post link below) I decided to give it a go in my facial moisturiser, so I did some reading on the many uses of the Oils I had at home and I added the YLEO’s Lavender and Frankincense to my face moisturiser and I’ve been using it for the last two weeks. After adding the oils the cream definitely feels heavier on my face. I can feel the cream mix sitting on my face for a while after application, but It smells divine and my skin feels wonderful. I’m going to finish off the double oil moisturiser I have made up, but next time around I’ll add the lavender to my face wash and just the frankincense to the moisturiser and see how that goes. Also it’s summer here and has been rather hot, just step out of the shower and your sweating again kind of hot, I actually don’t think I’d notice the weight of the cream on my face the other nine months of the year.

My Previous Post – Part One – http://sarahfairbairn.com/2014/11/24/lavender-frankincense/

Product shots fro new catalog at YL farm in Mona

Frankincense-oil-and-resin

Lavender & Frankincense

20141124_065707

I’ve been using YLEO Lavender mixed in with my Jojoba moisturiser for a while now; I use it on my feet in the mornings. In the last couple of years I’ve had terrible problems with the skin on my feet. I tried countless chemist products to no avail, but after using the Jojoba moisturiser with added YLEO Lavender for a few months, my skin so no longer painful and scaly (it was like a chemical burn, but I couldn’t figure out what was causing it). I stopped using it for a while and found that my skin got rather dry again, but rubbing a little bit of cream in each morning is a small price to pay for pretty, painless feet.

I got badly burnt at a 4WD & Camping show last month and decided to give my jojoba lavender cream a try on my sunburn, as I’d read it was one of the MANY things lavender is good for. I was really impressed; it worked better than anything else I’ve ever used on sunburn. It was really soothing: the heat, pain and redness were taken away unbelievably fast.

Since the Lavender has worked so well on my feet I decided to add a drop to my face moisturiser and it’s been lovely and refreshing. I sat down on the weekend and wrote down the names of the oils I currently have, so I could look up what all their benefits are to make sure I was getting the most out of them. I came across some notes I’d scribed in my YLEO guide book about the benefits of Frankincense in skincare, so I’ve added a drop of that to my face moisturiser too. I’ll let you know how that goes once I’ve been using it for a bit longer.

I’m still keeping up my oils resume and supplements as I’ve mentioned in pervious posts and I can honestly say, bar the extra 23kilos I’m carrying, I’m feeling better than I have in years. If I could just kick these sugar cravings it’d make those 23kilos come off a hell of a lot faster. I want to get down to 70 kilos and stay there, any lower than that and I just can’t maintain it. It’s been five years since I was at 70 and I fell I’ve dealt with the issues that caused me to attempt to eat away my pain. For my height my “healthy” weight range according to my doctor is 58-72kilos (dang! I think I’d look terrible at 58). So onwards and upwards I go.

Previous oil posts >>

http://sarahfairbairn.com/2014/10/11/potions-pills-and-nightmare-chills-oh-my/

http://sarahfairbairn.com/2014/09/02/major-life-overhaul-pt-2/

http://sarahfairbairn.com/2014/07/31/yes-a-major-life-overhaul-is-due/

Potions, Pills and Nightmare Chills OH MY!

  • I’ve been trying so hard to go pain killer free, but my body continues to argue with me about it. Pain radiates from my lower back into the base of my skull and I can’t handle it anymore. I’ve got an appointment with a Physio, so we’ll see what they say. I figured I should try and get back into yoga to stretch and strengthen my back. I had been going really well, off my Antidepressants and off painkillers, using only natural remedies. But earlier his week the darkness returned with the loss of our beloved Buster and set me back a bit. Interestingly enough the return of the darkness has coincided with my back flaring up again – hmmm linked much!

    On Monday I had a really bad day; I felt absolutely useless, was in physical pain and spent most of the day crying or screaming at my husband. I had a horrible nightmare about my son dying the night before and it just shut me down. I had never felt true fear until I became a mother! My f*#ked up brain always takes me ‘there’, when I get the slightest bit down and then I feel the need to smother Riley with kisses. But I love my brain anyway; I wouldn’t be me without it.

    I have been keeping up my essential oil routine of; Young Living “Joy” Essential Oil blend rubbed on my wrists in the morning and Young Living “Peace & Calming” Essential Oil blend rubbed on my writs at bed time along with Lavender on my temples and Progressence Phyto Plus on my feet.

    I’ve also been taking quality supplements; a Multi Vitamin, Zinc, B2 in the morning and Magnesium at night before bed. I’ve have been sleeping better than I can ever remember. I’ve felt more alert and clear headed than I ever did on antidepressants. It’s only been this week that things have taken a turn, but I’m positive I can get on track, fix the physical issues and continue on with my journey to good overall health.

    I recently read that Yoga means “Union” and as we all know it is supposed to bring the body, mind and spirit back into alignment. Sounds good huh? I’d love to get my shit together and be one with myself. I am definitely getting there; I’m much closer to feeling whole than I was a year and half ago, when I was at my worst. A Yoga Centre opened up a little while ago in the old library of my town. I was thinking it was a sign that I should get back into yoga (as well as my back being a little bitch). I haven’t been to a class or done any poses since before I was pregnant with Riley.

