My forehead is a large rash, lips are cracking and bleeding, right cheek is raw. At least my eyebrows were starting to grow back. My eyes were swollen but I’m guessing that was because we were at a funeral when this was taken.

Orion’s much better than I am at faking smiles.

Nourish-mint. This is the only lip balm I’ve ever used that doesn’t make my skin react. It also lasts long enough that I only need to apply it two or three times a day. While it’s $15/tube, it’s worth it to me. Goodbye crocodile kisses, hello one more illusion of being normal.

Lip Glaze Lip gloss that doesn’t feel like algae sludge, and isn’t so shiny that your mouth seems laminated. It also does a great job of keeping your lips moist. I really only wear this for ‘occasions’, like office lunches, dinner parties, or demonstrating at a conference. So… maybe 5 times a year?

Petal Essence Single eye color, in Willow. Another product I completely love. Eyeshadow that I have no reaction to at all. And the Willow color is awesome, the best I can describe it is titanium with tiny flecks of rainbow mixed in.

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Besides the products, the customer service is excellent. First they give you delicious tea – I’m a sucker for yummy tea – and then ask you if you need help with anything. They’re never pushy. If you have skin sensitivities they’re understanding and won’t challenge or cajole you ['oh, but you haven't tried our fragrance!']. They also don’t assault you with their products by spraying you the moment you walk in the door.

What make up works particularly well for your skin?

1. Take a Test – Bear in mind there are several kinds and they are not always accurate. As a child they said I was not allergic to apples [though I am] but I was allergic to horse hair [though I don't sneeze around horses].
2. Medicine Kit – Such as an EpiPen or possibly Benadryl.
3. Kitchen – Watch out for cross contamination.
4. Food shopping – Read every single little label, even if it’s something you’ve bought before. It’s even more interesting if you look up the ingredients later and find out what exactly what they are.
5. Restaurants – Sometimes checking the menu isn’t enough. An allergy card [the link is an interactive .pdf] can be very helpful for the waiting staff. One method is to have the waiter take it to the chef to find out what you can eat from the menu – for me there tend to be one or two items.
6. Air Travel – Especially because of the peanuts.

I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing
To those that know me.

- William Shakespeare, Macbeth

The other night I was scratching rather loudly at my forehead and after 15 minutes Orion left the room saying “I have to go somewhere else,” and I couldn’t help but reply “Sorry!” After a bit he came up to me and said “It’s not you. Sometimes the sound of the scratching gets to me, but that’s not you. You’re not the eczema.”

I was very relieved to hear that, even though I already knew it. Some people look at me and only see the disease, and it’s degrading to be considered a thing rather than a person. Others know me, despite the skin issue, but still act like I’m a liability to their good time.

As another shade of gray, several people have told me that they would never date me, simply because of my allergies. While that stings a little at first I think this gray is more positive.

1. They’re being honest, a very important quality in friendships.
2. They know that eating out, frequently, at random places, at the drop of a hat, is important to them. It’s part of their lifestyle they wouldn’t trade.
3. It means that I’m not valuable enough to them – in ‘that way’ – for them to try to find the loopholes in my allergies. Which lays out definite boundaries.

And that’s fine. Some of my best friends feel this way, and have said so. But it’s the only odd thing in our friendships, the only thing we don’t really talk about.  And we’re all comfortable with it that way. After all, your body can effect your personality and sense of ’self’, but it isn’t the same thing.

The blog WaterSonoma has a list of the 10 Most Common Effects of Hard Water, which mentions dry skin.

Boobs Begone

The painting to the right is an oil Joslin did of Isadora Duncan, that I have in my dining room.

• The first morning we were in our apartment we went to the local grocer, a really cool spot [they had vinyl gloves with thick cotton liners - which will make cleaning immensely easier on my hands! but anyway...] And at 8 in the morning most people don’t really want to be at work, but almost every employee we passed was singing and smiling, many of them together.
• I’ve been taking the bus to work, and there’s a group of people who’ve been commuting together for years that I fell in with. Within three days we knew each other’s names, jobs, and some hobbies. The conversation is relaxed and not silly ’small talk’. I feel accepted without having to prove anything, except that I can make polite conversation – that’s a very different criteria from WIGU.
• When I get off the bus in the evening two ladies from the commuter group, and the bus driver, all tell me to have a great night, it was nice to see me, and see you tomorrow!
• Yesterday I popped into a Mexican flower shop, I’ve heard great things about it and it has a lot of personality, and they made it very simple for me to buy a bouquet of sunflowers and mums. In WIGU, it would’ve taken at least 15 minutes of someone trying to convince me I wanted something else.
• After flower shopping I stopped in the park, and there were couples people-watching, kids flirting, and toddlers racing.
• When it rains people are excited that the plants will bloom.

My family’s hobby, one thing we all do and could not do without, is reading. At parties there’s usually a point where everyone pulls out their book and we all sit together blissfully immersed in separate worlds and avenues of thought.

My grandfather worked six days a week for most of his life, but if he was home and wasn’t telling stories he was reading. He would read while eating, walking, and settling down for a nap. The happiest hours I had as a teenager were spent with Papa, simply reading.

Usually it was at the claw foot oak dining room table, where we would sit for hours as the light changed, sipping water and eating soup. He always crushed crackers into his while I nabbed the french bread. Sometimes if he was tired he would read on his bed, and I would stretch out on the sunlit turquoise carpet, in case he needed anything. It was wonderful to spend those years with him. When Papa passed away most of what he physically left us were his hundreds of books. Many of the books on my bookcases were his, including the copy of In the Beginning.

When I began it last week I plunged in and didn’t check the front cover. Sunday, Father’s Day, I opened it and found the inscription
To Warren -
Happy Father’s Day!
Love,
Linda
June 1980