Currently, replacing personal care products and healing Perioral Dermatitis naturally are coinciding.
One thing to make note of with Perioral Dermatitis is that it is very difficult to treat and can last for months. Furthermore, it tends to return time-and-time again. There are many possible PD triggers. I am addressing several today.
Updated in 2017: By using all the methods below, I’ve continued healing. Additionally, I have switched my skincare routine and products 100% to Beautycounter. And it has been absolutely incredible. Read more HERE, and join my quest for ultimate skincare health.
Replacing Personal Care Products and Healing Perioral Dermatitis Naturally
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But first, this is embarrassing –> here are most of the personal care products I was using. I threw them all in our bath tub and trashed them ALL….yes, even if they were full! I’m the queen of never letting anything go to waste. Exceptions were made.
Stress
What
I believe stress was my trigger this time. The PD came back around mid-to-end February when the A Loving Spoon website became a nightmare for me (more on this at a different time). Between my business and trying to balance mommy hood and a million other things, stress caught up to me.
What Now
“Stress” is the main piece of my life that I am working to address and deal with. Ryan and I discussed this piece to my PD last night for a long time. I could do an entire series on it (and I may), but for today, I am at least admitting that I have not been dealing with stress appropriately, but that this needs to change – immediately.
Fluoride in Toothpaste
What
I have always used junk kinds of toothpaste, and they have always contained fluoride. I never understood what was so wrong with fluoride, until I saw the correlation between it and PD and began investigating. After all, didn’t my dentist always say, “Make sure you get a toothpaste with fluoride?” In addition to Perioral Dermatitis, just look at all these other dangers using fluoride.
What Now
Earthpaste. Read THIS POST and make the switch ASAP.
You could also try making your own, which I have done in the past.
Lemon Toothpaste
- 1 tsp. baking soda (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1/2 tsp. coconut oil
- 2-3 drops dōTERRA® Lemon Essential Oil
- a few drops of water
* This will make enough for a couple brushings.
Facial Creams, Cleansers, Makeups, etc.
What
In addition to the connection between PD and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), our facial creams, cleansers, and makeups are just plain rotten. Just look at all of these chemicals in cosmetics. Need a specific study and number? Tests find cancer-causing chemical in 98 personal care products. This is not right. For me, the amount of these chemicals seeping into my body must stop.
What Now
I have never been the girl to wear much makeup. I’ve never been into it, and I enjoy a more natural look. I love the Beautycounter makeup line, and the first two makeup products I ever tried and loved were the Dew Skin Moisturizing Coverage #2 and the Hibiscus Cream Blush.
For a facial cream, I have been using the Nourishing Day Cream.
The new overall body cleanser I’m using is Alaffia’s African Black Soap, based on the recommendation of my friend Marci. It was purchased at Whole Foods; the jumbo bottle was on sale for $12.99. I got it for the primary uses of shampoo + facial cleanser, but there are many other things you can use it for as well.
For shampoo and conditioner, I’m going to try the Beautycounter line. For now, for conditioner, I have just been using coconut oil (duh, coconut oil for everything).
Finally, I am experimenting with a whole host of uses for my Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Castile Liquid Soap. Lisa Bronner shares so many ideas on her blog, and I can’t wait to create my own.
Coffee
What
Why do so many conditions always have to come back to coffee and cutting/limiting it? Coffee is my favorite thing. It’s a part of my morning routine. I am frustrated to know that coffee can keep symptoms lingering.
What Now
I’m not giving it up for good. I’ve given up so dang much and truthfully, I feel like it would just add more stress to my life. That said, for now, I’m minimizing the amount I drink. Since the moment we got Samarah, I have been consuming much more than perhaps my body should be having. I’m going to cut back to 2 cups or less per day, still heavily diluted with coconut milk. (Updated in 2017: I have cut coffee down even more.)
Hormonal Imbalance
When I was at Natural Food Expo West, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum and Dr. Jonny Bowden. Dr. Jacob took one look at my nose and agreed that yes, in fact, it has everything to do with my gut, a hormonal imbalance, and candida (again, candida is more than just food)!
I am still sifting through the things Dr. Jacob recommended for me, and I’m saving those for another day.
I am confident that by replacing my personal care products and staying consistent with all of the above, I will heal this Perioral Dermatitis naturally.
All of this adds a whole new element to A Gutsy Girl, and I hope to be able to share with you as much as possible.
Remember, being Gutsy isn’t just about living with IBS or IBD. It’s about investigating and truly understanding all the pieces that make up our lives – the pieces that ensure we are thriving vs. merely surviving.
Being Gutsy means never stopping seeking answers.
I never have; never will.
Questions?
Let me know if you have any questions!
If you have Perioral Dermatitis and have not yet given up dairy, sugar, and gluten, you might first want to think about that. My friend Pilar Gerasimo wrote a great article on this a long time ago. Take a peek, “Doing Something Rash.” If you don’t know where to start, The Gutsy Girl’s Bible: an approach to healing the gut is your dairy, sugar, gluten-free (and more) roadmap.
