My Summer 2015 Travel Plans

Hello! I mentioned previously that I had booked a quick holiday to Florence this June. Well I made a very spontaneous booking to America! So I decided to put together a plan of all the travels this Summer, mainly for me to get excited!!! :D

12th-14th June. Wedding in Athlone, Ireland

My cousin is getting married in June in Athlone and I cannot wait! This will be the first wedding I have been to since I was about 10 years old so I don't know what to expect. But one things for sure, my family is huge and when we get together we always have the best time!

24th-29th June. Piza, Italy

This is really my parents holiday and I just hopped on the band wagon. They're going for a couple of weeks with friends and when they offered if I wanted to come I couldn't say no! I genuinely don't know where exactly Im staying, all I know is we are going on a day trip to Florence and I have wanted to go to Florence ever since I was a teenager. They're will be so many photos taken of old buildings that nobody cares about haha.

7th-14th July. New York, USA

I'll only be back a week and then I'm off again! My sister and I are going to visit my cousin who lives in New York! I went to New York last year at the end of my Summer and I did not make the most of it :( I didn't go to any museums, I didn't see a Broadway show and I just didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. I'm going to make up for that this year because I know my sister will be just as enthusiastic as me.

15th-22nd July. Orlando, USA

Now if were enthusiastic in New York, we are going to be downright crazy in Orlando! My sister has never been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios and i haven't been there since they extended it to Islands of Adventure. We are Ultimate Harry Potter fans! I could spend he entire week in Harry Potter World! But of course were going to go to the rest of Universal Studios, Walt Disney World and shopping!!! Just need to find all that money I don't have... haha

23rd July-12th August. Island Hopping in Greece

Im cutting it very close with the timing of this holiday. I arrive back to Ireland from Orlando on the morning of the 22nd July. Then on the afternoon of the 23rd July I'm hopping on another flight with all my friends to Athens. Were having a girls holiday, island hopping in Greece. We haven't had a girls holiday since we were 18 so Im really looking forward to this one. Were going to Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Ios and Crete. I can't handle drinking more than two days in a row so well see how this holiday goes!

11th-14th September. Berlin, Germany

I have a little bit of time to chill at home before I head off on my final trip. In September Im going to Lollapalooza Music Festival in Berlin with a few friends. We're going a day early to see a bit of Berlin before we dance the weekend away. Fatboy Slim, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Kygo are some of the acts I'm really excited for!

So there it is, one of the busiest Summers of my life. Ever since I graduated from college I feel like I should do everything I wanna do before its too late and I have to be a grown up. Thats why I'm spending every euro I have on travelling and music and clothes. Next year I can start paying bills! Is anyone else heading to Lollapalooza this year? You'll find me dancing like a lunatic in the corner. See ya there! Talk soon.

Uiscebawn x

Dealing with Contact Dermatitis

The Problem

I've mentioned before that I started working as bar staff in a pub in October. Mixing cocktails, using harsh cleaning supplies and constantly washing my hands caused me to get contact dermatitis on my hands. It started about 2 weeks after my first day. In the beginning it was just a bit of dry skin on a couple of my fingers. I've seen this before so I put some hydrocortisone cream on the affected areas. This usually helps, but this time I wasn't so lucky. Hydrocortisone is for temporary use so I stopped applying it after a week. This is when my hands got really bad. They became infuriatingly itchy. I would scratch uncontrollably in my sleep. They were red raw and cracked, I couldn't bend my fingers without experiencing a lot of pain. After a few weeks it spread to all my fingers and the entire palm of my hand down as far as my wrist. Simple actions, like driving my car, became a painful effort. Not only was it painful, it was ugly as hell! Small spots started to appear on my hands. My confidence was destroyed. I constantly gripped my hands closed so no one would see my hands. The photos below were taken after the worst stage of the dermatitis but you can still see the redness, spots and raw spots.

I went to my local doctor and he was useless. He told me I should just quit my job. He didn't educate me on contact dermatitis at all and just told me to moisturize and charged me €55! I've recently changed to a different doctors and I'm delighted with it. She examined my hands in such detail, she went through all the different things I could do and gave me the names of her favourite dermatologists if my hands got any worse.

Finding a solution

I started to pin point what made my hands worse. Unfortunately, there were some things I could not control. The cold weather and the indoor heating were not helping. I simply had to wait for warmer weather to solve that problem. However, there were some things I could control. I stopped applying any makeup with my hands and would use sponges for bb cream and cotton pads for moisturizers. I cut out wine altogether. That had a huge effect. If I drank wine, the morning after my hands would feel like they were on fire! I would only get my hands wet when necessary (for washing hands/showers etc.) Finally I would wear cotton gloves in bed at night in the hopes that it stopped me from scratching.

