For Super Dry Skin

I've struggled my whole life with dry skin, including having eczema. Starting in the fall and throughout the entire winter, if I'm not careful and not using the right products, my skin can get so flaky and itchy...it's just super gross and uncomfortable.

Because I'm not going to use my derm prescribed eczema ointment as a body lotion (ew, I HATE the word "ointment") because it's not cheap and I'm not trying to be covered in ointment, *vomits* I had to find an incredibly moisturizing body lotion that:

1. Isn't super expensive

2. Isn't too heavily perfumed (sensitive skin and heavy perfumes do not do well.)

3. Actually works

So I did some googling and found that many people spoke highly of a lotion called Amlactin. Because it's made with 12% alpha hydroxy acids, it exfoliates the dead skin while also intensely hydrating it. The problem is...it smells terrible. Like *dry heaves*...feet. So I never ever use it cause why would I. I mean, I'm sorry but I prefer my after shower ritual to be pleasant rather than something during which I have to breathe through my mouth. (Ok I'm being dramatic but you guys, it's just not great.)

Fast forward to a couple nights ago when I was cleaning out my medicine cabinet and realized I have a HUGE bottle of lavender essential oil that I mix with water and spray on my pillow before going to bed (again with the pleasant rituals, sue me.) So I saw the bottle of Amlactin (actually, the CVS brand, which is way cheaper) and thought, Lemme put some oil into the lotion and see if it covers the "unscented" scent and if I fuck it up, no big deal because I don't use the lotion anyway. Well, I mixed two full droppers into an 8 oz bottle, shook it super hard to it mixed and lo and behold...I'm basically now at the level of the person that started The Body Shop, if I'm being totally honest. It WORKED.

(I just linked the actual Amlactin brand on prime because the prices are similar at CVS for generic)

This is the lavender oil I use:

It's less than 13 bucks for 4 oz of oil...that's a pretty good price if you ask me. NOW. I'm not an essential oil professional (who legit exist) so I don't know about the best brands or whatever but this one works and I'm gonna keep using it until it runs out.

PLUS! Lavender oil is soothing. And of course, it smells pretty yum. But again, because the oil is mixed in with the lotion, don't expect to go around all day smelling like lavender. In fact, once it absorbed, I couldn't smell the lavender anymore which is fine with me because I don't like when lotion scents mix with my perfumes.

So anyway, moral of the story is use what you have! And *or* clean out your medicine cabinets and under your sink more often. I guarantee if you don't find any buried treasures there, you'll at least be able to throw away some shit you don't use anymore or that's gone bad and it will feel super wonderful to have purged.