Finally, if you are ready to go on a FREE 12-Day Safer Beauty Exploration Journey click HERE.
Xox,
SKH
🤰 bloating be gone! weight loss through optimal gut health for women
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🫶🏻 founder gutbyome.com
You will have to let us know how the toothpaste works for you. I tried a similar recipe a while back and my teeth became SUPER sensitive after using it for a couple weeks.
Hi! Yes, I will. I’m going to give it a try for a couple of weeks. If I don’t think it’s good, I’ll find a superior, unprocessed toothpaste online.
This is a topic that is so important! I suffered from PD for two years, and still have occasional flair ups. My dream job was to become a cosmetic chemical engineer, but that field is difficult to break into, so instead I settled for a job as a chemical remediation engineer, cleaning up hazardous waste in the environment. I deal with many of the chemicals listed in the article you posted about chemicals in cosmetics on a daily basis from industrial waste. I can only hope more people become aware of the damage these chemicals can cause and start making a change to more natural alternatives!
Thank you for your awesome thoughts, Kim! I never realized just how important this all is, until I unfortunately did:)
So informative. I really appreciate all of the information. I do not suffer from PD, but I have gut issues so I am experimenting with a more holistic way of living internally (foods) and externally (products).
Good luck! You will never regret it.
So crazy; when I was first diagnosed with PD a little over a year ago, I did so much research and found very few answers. Mine has been around my mouth, to the point where I had cuts that burned if I opened my mouth to widely.mi tried all sorts of things (Rx creams, Vaseline, ACV, coconut oil, etc.), but found what has worked for me at our local farmers market. It’s a skin repair raw lotion. The website is http://www.hemp360.com if you want to check it out (I swear by it!). I’ve also rid my house of all SLS-containing products, though I haven’t done too much research on my drugstore makeups (I’m a natural girl too, so I don’t wear much). Stress has also definitely been a trigger for me, as has sugar. I’ve also noticed that when I have a breakout, putting ANY makeup on it only makes it worse. I use a locally made honey oatmeal soap for my face, but I’m researching switching to oils (hazelnut and olive or coconut). Anyway, this is what I’ve learned so far. I’m excited to see what you’ve learned, and also just to see someone addressing this problem!! Xo
THANK YOU!!!!!
we’ve been making our own toothpaste for a few months now and love it!!
so crazy how stress can ruin so many things, so frustrating!
Hey, do you guys use Baking Soda in your toothpaste?
wellnessmama.com has GREAT recipes and resources for making your own stuff! I love the makeup brand Jane Iredale makeup!
Thanks!
Hi! Great blog. I noticed nobody commented about the Bare Minerals yet. I just wanted to let you know that when I was pregnant I started breaking out REALLY bad. Everyone said it was because of my hormones. The more I broke out the more Bare Minerals I applied to my face to cover up my breakouts. Anyway, after I had my baby my face was still so bad. Everyone kept saying it’s the hormones once they leave your body your face will go back. I kept using the make up with no connection to that being the cause at all. One day I decided that I would just give up putting on the make up since there was no point anyway. My face looked just as bad with our without the make up. I was so embarrassed to leave my house. Oh I forgot to mention I washed and sanitized all my brushes prior to stopping the make up to see if that may have been contributing to the cause and I even purchased new brushes, my face stayed the same. Anyway, about 1 month after stoping use the makeup my face cleared up almost 50%. I realized it was the make up and continued with out it. My face eventually went back to normal and I threw it all away.
Just a thought that it may be contributing if your skin is sensitive. (I never thought I had sensitive skin btw)
I may have noticed a similar correlation. Thank you:)
I may try the hemp360 cream mentioned above. I’m at a loss with my PD right now. I need an answer.
Hey Milica! I’m planning to write another post on this – I healed mine:)
I hope you post about how you healed yours soon! I’d love to know as I’ve been dealing with mine for the past couple of months and it’s driving me crazy 🙁
I will try:) Thanks, Elena!
Hi Elena
I just posted some solutions that worked for me…hope they help..check out the FB page too 🙂 that has seriously helped me.
Hi
I have found that if you take a probiotic and zinc supplement to heal the gut they both help a lot. DO NOT EVER STOP TAKING THE PROBIOTIC!! lol
If the rash is on your face….like it probably is…..try Neem oil ….rub that in really good…..kind smells like kung pow chicken (so my husband says) and then put on Desitin Diaper cream (maximum strength 40% Zinc) over top of the neem oil. Do this during the day and night – if you are out and about use a zinc based dissolving sunscreen over the neem oil and at night cake the Desitin on thick. This has totally cleared up mine. If this doesn’t work try wiping the area with Apple cider vinegar (from the mother) and then putting organic yoghurt on the area. By those 2 different applications you can see if your PD is bacterial or fungal… and each time you get PD if could be different.
There is also a FB page dedicated to PD so check it out..lots of other ideas on there to determine what would work best for you.