My second step was to find the right creams. I went through prescriptions creams such as elocon and protopic. These are basically stronger versions of cortisone. I tried silcocks base, e45, La Roche Posay repair cream, Neutrogenia and Cocoa Butter hand cream. 

7 months later, I have finally found what works for me! 

Elocon

This is a prescription ointment I get from my doctor but its really just a more powerful hydrocortisone so I'm sure that would work too. I use elocon when my hands get really bad. I mean so bad I can't bend my fingers and I've open wounds all over the palms of my hands (gross, I know, but sadly it happens.) I use Elocon once a day for a week and no longer because it thins out the skin.

Dermalex

I talked about this in my favorites of the month post. It's my miracle cream! I use this three times a day and I find it works a lot better if I use it right after I've washed my hands. It provides so much relief (temporary and long term) to all the discomfort from this contact dermatitis. 

Aveeno hand cream

I use Aveeno body lotion and shower gel so when I was recommended the hand cream I didn't have any doubts. Aveeno is a great brand for people who suffer from skin problems such as excema, psoriasis and dermatitis. I use Aveeno handcream all day everyday! Whenever my hands get wet, after my hands have been out in the cold, whenever! It's got a great smell too it, dries in quick and actually works unlike some hand creams I've used. 

Elave hand wash

Most hand washes were terrible for my dermatitis. They washed away the moisture in my skin. I got elave hand wash because I know Elave products are good for eczema sufferers. I keep it in the bathroom with a label on it so no one uses it haha I also keep some in my bag in a travel bottle. This way I don't have to use the soap in the public bathrooms and in work. 

My hands are so much better but not fully healed. I have my good days and my bad days. I am waiting patiently for Summer and the vitamin D that my skin needs so badly. Hopefully, the warm weather combined with my routine will make this problem go away.  Has anyone ever had any similar skin issues and have any advice? I also hope this helps anyone who has the same problem as me. Talk soon! 

Uiscebawn x

Favourites of the Month: April

Another month gone and its officially Summer! I've got some new favourites this month and here they are :)

Entertainment: Tom Fletcher Youtube Channel

For anyone that doesn't know, Tom Fletcher is part of the band McFly and has some viral videos on Youtube including the Wedding Speech video and this other gem! I was a crazy McFly fan as a teenager and Tom Fletcher was my favourite member of the band. So obviously I had to subscribe to his Youtube channel when he started vlogging! What I love about his Youtube videos is that one video could be about touring with his friends and the next he's just chilling at home with his baby and wife. This month he came out with another viral and I've watched it 10 million times (literally)! Check out the cuteness overload! Buzz and the Dandelions.

Entertainment: The Fall

Some darker entertainment I got obsessed with this month was BBC's 'The Fall.' It was on my list of shows to watch and I was on Jamie Dornan high after seeing Fifty Shades of Grey so I thought there was no better time to start it. Now I'll warn you, its dark and sometimes its slow paced, but its amazing television. Its very different to all the shows out there at the moment. I binged watched it all in about a week and I am dying for the 3rd season to air!

Health: Dry Brushing

This is definitely my favourite of the favourites this month! I will be posting a full review about dry brushing soon, with some comparison photos if I'm feeling brave. I have been seeing pins on Pinterest about dry brushing so I figured if it didn't work, I wasn't losing much. Dry brushing is exactly what it says on the tin. You brush your skin with a natural bristled brush before a shower or just once a day and it exfoliates and firms your skin. It works! I noticed a change after the third use! I'm gonna keep it up and see if it makes a major difference to my cellulite. This is the Summer! My cellulite is going down!

Food: Massaman Curry

My favourite restaurant is Siam, a Thai restaurant near where I live. I'm not a fan of spice, I think it takes away from the flavour of a meal so I aallllllways get a Yellow Curry, its amazing! Its got just the right amount of spice without it being overwhelming. But I went to Siam the other day at lunch time for my sisters 18th birthday and they didn't have yellow curry on the menu :( So I took a chance and got Massaman curry with out the peanuts (allergy.) I'd go as far as saying it was just as good as the yellow curry, if not better! I'll be mixing it up from now on and ordering other things in Siam.

So there you have it! I haven't posted in weeks because I am still doing my internship while working my part time job at the same time so I honestly just didn't have the energy. But the weather is getting better everyday and so is my mood! Summer is coming and I am so excited. I now have more Summer plans :D I booked a two week holiday with my sister to New York and Orlando! This is gonna be the best Summer ever! I'll be posting all my travel stories here so watch this space! Talk soon!

Uiscebawn x