    So back to the Yoga Union thing: Well, I’ve always been down with My Spirit, I love that girl. My Mind and I have had a rough relationship. It took me 27 years to love her, she caused my all sorts of pain until I could except and love her for who she is. We’ve been sweet for the past six months and it’s been really nice. But My Body, that bitch is causing me all sorts of pain at the moment. From about the age of eight I’ve hated her. Having my son forced me to appreciate and respect her. I am thankful for and love the things she’s given me, but not her – but I am working on that.

    I have come to truly love the ‘me’ within and I am looking forward to the day I can love the outside ‘me’ and we can all salute the sun together.

Major Life Overhaul Pt.2

YLEOpicdeff

Oils & Pain Relief: In my first Essential oils post on the 31st July I talked about starting my journey with oils to find natural remedies (focusing on Pain, Depression and Anxiety) and to create a happier and healthier home for myself and my family. I mentioned how I struggle with pain (headaches mostly) and at times find myself downing Panadeine Forte like tic tics.

I’m happy to say that over the month of August, my intake of painkillers has significantly decreased. There have only been a handful of nights when I haven’t been able to cope and have reached for the dreaded paracetamol or ibuprofen and only one night when I needed the Forte version. I’ve been rubbing young living’s Lavender oil (diluted) on my temples for the headaches as well as at night rubbing young living’s Peace & Calming oil blend behind my ears and on my wrists. On the really bad nights I’ve also been putting it on the souls of my feet and inhaling it from the open bottle for a few moments before laying down to sleep. Yesterday my young living home diffuser turned up so last night I only rubbed on the lavender, then defused the Peace & Calming through the air. It was extremely tranquil and I was having a lovely time drifting in and out of sleep at first, then my son decided he wanted to have a whinge and break the spell. Never the less my routine of young living’s Lavender and Peace & Calming has definitely had a positive impact of my night’s sleep. I’m falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer (unless my son has other plans).

Oils & Well-being: I’ve made the decision to go off my antidepressants, now this is not a decision I made lightly, my husband and I talked about it and he agreed. I’m rather fed up with the side effects and have lost faith in them. I’ve never really been keen on antidepressants as I fear putting such mind altering chemicals into my body, BUT there have been times in my life where I could not function without them. So I am in no way ‘anti’ antidepressants as we do what we have to do to survive this bat shit crazy world we call home. Over the years I’ve been on six different types and in the end I’ve gotten fed up with the side effects of all of them.

My last lot has been a twelve month block of them from suffering post-natal depression big time after my son was born. At the time I felt they helped, I mean Yes they did help as I was no longer was driving along imagining myself purposely swerving to hit an oncoming car or a passing street light. So yes they did their job and I felt ok again. BUT while those bad boys were making it so could function and even enjoy a relationship with my son, they were also making my brain fuzzy, wreaking havoc on my memory and killing my sex drive. It got to the point where I just wanted my husband to fuck off and not come near me at night because it wasn’t worth it. Fuck you antidepressants. I’ve had the same problem in various degrees with all the different types i’ve been on. Lack of the sexy time = number one killer of marriage and happiness, well I reckon as much.

It wasn’t until I stopped taking this last lot that I realised how much else of myself they had been blocking. I really feel that they were killing my creativity; I didn’t write nearly as much poetry or even that many blog posts (excluding book reviews) while I was on them and I didn’t do one single drawing or painting. Yeah fuck you antidepressants. Hey, if they work for you than that is great as I said – we do what we have to do to survive this bat shit crazy world we call home. So I’m running on empty at the moment and it’s not pretty, but I’m going to go back to the naturopath I saw when I was drug free and trying to fall pregnant with my son for help with a beneficial diet and herbal supplement regime to support my body and mental health. Also I will have to ramp up my physical activity to help combat the chemical loss. On the oil side I’m going to start using Young Living’s NingXia Red in the mornings & Progessence Phyto Plus before bed (Info & Links below) to help promote well-being and balance for my body. I’m going to cart around my bottle of young living’s Stress Relief essential oil blend to inhale (along with stopping and focusing on my breathing) to help calm me when I feel myself getting wound up (cause I go BANG like a firecracker when I’m unmediated, hell I can go BANG when I’m medicated to the max, I feisty).

So I’ll let you know how I’m going in a months’ time.

ningared

Product summary: NingXia Red combines the extraordinary wolfberry superfruit with 100 percent pure essential oils in a powerful, whole-body nutrient infusion. The benefits of the legendary Ningxia wolfberry have been sought after for centuries, and ongoing research continues to yield exciting, new health-supporting properties. Enjoy its naturally delicious flavour daily to sustain energy and to replenish key nutrients for long-lasting health and wellness support. — I was given samples of this when I signed up, not enough to judge the products benefits, but enough to know it’s tasty 🙂 —  http://www.youngliving.com/en_AU/products/wellness/antioxidant-support/new-ningxia-red

YLplus

Product summary: Progessence Phyto Plus is a USP-grade wild yam extract infused with vitex and essential oils to help women find balance the way nature intended. Specially formulated by Gary Young, ND, and Dan Purser, MD, this essential oil-infused product enhances moisture absorption through the skin and contains pure frankincense, bergamot, and peppermint essential oils. The product’s clear bottle showcases the purity of this unique serum formulation. http://www.youngliving.com/en_AU/products/essential-oils/blends/progessence-phyto-plus-15ml

Info on Peace & Calming Essential Oil: http://www.youngliving.com/en_AU/products/essential-oils/blends/peace-calming-essential-oil

 

yleo